Women’s Soccer: BU Dominates on Senior Day Against American

Featured Image by Troy Bolduc

By Finley Rogan

Boston University Women’s Soccer (7-4-3, 4-1-1 PL) turned Nickerson Field into a scoring showcase Saturday, defeating the American Eagles (2-9-3, 2-4 PL) 6-0.

“Everything is clicking at the right moment,” senior defender Helene Tyburczy said.

Tyburczy was among BU’s eight players in the senior class. Ahead of kickoff, BU honored these eight players, which included some of the team’s strongest players: forward Margy Porta, midfielders Giulianna Gianino and Mackenzie Stickelman and defender Morgan Weaver. 

“They are truly the heartbeat of this program,” BU Head Coach Megan Burke said.

While the Terriers walked into the match with a four-game winning streak, the Eagles were still searching for their first road victory of the season.

BU opened the match with an early scoring chance in the fifth minute. Gianino delivered a lofted cross to junior forward Ava Maguire, who tried to convert it on goal, but goalkeeper Addison Roemer came up with the save. 

Just a few minutes later, BU won another corner. Tyburczy tracked the ball off Gianino’s assist and used her height to power a clean header into the back of the net. 

BU had a 1-0 lead within just seven minutes.

“Before the game, we were all talking about doing it for the seniors,” Tyburczy said. “It was really great to score on my Senior Day and be there with my team.”

Sophomore goalkeeper Bridget Carr made her first save in the 16th minute on a long free kick attempt. Although it did not challenge Carr by any means, it was her first action of the afternoon.

The Terriers were awarded a penalty in the 17th minute. Gianino had no trouble slotting the attempt home — and BU led 2-0.

By the 25th minute, the Terriers were in clear control. They led 4-1 in shots on goal, and led 6-0 in corners.

BU netted its third goal early in the 26th minute. After a few deflections off defenders in the box, freshman forward Nina Tzouganatos found the ball with her left foot and struck it into the right side of the net — her first career goal. 

After an extended period of possession in the Eagles’ territory, sophomore forward Juliana Osterman controlled the ball outside the left corner of the box. Osterman curled a deep shot off her right foot into the goal, bringing the Terriers’ lead to 4-0.

The Terriers did not take their foot off the gas, continuing to pressure American until halftime. In just those first 45 minutes, BU led 15-2 in shot attempts and 10-1 in shots on target. 

The Terriers made one change at halftime — replacing Carr with senior goalkeeper Susan Shobeiri.

BU got right back to their goalscoring ways in the 47th minute. Junior forward Ava Maguire played a cross into the feet of sophomore forward Olivia Avellar, who easily converted the chance, making the score 5-0. 

The Terriers, naturally, netted the sixth goal of the match with their sixth different scorer of the day. From the left side, Maguire rolled a pinpoint cross into the box, where senior midfielder Shayla Brown met it and buried her first goal of the season into the upper-left corner. 

The second half followed the same recipe as the first, with BU piling on shots to finish with a 29-3 advantage.

“It’s just great when you have a threat from all different positions,” Burke said. “We got obviously a couple forwards, a couple mids in there and even the center back.”

BU’s backline stood tall once again, securing the team’s fourth consecutive shutout. The Terriers have not surrendered a goal at Nickerson Field since Aug. 22 against Fairfield. 

“We’re just proud to play on Nickerson and defend Nickerson,” Tyburczy said.

The Terriers will be in action again Oct. 25 at 1 p.m. when they travel to Pennsylvania to face the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, with streaming available on ESPN+.