The offense has struggled all season. There’s no doubt about that.
Including its 1-0 win over the University of Vermont, the Boston University women’s soccer team has failed to score more than one goal in any of its 11 games.
But the Terriers’ aggression against the University of Vermont seems at least promising for now. The Terriers outshot the Catamounts, 20-5, and earned seven corner kicks to Vermont’s none. Freshman forward Tiya Gallegos scored the winning goal — the first of her career — and junior forward Meredith Beaton would have added another if her shot hadn’t bounced off the post.
The key test will be if BU can carry over its aggressive offensive attacks as it tries to earn its second conference win of the season against the University of Albany on the road today.
While the Terriers (4-5-1 overall, 1-0-0 America East) won their conference opener, Albany (3-4-3, 0-1-0) dropped its conference opener to the University of Maine, 4-0.
In the past, BU has had offensive success against Albany, outscoring the Great Danes 14-1 in their last three meetings.
Gallegos, who was named America East Rookie of the Week, will come off the bench to help spark the Terrier attack.
“Tiya has proven she has deserved playing time based on her recent game performance and strong play in practice,” said BU coach Nancy Feldman. “She is going to stay in the role of a reserve for now.”
The Great Danes proved they can light up the scoreboard in non-conference play. Albany scored two goals in each of five games, some against difficult opponents such as Indiana State University and Youngstown State University.
The offensive leader for the Great Danes has been freshman forward Teresa Boring, who leads the conference with seven goals. Boring has twice been named the conference Rookie of the Week for her offensive output and has been aided by junior forward Diana Barrera, who is second on the team with three goals.
Despite Boring’s scoring prowess, Feldman said the Terrier defense will have other focuses besides stopping the freshman phenom.
“We meet up with a lot of good forwards and we feel our team defensive system will get the job done 95 percent of the time,” Feldman said. “We will be aware of her and where she is on the field and make sure she is under pressure, but we will not man-mark her to take her out of the game.”
Feldman hasn’t had to worry about her defense all season, as its only given up two goals once and has shutout four opponents. However, BU’s low-voltage offense has increased the pressure on the defense to perform.
“We have to go into every game with a great focus to defend and not give an inch to the other team, because we haven’t been scoring in boatloads,” Feldman said.
The question of who will be guarding the Terrier net against Albany will be a game-time decision. Both redshirt freshman goalie Janie Reilly and senior Christina Reuter have manned the net effectively, but following BU’s 1-0 loss to Harvard University, Reilly was given the starting job.
Reilly was penciled in to start her fourth straight game on Sunday against Vermont, but she injured her leg during warm-ups. Reuter stepped in and posted her first shutout of the season.
Reilly is once again penciled in to start against the Great Danes, but Feldman will evaluate how she does in warm-ups to see if she is able to play
“Janie’s injury is nothing major, but it could be a few more days,” Feldman said. “Christina stepped in and did very well against Vermont, so she will be ready to go if need be. It now looks like a good decision that we got both of them playing time early on.”
More troubling to Feldman than the goalkeeper situation is that the Terriers will be playing on Albany’s home field against a team that she believes is “much-improved.” Feldman also believes that the Danes loss to Maine in their conference opener will motivate them to have a much better effort against the Terriers.
“They are playing at home on a heavy and slow grass field, which is an adjustment for us and could be a factor in the game,” Feldman said. “They have a young coach who has done a good job with them and they are going to be desperate to win after the Maine game. This is a game I am absolutely not taking for granted.”
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