Scarlet Daily Digest: Friday Feature
October 29, 2010 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 29, 2010
Scarlet Daily Digest | Weekend Preview
A LONG DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO POINTS
BU Women’s Soccer Rides Record Shutout Streak into Playoffs
By Scott Weighart, Special to GoTerriers.com
BOSTON - For the last 11 games, opponents have found it pointless to play the Boston University women’s soccer team.
We mean that quite literally. The Terriers have an 11-game shutout streak, longest in program history. With a 2-0 win over Maine last Sunday, the dry spell for opponents is now the sixth-longest in NCAA history. BU has now scored 32 goals since they last surrendered one on Sept. 12.
The running total of goose eggs is 1,000 minutes and two seconds. To put that into perspective, consider this: Graduate student Lisa Kevorkian—a transfer from the UC Berkeley and the team’s leading scorer with 13 goals—hails from Arcadia, Calif. Kevorkian could book a round-trip flight to go to home to LA and watch nothing but videos of the last 11 games each way, and she could make the entire journey of 13+ hours without seeing her team give up a goal.
More importantly, though, the 11-game winning streak ensured that the team finished undefeated and in first place in America East. The Terriers received a first-round bye and will host fourth-seeded Albany in a semifinal game on Halloween. Given that BU has outscored America East opponents by a stunning 25-0 margin this season, there will not be many treats available for the visitors this holiday.
“It’s something we’ve taken a lot of pride in,” tri-captain Corie Halasz says. “We definitely want to set the tempo that we’re the best team in the conference and that we’re going to continue to be the best team in the conference. It’s a mentality. We try to play like champions, and I think we’ve done that all season.”
Tri-captain Lina Cords acknowledged that the shutout streak, winning streak, and undefeated regular season have been extra special. “I think it’s been a huge honor, and I’ve been really happy to be a part of it. It’s been a great season, and we’ve met a lot of our goals.”
Unlike baseball, where a shutout is mainly in the hands of the pitcher, everyone agreed that soccer shutouts are a team accomplishment. In part, this is a case of the best defense being a good offense. “Definitely scoring puts teams on their heels and deflates them, but we have a mentality that we defend all over the field,” Halasz says. “It’s everyone’s job and everyone’s shutouts. The whole team is doing it.”
Head coach Nancy Feldman elaborated on that point. “I think we have a very balanced team, and it’s not just about the defenders or the goalkeepers,” Feldman says. “It’s really about team defending—attention to detail and organization—and it’s also about attack. It’s how well we possess the ball, keep the ball, move the ball—how much we’ve been scoring.”
That said, the team’s goaltending situation has been as excellent as it has been unusual. Typically, freshman goalkeeper Kelly King plays the first half before giving way to junior Alice Binns. “There’s never really a game plan,” Feldman says about ending up with a 50/50 split in net each game. “My hope was that we had a front-line goaltender; it was a concern during the preseason. Having Kelly start and having Alice come in for the second half worked early. We didn’t win every game, but they weren’t the reason that we didn’t win every game. After about six games, we said, ‘Okay, it seems to work.’”
It certainly does. In some games, neither King nor Binns has been tested severely, but there have been several occasions in which one of the other has risen up to preserve the streak. On Sunday (Oct. 24), Binns dashed out and smothered the ball by diving at the feet of an attacking forward, showing real courage. "That’s a great word for how Alice plays,” Feldman says. “She has impeccable timing on those balls that are coming through and that she has to come out for. She’s brave as brave can be.”
On the other end of the field, the offensive fireworks of Kevorkian and junior midfielder Jessica Luscinski have stood out. On Sunday, Luscinski tirelessly worked the left wing, beating defenders to set up crosses repeatedly. Kevorkian is strong and speedy, and her Pac-10 pedigree has given her the confidence to finish balls, though a sore calf had her somewhat off her game on Sunday. She has coasted through the transition from west to east and relished life as a Terrier. “It’s been a really exciting experience,” Kevorkian says. “Playing in the Pac-10, it’s unheard of to go 1) undefeated and 2) with a shutout streak the whole time. So it’s really cool to be on such a dominating force of a team in this conference.”
The question now is how far BU can go in the postseason. After scoring two goals when it could have had at least four against Maine, Feldman was fretting to some degree. “We’ve gotten used to having many opportunities, and that’s not going to be the case going forward. You worry about complacency creeping in. We’re going to have to raise our game at tournament time because other teams are going to be raising their game. I know we’re capable of it, but it will be another level of intensity. Those goals we’re leaving out there, we’re going to have to finish, or we’re going to be in dogfights.”
While the team record of 13 shutouts and the current shutout streak are impressive feats and intriguing factoids, the real measure of this year’s Terriers will be measured in how many more games they win, regardless of how many goals they yield.
“I really have a good feeling about it this year,” Cords said of the playoffs. “We are a really young team but I think we’ve developed a lot this season. We’ve come together really well this year, and hopefully we’ll get beyond the first round.”
“This team has earned a place in history and we’re proud of that, but it’s going to be how we finish,” Feldman says. “That’s going to be the measure of what this 2010 team has accomplished. Do we win a championship? Do we get to the NCAAs and win a couple of games? That’s what people are going to remember.”
Unlike BU’s America East opponents this season, Feldman has a point.
