The Boston University women’s soccer team beat the College of the Holy Cross Crusaders on the road with a 3-0 shutout on Wednesday.
Assistant coach Megan Burke said she was impressed with both the defensive and offensive sides throughout the game.
“Everything kind of came together today for us,” Burke said. “Even defensively, we were super organized. We communicated well, so [we] impressed on both sides of the ball, and it’s the reason for the shutout as well.”
The Terriers (3-7-5, 3-0-3 Patriot League) showed their strength early with a goal less than four minutes into the game. Junior forward Margy Porta scored after Crusader senior goalkeeper Olivia Dubin made an initial save. Dubin couldn’t stop Porta’s strike off the rebound, which put the Terriers up early with junior midfielder Giulianna Gianino assisting.
This was Porta’s seventh goal of the season, tying her with Gianino for BU’s top scorer this season.
BU kept the intensity after the goal in their effort to thwart any of Holy Cross’ attempts. After four shots in the first seven minutes for BU, the Crusaders (5-9-1, 2-3-1 PL) started to get more comfortable. They forced freshman goalkeeper Bridget Carr to make some saves as they picked up their possession.
Notably, Holy Cross sophomore Karenna Beckstein challenged BU’s defense with a look on goal from outside the box, but she missed with 15 minutes left in the first half.
In the last minutes of the half, the Terriers had to contend with the Crusaders’ offensive pressure but avoided any equalizers from their opponents. BU strode into the half up one after Porta’s early goal.
The Crusaders got a strong start to the second half with a free kick within the first minute. The Terriers countered this intensity with their own attempt off a corner that went just above the crossbar.
Junior midfielder Mackenzie Stickelman doubled BU’s lead nearly five minutes into the half with a shot off in the box to score another goal. Porta got the assist as well.
After the first two goals, BU looked comfortable and dominant. Carr led BU’s defense by staying vigilant in goal and denying the Crusaders any scoring chances. She made a big save halfway through the second half off of senior defender Alyssa Pettet’s free kick.
Sophomore forward Kat Slott scored her first goal of the season with 20 minutes left in the game to make it 3-0 for the Terriers. Gianino got her second assist of the night and continued her impressive season.
Up until the final whistle, BU displayed an offensive and defensive masterclass, completing a dominant win on the road. Carr got the first clean sheet of her career, and BU’s offense showed up. With this win, the Terriers moved to second place in the conference standings.
Burke believes the team will continue to strive for excellence and bring the same energy into the last four games of the Patriot League.
“We’re still undefeated in Patriot League play, and so that has to give you a bit of confidence, but we’re going to keep doing what we’re doing,” Burke said. “We obviously got a couple goals here, which pushes our confidence up even more, but we’re gonna carry it into the next game.”
The Terriers look to defend their unbeaten streak against No. 1 Bucknell University on Senior Day during BU Family and Friends Weekend this Sunday at 1 p.m. on Nickerson Field.
