In a big week for the Boston University women’s soccer team, the Terriers put aside both physical and mental fatigue to garner key victories over the University of Harford and Binghamton University.
The Terriers traveled Hartford, Conn., Thursday night to take on the then-undefeated Hawks, and then continued on to Binghamton, N.Y., on Sunday for a match against Binghamton. The Terriers (11–5–1, 7–0 America East) were successful, achieving 1–0 victories in each match.
Thursday night the Terriers were put to the test against Hartford, who had a share of the top spot in the America East. The game was a defensive battle, with only four shots taken in the first half.
As the game progressed, the Terriers’ defense, which has seen success for the better part of the season, stifled a very good offense. BU limited Hartford’s chances to score all game long, holding them to four total shots in the match. The Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Division I Offensive Player of the Week, Amelia Pereira, was held to only one shot. Hartford was also denied any corner kicks.
As the game wore on with each team trying desperately to generate offense, the Terriers caught a break with about 16 minutes to play when senior defender Jessica Morrow was awarded a corner kick.
She lofted the ball into the box where Junior Midfielder Emma Clark was there to finish, beating the goalkeeper for her fourth goal of the season.
“It took us a while to get the winning goal,” said BU coach Nancy Feldman. “But we played a really good game defensively, and I thought we actually had the ball really well.”
Clark was also given the task of marking the Hawks’ Pereira, who is widely considered their best player.
“I knew I had to be really conscious of moving my feet and keeping my footwork,” Clark said. “[Pereira] is really technical, and I knew that if I did that, I would succeed.”
Offensively the Terriers stayed on the Hawks all game, taking 11 shots and being awarded six corner kicks. Their slow, wear-down-the-defense approach once again proved successful as the Terriers were able to capitalize when the moment presented itself.
“It was a total team effort,” Feldman said. “We knew that we were going down to their home field, and they don’t give up a lot of goals anywhere, particularly their home field.”
Moving into Sunday, Feldman said the team had more than just soccer to focus on as it took on Binghamton.
“We can’t forget that the kids have a lot of academic work to do in between soccer practice and soccer games,” Feldman said. “It’s hard to dig down deep and bring out that full effort.”
But BU rose to the occasion and came away with a win.
The Terriers were again solid on defense, as junior goalkeeper Andrea Green captured her second straight shutout. BU allowed 11 shots and was trailing the corner kick differential 4–1.
“They tried to control the tempo by playing with high pressure,” Feldman said. “The first half we didn’t play quite crisp enough, but at the beginning of the second half, our kids came out and changed the way the game was going and really upped the tempo with our attack.”
One minute into the second half, the Terriers were on the attack when freshman midfielder Clare Pleurer received a pass from junior midfielder Megan McGoldrick and fired a shot into the box, bouncing it off of the far post and into the back of the net from 16 yards out. The goal was Pleuler’s second of the season.
Following the win, the Terriers will take a break from their conference schedule on Thursday when they travel to Hanover, N.H., to take on Dartmouth College.
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