The Boston University women’s soccer team maintained its undefeated status in the Patriot League on Saturday after a dramatic 1-1 draw against Lafayette College.
The Terriers (2-7-5, 2-0-3 Patriot League) conceded an early goal to the Leopards (5-4-2, 2-1-2 PL) off the foot of junior forward Katrina Santelli. In the seventh minute, Santelli broke behind the defense and took advantage of a well-placed pass by sophomore midfielder Nadia Zaffanella.
This ended up being the Leopards’ only goal, as the Terrier defense immediately tightened up for the rest of the game.
“When you travel on the road, we’re going from turf to grass, so I think it just took a second for the girls to kind of get a feel for the game and to get a little bit of momentum,” said assistant coach Megan Burke, who took the helm for the Terriers in lieu of absent head coach Casey Brown. “It wasn’t as much of a change that we had to make. It was more so just getting more comfortable and confident on the ball and on the surface.”
The story for the Terriers in the latter first half and into the second was that of massive amounts of offensive pressure resulting in no goals. After conceding a goal in the first minutes, the Terriers immediately fired back with six shots in just 11 minutes, five of which were on goal and three of which were from junior midfielder Giulianna Gianino.
Thanks to a few astounding plays by Lafayette sophomore goalkeeper Catherine Apker, the Terriers had little to show for their playmaking at the half, with the score still 0-1 in favor of the Leopards.
“I loved the numbers that we got in the attack,” Burke said. “I think we did a much better job at that once we settled into the game a bit, and so we just got more numbers forward. We stuck to our game plan, and that really helped in the attack of getting more players involved.”
The Terriers began the second half how they ended the first, with two shots and three corners in a nine-minute span, which all missed the mark once again.
Apker continued to stump the Terrier offense until Gianino finally broke through. She snuck the ball past the goalkeeper off a pass from freshman midfielder Olivia Avellar for the Terrier’s first goal of the game and the equalizer in the 74th minute.
“[Gianino] had a great game,” Burke said. “She just puts herself in really good areas to have those opportunities. She’s obviously all over the field, so [she] helps us on and off the ball, but it’s her movement off the ball, I think, that sets her up for the most success.”
The Leopards saw little of the ball on offense for the rest of the game, and they ended with only two shots on goal to the Terriers’ nine.
With two minutes left in the match, the Leopard offense broke away for yet another one-on-one opportunity against freshman goalkeeper Bridget Carr, but senior defender Allison Hanlon saved the Terriers from disaster.
After another offensive onslaught, the Terriers were ultimately stifled by the Leopards’ defense and more high-level goalkeeping by Apker.
“To come back in the 74th minute and tie up the game on the road is really, really tough, and it just shows how gritty and tough this team is,” Burke said. “They never gave up. They compete for 90 minutes, and I think they proved that there today.”
The Terriers will hit the road for another important Patriot League matchup for the Turnpike Trophy against Holy Cross on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m.