BU keeps rolling in America East with victory over UNH

The Boston University women’s soccer team won its fourth straight game on Thursday, a 1-0 triumph over the University of New Hampshire.

It was the Terriers (6-4-2, 2-0-0 America East) 11th-straight regular season win against America East opponents, dating back to the 2007 season when the team tied New Hampshire (1-9-1, 0-2-0 AE) at Durham, N.H. It was also the team’s first win on the road this season, something that BU coach Nancy Feldman was extremely happy about.

‘It feels good to win on the road,’ Feldman said. ‘We took a good mental approach to the game today and we were very prepared for the game. It’s tough to play on grass, especially in cold weather, but I thought we did a great job today. We need to get points on the road and it was big to get the win.’

The Terriers dominated the early half of the game, controlling the ball well and outshooting the Wildcats, 9-5. Senior Emily Pallotta had a chance for the first goal of the game midway through the first half, but her shot sailed high in her bid for her second goal of the season. It wasn’t until the second half that the tie would be broken.

The lone goal of the contest came when senior Farrell McClernon beat Wildcats goalkeeper Ally Yost in the 61st minute. The goal came off a feed from freshman Megan McGoldrick, who recorded her third assist of the season on the play. The helper tied her with sophomore Jessica Luscinski for the team lead in assists while the goal was McClernon’s third of the season, which now puts her in the team lead for goals.

‘[Farrell] has led our team up top with her tenacity and her hustle,’ Feldman said. ‘I was very pleased to see her score today. [Freshman] Jessica Morrow also had a great game, probably her most complete game of the season. She was great with her one-on-one defending and her distribution was excellent. [Junior] Shauna Kelleher played great as well. She does a great job in her role and although she doesn’t always show up on the scoresheet, she does a lot of the dirty work that’s important to win.’

Senior Janie Reilly was her usual self in net for the Terriers, making five saves to preserve the shutout. The shutout was Reilly’s third in four games and Thursday marked the first time since the opening two contests of the season that Reilly recorded back-to-back shutouts.

For the game, BU held a large margin in the shot department, outshooting the Wildcats 20-9. The Terriers also played a solid defensive game, not allowing New Hampshire to have any corner kicks while registering two of their own. BU has been on fire offensively lately, outscoring their opponents 7-1 in their last four games, all of which have been victories.

‘It was a strong performance by the team today,’ Feldman said. ‘We didn’t play in our end very long and that’s a good way to play the game. They only had about two chances in our zone but we did a good job of shutting them down. By not playing in your own end, it prevents them from being dangerous and bad bounces don’t affect you as much.’
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