Senior Megan McGoldrick is one of six Terriers to record a goal this year.
While its offense has not fired on all cylinders so far this season, the Boston University women’s soccer team has been effective in getting multiple players involved in its attacking game plans.
The Terriers (5-3-1, 0-1 Patriot League) have scored eight goals on the season, tying them with Lafayette College for fifth-most in the Patriot League this season. So far this season, six different players have scored for BU.
Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year senior forward Madison Clemens and two-time BRINE Rookie of the Week freshman forward Erica Kosienski lead the team with two goals apiece, while the team’s other four goals have come from junior midfielder Jamie Turchi, senior midfielder Megan McGoldrick, junior forward Ana Cuffia and sophomore forward Jenna Fisher.
For BU coach Nancy Feldman, the team’s varied attack has been a welcome sight this season.
“It’s a very good thing,” Feldman said. “We have a lot of talented players, our forwards for sure: Madison [Clemens], [junior forward] Taylor [Krebs] … and Erica [Kosienski] and Ana [Cuffia]. Then we’ve got a pool of midfielders that know how to score, too. We’ve got a lot of players that are technically very good at finishing and we’re a program that’ never really been geared to feed one person, one individual.
“We try to play a little bit more of a free-flowing style and, because we don’t play necessarily super direct, it gives a lot of players a chance to get forward in the attack and that definitely allows … more players to get the chance to get opportunities at goal.”
Green continues to be solid in net
One of the biggest keys to the Terriers’ success this season lies in their defense and goalkeeping, as they have only allowed five goals in nine games this season. A large sum of the credit to BU’s stellar defensive showing this season is senior goalkeeper Andrea Green.
Green, who is first in the Patriot League in goals-against average (0.52) and save percentage (.846), has been stellar over the team’s last three games, as she has only allowed one goal in those 270 minutes of play.
“She works really hard, and she’s prepared herself well in the offseason and last year,” Feldman said about Green. “I think last year was a real solid foundation, and she learned a lot with decisionmaking and tactics, and just handling the focus that’s needed in the game for a goalkeeper which is a challenge, because you don’t touch the ball very much. But you have to be ready, and you have to be on and have to be sharp, and you have to kind of maintain your mental focus throughout the course of the game even though you’re not touching the ball a lot.”
“She did the work last year, she’s done the work over the summer, and she’s well-coached by [associate head coach] Jessica Clinton and she’s a competitor. This is her last go-around here and, like all the seniors, they want to leave a positive mark on the program, so she’s very motivated.”
Terriers look to start a new streak
Saturday’s disappointing loss to the United States Naval Academy was a tough way for the Terriers to open up the Patriot League portion of their schedule, as the 1-0 defeat snapped their three-game winning streak.
Despite losing in a crushing fashion due to an own goal in the 43rd minute in Saturday’s contest, Feldman said her team is ready to move on and to start a new win streak this Saturday, when the Terriers take on the United States Military Academy in West Point.
“[Last Saturday’s loss] was disappointing, and I think what was more disappointing is we didn’t play our best game. If you lose a game and you play your best, then you have stuff to work on, but if you can live with it, you just need to get better. When you don’t play your best, and I think the players agree that they didn’t really play their best, then there was a little bit more disappointment, but in either case, you have to move because there’s nothing you can do about it.
“What you can try to do is not let that happen again … We’re going to learn from it, and that’s all you can do. We can’t change it and we want to make sure that we’re prepared for Army. It’s a big game, another away game against a military academy, and they’re a strong team. What we can control is that we’re ready to play and we work on some things this week that make us better and that we bring our ‘A’ performance, that’s what we’re going to have to do this Saturday.”
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