Women's Soccer Blanks Hofstra In America East Tournament
November 3, 1999 | Women's Soccer
BOSTON (Nov. 3) -- Freshman Suzanne Hudak (Harleysville, PA) scored the game's only goal at the 66:53 mark and senior goalkeepers Meghan Lynch (Andover, Mass.) and Beth Weisman (Potomac, MD) combined to make 7 saves as the Boston University women's soccer team blanked Hofstra, 1-0, in the semifinals of the America East tournament held at B.U.
The victory improved the Terriers' record to 13-7-0, while Hofstra, which was making its first appearance ever in the post-season tournament, finished its season 13-6-0.
This is the third straight year the Terriers have advanced to the America East tournament, but this was their first win in the post-season competition. They will now travel to the University of Hartford on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. match against the Lady Hawks. Hartford, which is shooting for its third straight conference title, advanced to Saturday's title game with a 3-1 win over the University of Delaware earlier in the day (Wednesday). The winner of Saturday's game will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Both B.U. and Hofstra battled to a scoreless tie through the first 45 minutes of action. The Flying Dutchwomen had the advantage in shots, 7-3, but neither team could beat the opposing goalkeeper.
The second half belonged to the Terriers, who outshot the visitors, 13-5.
However, it wasn't until the 67th minute that Hudak took a feed from Deidre Enos.
Enos, who was named the league's Player of the Year earlier in the day after leading America East in scoring, came streaking down the right side of the field.
She fed the ball to Hudak in stride, who then drilled the ball over Hofstra's leaping goalkeeper, Joanne Chillingsworth.
Hofstra threatened to tie the game with just 14:14 to play when Christa Eidenweil took a shot that went just wide to the left of the Terrier goal.
Splitting the play in the goal for the Terriers were Lynch, who played the first half and had 2 saves, while Weisman, who improved her record to 7-2-0, had five saves in the second half.
"I think we played very well tonight," said Terrier head coach Nancy Feldman. "We had our A game. I think we controlled the match. We defended well, and we got very good play in our goal."
This marked the second time in less than a week that these two teams had played. Last Friday night (October 29th), the Terriers posted a 3-1 win over the Flying Dutchwomen. The victory assured B.U. a second-place finish in the final America East standings, and thus earned them the home field advantage for tonight's game.
"I think it helped that we had played them just a few days ago," said the coach. "In that way, we knew their style of play."
Now the Terriers will begin concentrating on Hartford.
"I can start thinking about them," Feldman said of the Lady Hawks, who finished atop the final league standings with a 9-0-0 record. "We lost to them by just a 1-0 score earlier in the year, and I think we can be competitive against them. They are a great team, but I know we will play hard.
"Our goal at the beginning of the season was to make the NCAA Tournament, and we are just one win away from reaching that goal," concluded the coach.
Scoring Summary Hofstra (13-6-0; 7-2-0) 0 0 -- 0 Boston University (13-7-0; 8-1-0) 0 1 -- 1First Half: No scoring Second Half: Suzanne Hudak (Deidre Enos), 66:53
Shots: B.U., 16; Hofstra, 12 Saves; Meghan Lynch (B.U.), 2; Beth Weisman (B.U.), 5; Joanne Chillingworth (HU), 2
Corner Kicks: B.U., 9; HU, 3
