Women’s Soccer: Terriers drop second straight, fall 1-0 to Yale

By Hannah Yoshinaga 

Just days after rattling off its first two wins of head coach Casey Brown’s tenure, the Boston University women’s soccer team (2-3-0) dropped its second straight game on Thursday with a 1-0 loss to Yale (2-0-1).

The Terriers found themselves in a stalemate with the Bulldogs for nearly the entire first half of the match. Missed opportunities by redshirt senior forward Jenna Oldham, freshman midfielder Giulianna Gianino — a two-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week awardee — and Yale’s Chloe Laureano left the two teams scoreless with the halfway mark approaching.

However, just moments after Gianino’s shot sailed north of the goal, the Bulldogs’ Alanna Butcher netted a score off an assist by Belle Golden to give Yale a one-goal advantage in the 21st minute. It was the first goal of the season for sophomore midfielder Butcher and the fourth point for freshman defender Golden, who ranks second in points on the Bulldogs’ roster.

The second half of the match looked much like the beginning of the first, with neither team managing to challenge offensively despite BU outshooting Yale during the period 4-1.

The Bulldogs finished with the edge in goal, where goalkeeper Maya Bellomo registered four saves compared to zero from the Terriers’ Gretchen Bennett.

Thursday’s match marked the second consecutive year that BU and Yale have faced one another, though the Terriers came away with a 1-0 victory in last season’s contest. Prior to 2021, the two New England-based programs had not met on the pitch since 2011.

BU’s next game comes on Sunday at 4 p.m. at Nickerson Field against crosstown rival Boston College, whom they have 5-20-1 all-time record against. The Terriers are 1-8-1 in their last 10 matches against the Eagles.