Women’s Soccer: Terriers Knock Off Army 3-1
BY: Matt Doherty
Despite dominating the first half of play, Boston University went into halftime tied at zero with the visiting Army Black Knights. Not letting the results discourage them, the Terriers continued their onslaught in the second half. The results came, as BU used three second half goals to win their seventh consecutive Patriot League game, 3-1.
In front of their home crowd on a slippery Nickerson Field, the Terriers rattled off 12 first half shots. However, Army senior goalkeeper Jordan Cassalia played the half of her life making eight saves. Cassalia recorded diving saves on shots from Jesse Shreck while turning away multiple flurries from the BU offense.
With Cassalia keeping the Knights in the game, the two teams headed into the break with nothing to show on the scoreboard despite BU outshooting Army 12-2.
“[Cassalia] was sensational,” Head Coach Nancy Feldman said about Cassalia’s first half performance.
However, the Terriers kept testing Cassalia and in the opening minutes of the second half, their persistent attack came through. Senior Erica Kosienski controlled a pass from Chelsea Churchill on the left side and sent a low shot that beat a diving Cassalia. Kosienski’s first goal of the season gave BU a 1-0 lead
“I thought we needed to come out and carry on how we ended the first half, and really keep our foot on the gas and be aggressive,” Feldman said.
Kelly Park continued that aggression in the second half. The true freshman from San Jose nearly scored her second career collegiate goal but her shot ended up nailing the crossbar.
Just minutes later though, Park’s fortunes changed. This time she controlled a loose ball in front of the net and made sure not to miss, sending a shot pass Cassalia to make it 2-0 Terriers.
Park wasn’t done yet. The freshman then connected on her third career goal nearly two minutes later when her shot from outside the box went off the hands of Cassalia and into the back of net. Feldman praised her star freshman after the game
“She came in ready to go…She’s so coachable. She’s marvelously talented, she’s hard working, she has great spirit, great confidence,” Feldman said.
Park’s second half performance contributed to an all around stellar afternoon for the BU offense which tallied a whopping 28 shots. Not to be outdone, the defense did their job, when called upon, surrendering only 5 shots.
Army did add a goal in the final minutes of regulation to make the final score 3-1, but even the scoreboard doesn’t do justice to how dominant the Terriers played.
With the win, BU improved to (7-10-1, 7-1 PL) while Army dropped to (4-10-2, 2-4-2 PL). The Terriers also clinched a quarterfinal bye for the upcoming Patriot League tournament.
After a Bucknell loss on Saturday, BU is now tied with the Bison at the top of the standings but Bucknell holds the tiebreaker. However, with a BU win next Saturday against Navy and a Bucknell loss against Army, the Terriers will win the league and host the conference tournament.
Either way, the win on Saturday represents another dominant performance for Feldman’s squad.
Kickoff for the Terrier’s final regular season game will take place next Saturday at Nickerson Field when the United States Naval Academy comes to Boston for Senior Day.