It’s good to be home.
That is almost certainly be what the Boston University women’s soccer team is thinking after a grueling trip to the Midwest for the last week of August and beginning of September. Not only did the Terriers travel to schools far away from home, they had to play two very good soccer teams.
The first game of the season was against Creighton University on August 30, a game in which junior forward Katie Chen scored her first goal in nearly two years. That goal in the 75th minute, coupled with strong Terrier defense, was enough to knock off Creighton in a 1-0 defensive battle.
Riding high from its first win of the season, BU drove by bus from Nebraska to Kansas to face the University of Kansas on Sept. 1. BU’s lone goal in the contest came courtesy of two freshmen. Brooke Bingham fed Meghann Cook 18 minutes into the game, giving the Terriers a 1-0 advantage. Incidentally, Cook scored her first collegiate goal on her birthday.
After a Jayhawk goal in the 73rd minute tied the game, the two teams battled to the end of regulation tied at 1-1.
Once the first overtime failed to yield a victor, BU and Kansas entered a second overtime with the score still tied. It was with 1:43 left that Kansas’ Caroline Smith slipped a shot past BU goalie Jessica Clinton for the game winner.
It was Kansas’s first overtime goal and the first overtime win in school history.
Sunday, BU finally faces an opponent located east of the Mississippi in the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
The Minutemen have yet to play a home game this season, but are excited about their new Rudd Field. Named after Alexi Rudd, the stadium cost nearly $1 million to complete and consists of a natural grass base. Following a formal dedication ceremony around noon on Sunday, the BU-Massachusetts soccer game will be the second-ever contest on the field, as Massachusetts hosts the University of Rhode Island today.
The Minutemen have a 1-0 record on the season, beating Boston College in Chestnut Hill last Friday. The only goal in the 1-0 affair was scored by Laine Ceddia, who booted a loose ball into the back of the BC net in the 69th minute of play. UMass was outshot in the game, 36-6, and the Eagles dominated in corner kicks, tallying 10 to Massachusetts’ one.
In two exhibition games this season, Massachusetts went 2-0 with wins over Northeastern University and the College of the Holy Cross.
After Sunday, BU stays on the road for two more games against Rutgers University on Friday and St. John’s University on Sunday.
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