Rough Road for Terriers

by Tristan Hobbes

After out-shooting their opponents 45-4 and winning their first two games of the season 2-0, the Boston University women’s soccer team was brought back to reality on Wednesday night against the Boston College Eagles. The Terriers suffered a 2-0 loss to their cross-town rivals and 16th ranked Eagles, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.

That short trip down Commonwealth Ave. to Chestnut Hill marked the beginning of one of the longest and most grueling stretches in women’s soccer history. Wednesday's game was game one of an epic six-game road stretch that includes three of the nation's traditional powers (BC, West Virginia and UConn).

Take a look at some of these numbers:
- A bus ride to Loyola (MD), located in Baltimore is 402 miles, about ten hours or so. That is why we have planes.
- From Loyola to West Virginia is roughly 216 miles or seven hours. Once again, an airplane is a great invention.
- After two flights, a seemingly short bus ride, 84 miles (1 1/2 hours), will be taken to Storrs, Connecticut for the UConn Classic. If the team does not stay overnight, it will be four separate trips of 84 miles.
- The six-game stretch will conclude with a hop, skip and a jump as the Terriers travel to Northeastern on September 18th.

The longest stretch of games on the road is five dating back to 1998. This occurred in five separate campaigns and last in 2003 when the Terriers began their season with five consecutive road games. BU went 1-3-1 in that stretch but rebounded and finished the season 12-6-5 and qualified for the NCAA tournament.

BU head coach Nancy Feldman knows all about stretches like this and feels her team is ready for the test. “We are going to get tested in the next five games," noted Feldman after Wednesday’s game at BC. "This is going to be a grueling part of the schedule and we will be ok because I know we will attack every game like [tonight]."

For a team that is looking to make a splash on the national stage, this five-game stretch will be a huge measuring stick. The Terriers, a dominate force in the American East, will be tested by some of the nation’s best. If BU can put together some good "team soccer" and win three or four of these games, it should give them a huge momentum boost heading into the conference season. For other teams of the AE, this could mean the end of their championship notions before the conference season even begins.

These are the teams and kind of games that BU will need to win in order to be mentioned with the elite teams in the country. But, as coach Feldman and the rest of the Terriers know; “the next thing we have to get ready for is Friday and getting ready to go for Loyola.”