Home-Conference Advantage

by Marc Filippino

With the Terriers coming off mediocre non-conference play (4-4-2), it’s refreshing to see finally facing a familiar opponent - the Binghamton Bearcats. The Terriers have dominated the Bearcats, going 8-1 all-time. But it’s not only the Bearcats the Terriers crush: it’s the entire America East.

In the last four seasons the Terriers have a 30-2-3 record against in conference opponents.

BU was perfect in-conference last year (8-0) and captured the America East Championship. They let up just four goals in that entire span while scoring 20. And here’s the kicker: this is the second time they have gone undefeated against the conference. BU went 7-0-1 in 2005, outscoring conference opponents 13-3.

Are the Terriers really this good, or are the teams they play really not so good?
It’s a combination of both. BU always has top players who can compete at national levels, which is why they face nationally ranked teams each year. They have also made it to the NCAA playoffs each of the past two years.

On the contrary, in the last three years, only Boston University, Stony Brook, and Hartford, have maintained winning percentage of over .500. Only two other teams were above .500 in that span, Hartford and Maine, and they only did it once (by the skin of their teeth).

BU head coach Nancy Feldman says the quality of players is one of the reasons why the Terriers have fared so well against conference opponents.

“We have some of the players in the conference,” Feldman said. “The kids have done a really good job of approaching with the same mentality. They got to go out and do it and if they don’t play their best soccer they could risk losing a game they shouldn’t lose.”

Senior Taleen Dmirdjian (’10), who scored her first two collegiate goals against Binghamton, said that the out of conference games against ranked teams gives them a chance to prepare for lesser teams.

“We play really great teams,” Dimirdjian ('10) said. “We’re getting ready for this tournament which we absolutely destroy, because the level that we’re playing before is so high, and it sets our level of competition up high. We’re great were better than this conference...”

Will the Terriers go undefeated again this year? Maybe. Maine is the only team in the conference who has a winning record this season. Right now, the Terriers offensive power outage is long forgotten, as their ability to score has returned. There’s no way to predict the end of the season, but if history repeats itself, we may have a good idea what may happen.