Women’s Soccer: Terriers pick up first win of season on road at Colgate

By Anna Rozinzky

Boston University Women’s Soccer (1-6-3, 1-0-1 PL) earned their first win on Wednesday night against Patriot League opponent Colgate (2-8-1, 0-2-0 PL) away in Hamilton, New York.

The Terriers came back from behind in a last-minute victory after being tied up for most of the game.

“It feels really great, I’m really happy for the team, they deserve this, it’s been coming for some time now,” BU head coach Casey Brown said. “There was a ton of resiliency and fight from the team tonight.”.

With the rain coming down heavily to start the game, BU started the game on the defensive, forcing freshman goalkeeper Bridget Carr to make some impressive saves, including a diving save from Carr to the right post to keep Colgate from getting the early lead.

The Terriers still managed to keep the pressure on their opponent, staying high in the offensive half while on defense and making some important defensive plays near their own net. In the 17th minute, Carr made a diving save, leaving an empty net with defenders stepping and clearing the ball to keep the Raiders from getting a clear scoring chance.

BU tried building up on offense, but with a turnover in the offensive half in the 19th minute and a quick turnaround from Colgate, the Terriers found themselves 1-0 down with a one-touch bar-down finish for Colgate’s Ari Bezanson off of a layoff from forward Ellie Stokes.

Colgate continued to look dangerous until the 30th minute, with BU getting their first real chance on offense with a through ball from freshman midfielder Olivia Avellar to junior Guilianna Gianino who was stopped with a smother from Colgate goalkeeper Ella Poppinga.

BU managed to even things up with ten minutes to play with a drive to the end line that forced Poppinga to leave her line, leaving an open net for the cross and tap-in for BU midfielder Kaiya Stewart, her first collegiate goal and the first Terrier goal of the game.

Going into halftime, the Raiders had fifteen shots compared to the Terriers two, with BU looking to hold onto their momentum from the end of the half.

With the rain picking up, both teams had to adjust to the elements entering the second half. “I think it was kind of crazy on both sides,” Brown remarked post-game. “If it was heavy all game it would have been tough to play with our style.” However, the rain was “on and off and we were able to secure the ball.”

BU came out of the half with some early momentum, quickly building and getting a few shots off. An unfortunate turnover in the defensive end led to another combination from Stokes and Bezanson from Colgate in the 53rd minute, putting the Raiders up 2-1.

The Terriers fought back quickly, with forward Margy Porta getting an opening at the top of the box in the 58th minute for a left-footed far-side net finish that leveled the game back out to 2-2.

With their regained momentum, BU kept the tempo high throughout the second half, leading to dangerous scoring chances. A key takeaway in the 68th minute gave the Terriers another scoring chance off of a corner, which was waived off due to a foul in the box.

Colgate picked up some chances late in the half, with a scoring play in the 75th minute that made its way to the back of the net, but was ultimately called off due to a foul. BU had to continue to shut down the Raiders’ offensive attack with some dangerous breakaways as the game neared towards the final ten minutes, the defense stepping up to make several key plays.

“Across all the lines the team was so committed defensively” Brown said. “I think that shows the mentality of who we are. You really begin to see it when it counts.”

With some fouls by the Terriers late in the game, including a yellow on senior Hugrún Helgadóttir, it looked like BU was headed to another tie. The Terriers gave a last-minute offensive push down the field, with a dangerous shot by forward Samantha Aronson. Poppinga made the save, pushing it over the net, giving BU the corner kick with 2 minutes to spare.

Graduate captain Lily Matthews took the corner, which was placed perfectly as it curved its way into the net off the kick, giving the Terriers their first lead of the game and their first win of the season.

The Terriers look to continue their winning streak as they return home Saturday for another Patriot League match-up against Lehigh, with kickoff set for 1 p.m.