Women’s Soccer: BU Extends Winning Streak to Four, Defeats Holy Cross 1-0

By Finley Rogan

Boston University Women’s Soccer (6-4-3, 3-1-1 PL) defeated the Holy Cross Crusaders (5-5-4, 2-1-2 PL) 1-0 Wednesday night at Nickerson Field. 

“It’s not always pretty, but bottom line is you just got to find a way to win sometimes,” BU Head Coach Megan Burke said. 

After winning three games in a row, the Terriers entered play scorching hot. Holy Cross was on a small streak of their own, entering the match with two wins on the bounce.

The Terriers had the first chance of the match in the third minute, but after two quality saves, Crusaders’ goalkeeper Aubrey Haesche was able to fall on the ball and shut down the Terrier attack.

The match opened up slowly, as each team had difficulty gaining and maintaining possession.

In the 22nd minute, BU had another flurry of chances, but none of their shots were on target. One of the attacks resulted in a Crusader goal kick. The Terriers controlled the attack for most of the first half but struggled to create any quality scoring chances.

In the final 15 minutes of the half, Holy Cross began to connect on more passes and maintain possession in BU’s end. However, their time on the ball amounted to nothing, and quickly, the field flipped back in BU’s favor.

The match remained scoreless at halftime. The first 45 minutes saw BU taking a total of seven shots, while Holy Cross had just two. However, the Crusader defense remained strong against the Terriers’ dominance in possession.

There was some frustration in the dressing room among the team, Burke said, but the coaching staff encouraged sticking to the gameplan and results will come.

The Terriers broke through the deadlock in the 51st minute. Just outside the left side of the 18 yard-box, junior forward Ava Maguire misplayed a cross, which instead looped right over the goalkeeper and into the Crusaders’ goal. 

Whether it was luck or perfect technique, it did not matter — the Terriers finally had their lead.

“I think it hit the ball with the right part of my foot because it ended up in the back of the net,” Maguire said.

After the miraculous moment, the match resumed its prior pace of deflections, bouncing balls and jumbled possession. Through the chaos, BU senior forward Giulianna Gianino managed to get a couple shots on target, but neither was enough to put the Terriers up two goals.

As the second half wore on, scoring chances remained sparse. Holy Cross began to push more players forward, while the Terriers remained determined to find a second goal.

BU avoided disaster in the 86th minute. After a fluid attack, Holy Cross forward Ava Graham chipped the ball over BU sophomore goalkeeper Bridget Carr. The shot was inches from crossing the line before senior midfielder Macknezie Stickelman came out of nowhere to make a miracle clearance. 

BU wound up holding on to win 1-0 after a stress-filled final 10 minutes. The Terriers showed their resistance and extended their Patriot League winning streak to four matches.

It was also marked BU’s third consecutive clean sheet. While Carr has remained a steady presence in goal, the back three are continuing to play assertively.

The win keeps the Terriers tied atop the Patriot League table with Colgate, with just three regular season matches remaining.

“We obviously have a lot of momentum going on a four-game win streak,” Burke said. “We have to just carry that through the rest of regular season.”

BU will take on the American Eagles Saturday at Nickerson Field, starting at 1 p.m. The match will be available to stream on ESPN+.