It started out innocently enough, but then things just got ugly.
The Boston University women’s soccer team defeated the University of Maine, 1-0, at Nickerson Field yesterday in a foul-filled match.
The Terriers did most of the taking, as the Black Bears rang up 22 fouls to BU’s eight.
But in the end, the only crucial number was the one that freshman forward Meghann Cook tallied for her third goal of the season.
“Meghann, if given chances in open spaces around the goal, is going to finish,” said BU coach Nancy Feldman.
Her finishing was a thing of beauty as junior forward Katie Smurthwaite took a return touch pass from junior forward Katie Chen off her own throw-in. Smurthwaite drilled a head-high cross that Cook volleyed into the net at the far post at the 29:31 mark of the first half.
While the chance was BU’s first good one of the match, Maine was inches away from striking first after miscommunication in the backline set Black Bear forward Heather Hathom in alone on Terrier goal keeper Jessica Clinton. Hathom beat Clinton, but not the post, as her shot bounced harmlessly away.
The miscue was misleading, however, as the new BU backline was solid throughout the match, despite being assembled only since the preseason began four weeks ago.
“Considering how we had to put them together, and how they weren’t a unified group coming into the season, I’m very pleased with their progress,” Feldman said. “They are letting up a few too many chances and a lot of it has to do with not communicating with one another right now, and that, to me, is something that can be fixed.”
Maine came close to equalizing things late, but a header off a corner kick that would have beat Clinton struck the crossbar, giving BU a chance to clear the ball out of danger.
BU weathered the rare defensive lapses, but more importantly, it weathered the pounding Maine dished out as the game wore on.
The game started as a clean but sloppy affair, but as the Terriers took more control, the Black Bears seemed to take more offense, and the fouls added up. In separate incidents, sophomore forward Lauren Ciccone and senior midfielder Allison Merkle both took big hits from Maine, and Merkle was visibly relieved to be through with the conference rivals after the game.
“I like how we were composed. We kept our emotional control with the physical battle, sometimes overly physical,” Feldman said. “I think we lost sorts of how we wanted to play. I think it got to us eventually.”
While Maine was straddling the thin line between physical play and dirty play, Feldman saw where that rough aspect aids the Black Bears’ game and puts a little fear into opponents.
“What the physical dimension gives them is an advantage because you start looking over your shoulder a little bit,” Feldman said. “You have to be able to play that way. It’s like hockey, there’s such a wide range of things allowed. You can have games where it’s so nice and technical, and then you can have games that look like a slugfest, and its all within the rules — although it could have been called a little tighter.”
For BU, the biggest problem is not the ability to cope with the physical game. The team showed it can hang tough against a rough opponent, but of more immediate concern is just whom BU will get scoring from.
While Cook has been strong off the bat with three goals in her first six college games, BU will need the older players to step up as well, especially with sophomore forward Melissa Shulman, who scored 13 points on six goals and an assist last year redshirting this season.
“Katie Chen, Katie Smurthwaite and Lauren Ciccone are going to have to do their part, and we’re going to look to Rebecca Beyer again to get her share of points,” Feldman said. “The goals are definitely going to have to come from a variety of places.”