At the end of any particular game, one will likely think of the players who scored the most goals or the goalkeeper who made the big saves. But many times, the defense is the unsung hero that leads the team to victory, often playing equally vital a role in a team’s success as any other part.
And for the Boston University women’s soccer team, senior defender Lina Cords is that unsung hero on the back line, especially in the team’s 2-0 America East Conference championship win over University at Albany on Saturday.
Playing for the Terriers (18-2-1, 8-0-0 America East) for her fifth year, Cords has proven herself worthy of play time from day one, right up to Saturday’s championship game against Albany (9-10-1, 5-2-1 America East). The tri-captain has been rewarded for her efforts in the last week, being named the America East Defender of the Year, along with earning the Most Outstanding Player in the conference tournament.
“She has been amazing all season long, just a rock – she just does everything right,” said BU coach Nancy Feldman. “I am amazed at how she has risen her game to take it all on – leading, motivating, spirit, up beat, joy and then on the field – I don’t want to say this out loud – but I haven’t seen her make a mistake all year.
“She’s keeping everything together and she does it with such poise and such confidence. She’s been amazing. It’s been a great performance by a great player in her fifth year.”
In her freshman year, she was the only first year player to start 21 games and was named the America East Rookie of the Year. In 2008, she helped the Terriers dominate with 12 shutouts and 14 points allowed in 22 games. Following being red-shirted for injury in 2009, Cords came back in 2010 as a crucial element in the team’s record-breaking streak of 13 shutouts.
During each of her five years on the team, the Terriers have gone on to win the America East championship.
“It’s a huge honor,” Cords said. “I just think it’s awesome that I’ve been able to go to the America East tournament every year and win a conference tournament. It’s a huge honor because we get to go to the NCAA’s and we get an automatic birth into it so it’s awesome. I couldn’t ask for a better soccer career ending.”
This season in particular has brought Cords nothing but success. She started every game, playing for a full 90 minutes in most of them. On Oct. 13, she scored her first goal of the season in a match against Stony Brook University, and even tallied two assists over the course of the season.
With so much success, Cords only had eyes on the future after Saturday’s triumphant defeat against Albany.
“We’re definitely really excited,” Cords said. “We’re hoping that on Monday when we find out who we got we’ll get a really good draw, and whether we’re here or anywhere, I just think we’re really excited.
“It’s always been a goal just to get past that first round so I think we’re confident this year,” she said.
“This year our team has been playing really well together and we’re really cohesive, on and off the field, and I think that’ll really bring us places, so hopefully it’ll bring us past the first round.”
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
