The Boston University women’s soccer team fell on the road to No. 21 University of Texas at Austin, ending BU’s run in the first round of the NCAA championship.
Following their win in the Patriot League, the Terriers (6-8-7, 5-0-4 PL) were granted a spot in the exclusive 64-team tournament.
This was BU’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2018 and Texas’ fourth consecutive year. This was also the first-ever faceoff between BU and Texas (17-3-2), which is now the fourth seed in the NCAA bracket.
“It’s obviously a huge accomplishment,” assistant coach Megan Burke said of the Terriers reaching the NCAA tournament. “It’s something that they should be proud of.”
Despite being the underdogs in this game, the Terriers showed up ready to play.
The game had a slow start, with both defenses denying shots on goal. It wasn’t until the 12th minute that the first shot was taken by Longhorn freshman forward Amalia Villarreal, which was saved by Terrier freshman goalkeeper Bridget Carr.
Nearly 20 minutes in, BU started the game on top with a goal by senior forward Morgan Fagan. The Longhorns quickly closed the gap in the 28th minute, when senior forward Holly Ward made it into the Terriers’ goal, ending the half with a 1-1 score.
In the first half, the Terriers fell in shots 6-3. BU’s game in the first half was defense, which held the Longhorns to fewer than five shots on goal. Carr stretched for one save, while Longhorn goalkeeper Mia Justus had zero in the first half.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them. They came out really strong against the No. 21-ranked team in the country,” Burke said. “Scored first, never stopped, never gave up. Just shows a lot about their character, their heart, and I can’t speak enough on that.”
The second half began just as slowly as the first, with 15 minutes of play before any score.
Longhorn senior midfielder Ashlyn Miller attempted a shot 54 minutes in, but BU junior midfielder Mackenzie Stickelman and senior defender Allison Hanlon worked the ball out of Terrier territory.
Carr had an incredible save after a Ward breakaway shot at the hour mark, but this run was followed by a second breakaway by Ward. This resulted in a score for the Longhorns, pushing them to a 2-1 lead with under 30 minutes left in the game.
Assisted by graduate defender Madison Haugen, Ward scored again in the 66th minute to etch the first-ever hat trick in a Texas NCAA tournament match. On top of that, the hat trick was a career first for Ward.
Ward, the shining star of the game, scored her fourth goal with fewer than 15 minutes remaining. The Longhorns stood with a commanding 4-1 on the board.
The Texas offense was unstoppable, even for BU goalkeeper Carr, who had 60 total saves this season.
The Terriers could not come back in the second half, scoring zero goals as compared to the Longhorns’ three. Texas led in shots with 20 and 12-5 on goal.
“We obviously wanted more from it. I don’t think we were satisfied just making the tournament, and we wanted a better outcome,” Burke said of the match. “It’s something that they definitely were proud of, and it was a huge accomplishment for this team.”
Still, the Terriers put up a fight. They ended their season with a 6-8-7 record and the PL conference title.
“I think there’s a lot to take from this season in general, a lot of positives, so I think we’re going to take a bit of confidence with us,” Burke said. “In the off-season, I think we’ll dive deeper into specific details and different things that we can individually grow on, that’ll help us as a collective going into next year.”
