Women’s Soccer: Terriers knocked out of Patriot League tournament by Bucknell on penalties
By Cameron Meyer
Last year, Boston University Women’s Soccer (11-8-1, 6-3 PL) lost in heartbreaking fashion to Bucknell (8-5-5, 5-1-3 PL) in the Patriot League Championship. On Thursday, the Terriers went to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania to get revenge on the Bison in their semi-final matchup, but fell short in a penalty shootout after a scoreless 110 minutes.
As the Bucknell faithful rushed onto the field to celebrate with their team after the game, the Terriers were resigned to sullen faces and teary eyes. With the loss, the Terriers were knocked out of the Patriot League tournament and their season came to a close.
“We played a really big game on both sides of the ball,” BU Head Coach Casey Brown said. “It was obviously a really hard fought game I thought we played.”
From kick-off, BU seemed to be on the front foot, patrolling midfield and finding space in the final third. However, the Terriers were unable to capitalize on their early spell of dominance, their best chance coming from Patriot League Freshman of the Year Giulianna Gianino, who put a rebound chance over the bar.
Although they had minimal possession early on, the Bison found chances in transition as they grew into what became an end-to-end game. Patriot League Midfielder of the Year Teresa Deda looked dangerous going forward, but failed to challenge Terrier goalkeeper Celia Braun with her four shots.
The first half was highlighted by intense play and plenty of shots on goal. However, none of the 10 combined shots on target tested either goalkeeper as both backlines held firm, forcing long-range efforts from attackers.
“The backline and our goalkeeping and our whole defensive unit did an incredible job,” Brown said. “I thought we did a good job making it extremely difficult for them to find the back of the net or find clean looks.”
The match started to get increasingly physical as legs started to get tired in the second half. Fluid passing movements turned into crunching challenges late into the game. The Terriers were able to find a couple of good opportunities from forwards Abigail McNulty and Amy Thompson, but Bucknell had better chances in the second 45, urged on by a passionate home crowd.
“That’s what having a home field advantage looks like,” Brown said. “The place was rocking and there were a lot of momentum swings in the game, so it made it really exciting and lively.”
The best of all the Bison chances came in the 81st minute when Ashley Buck took an errant touch that forward Rylee Donaldson pounced on. 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper, the shot by the striker left much to be desired as Gretchen Bennett made an easy save. In total, Bucknell had nine shots in the second half.
In overtime, the Bison continued to be on the front foot, but both teams failed to get many clean looks on goal with stamina running low. However, with three minutes remaining in overtime, the Bison were gifted a golden opportunity to seal the game when defender Eileen Solomon made a bad mistake under pressure, which left Abby Gearhart clear on goal.
Staying on her line, Bennett was able to make an acrobatic stop in the top right corner to keep the game at 0-0, leaving Gearhart with her head in her hands.
“[Bennett] was excellent,” Brown said. “She loves moments like that, she wants big moments.”
The Terriers’ luck ran out in the penalty shootout. After both Julianna Stureman and McNulty hit the bar in their respective kicks from the spot, Donaldson stepped up and slotted the winning penalty away, sending Bucknell to the Patriot League Championship for the second year in a row.
“We played tough, a proper semi-final game back and forth,” Brown said. “Obviously to settle it with penalties is always difficult, but I just told them how much I love them, how proud I am of them, and how enjoyable this whole journey has been.”