Women's Soccer Falls to UConn in OT

by Marc Filippino

After battling through almost 100 minutes of soccer, the Boston University women’s soccer team fell in the opening night of the UConn Classic to tournament host University of Connecticut by a score of 1-0.

The Terriers (2-2-2) and the Huskies (3-2-0) never really broke out of the gate; the game was at a stalemate for most of the time, with neither team taking consistent possession of the ball. There were only five shots in the first half, three of them by BU.

With two minutes left in the first half of overtime, the UConn took advantage of a run down Terrier squad. A cross from Linda Ruutu that Melissa Busque buried into the top left corner of the net ended the game and gave the Terriers their fourth straight game without a win.

“We have to be more composed,” Boston University Coach Nancy Feldman said. “We weren’t taking care of the ball when we needed to, and we were trying to move to fast.”

The Terriers made sloppy passes that were often intercepted by UConn and taking shots that had little behind them. There were a couple of flurries supplied by sophomore midfielder Jessica Luscinski (’12) at the start of the second half, but otherwise the Terriers offense remained silent.

Each of the goalkeepers made fantastic saves in the first half to keep the games scoreless. First, UConn keeper Jessica Dulski made a diving stop to her right to block an Emily Pallotta (’10) shot from trickling in the bottom right corner. Then, BU senior goalkeeper Janie Reilly (’10) jumped completely outstretched to tip a ball over the cross bar, shot by UConn’s Brittany Taylor.

Both teams had several shots that banged off the crossbars and posts to send the game into overtime.

The defense struggled with 2008 America East Defender of the Year and Terriers tri-captain Casey Brown (’10) out with a sprained ankle. With Brown (‘10) out, the Terriers used several younger players to plug her absence. However, Feldman doesn’t blame Brown’s replacements for UConn’s 14 shots.

“Maybe we were lacking a steady voice back there, but I don’t like to make excuses,” Feldman said. “We had enough experienced players on the field”

Both teams had trouble keeping their footing, and making subtle turns due to the constant rain during the game.

Feldman hopes the team can bounce back from the loss, with Penn State on Sunday.

“Its not what happened tonight or what happened last week it where we have to go. We have to stay well determined and to play our style for 90 minutes instead of 10 minutes at a time”