In the midst of a five-game road trip to start the season, the Boston University women’s soccer team is now looking to capitalize on its schedule.
Beginning with a 1-0 win at Creighton University on Aug. 30, things were looking good. Junior forward Katie Chen scored the only goal of the game and her first in nearly two seasons. Junior goalkeeper Jessica Clinton continued where she left off last season as a stone wall in goal, turning away all four Creighton shots.
BU next traveled to the University of Kansas for a match-up with the Jayhawks. In what was a homecoming for Terrier midfielder and Kansas native Rebecca Beyer, BU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first half when freshman Meghann Cook scored her first collegiate goal 18 minutes into the game.
It took a while, but Kansas finally answered to tie the game at 1-1 when sophomore Rachel Gilfillan’s shot from the right box beat Clinton in the 73rd minute of the match.
The two teams battled for the remainder of regulation, through the first overtime and for much of the second extra frame, until Jayhawk freshman Caroline Smith scored the game-winner in the 109th minute. It was the first overtime goal in Kansas women’s soccer history as well as the first overtime win for the school. It also gave BU its first loss of the season.
The Terriers had to wait a week before taking the field again, and BU’s third game of the season was the first-ever match-up against the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Staying on the road for the third straight game, BU went down, 1-0, when Erica Wildeberg beat Clinton in the 37th minute.
Beyer tied the game nearly six minutes later when a Massachusetts defender headed in her shot. Cook scored her second goal of the season 40 seconds later to give BU the lead, 2-1. Chen recorded an assist on the goal. Massachusetts concluded the scoring barrage 26 seconds later when Martha Conover’s goal tied the game at 2-2. All told, four goals were scored in the span of eight minutes.
BU took the lead for good when senior Tiffany Chag scored her first goal of the season and her first in three years in the 72nd minute when she gained control of the ball 18-feet from the net and drilled a shot past Massachusetts keeper Kelly Nigh. Chag’s last goal came against Syracuse University on Sept. 6, 1999.
The 3-2 victory marked BU’s second win in three tries this season.
The scorebook
BU has committed only 10 fouls this season … The Terriers have a 20-8 lead in corner kicks taken … Freshman Meghann Cook leads the team in goals with two. Three other players have one goal apiece … Cook also leads in shots taken with nine. Tri-captain Allison Merkle has eight … Chen is second on the team in points with three. Cook leads with four points.
The schedule
The Terriers opened the season with five straight road games, including a road trip to the Midwest and the first-ever game against the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. After playing away from Nickerson Field this weekend against Rutgers University and St. John’s University, BU returns home for what is incidentally the team’s first America East Conference game of the season against the University of Maine on Tuesday.
BU stays at home for four more games after tangling with Maine, including match-ups with Colorado College and Boston College. Four out of the five games on the homestand are outside America East. After BC, the Terriers travel for two road games against the University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth.
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