Top-Seeded Terriers Host Albany in AE Semifinals
October 30, 2010 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 30, 2010
Scarlet Daily Digest: Friday Feature | Terriers Sweep AE Awards
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BOSTON - Hot on the heels of the announcement that it swept all the major AE annual awards, the Boston University women's soccer team (14-5-0) is now turning its focus to the 2010 America East Women's Soccer Championships as it will host No. 4 Albany (10-7-2) on Sunday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. on Nickerson Field.
BU, the top-ranked squad in the tourney, recently discovered that it had swept all six major year-end conference honors. Junior Jessica Luscinski earned Striker of the Year accolades, senior Shauna Kelleher was named the Midfielder of the Year, and senior Corie Halasz kept BU's streak alive by garnering the program's fourth-straight Defender of the Year award. The goalkeeping duo of junior Alice Binns and freshman Kelly King also took home hardware as the Goalkeeper and Rookie of the Year, respectively. Boston University's coaches, led by 16th-year head coach Nancy Feldman, were tabbed Coaching Staff of the Year.
Heading into Sunday's contest, BU brings with it a rich history in the America East tourney. In 16 years as a varsity program, it has won eight America East Championships, including seven of the last 10 titles, and is 14-4-2 in AE post-season conference action. As a top seed, the Terriers are undefeated with a 10-0-1 mark. BU owns a 9-0-0 record against Albany, however, the two squads have never faced off in the postseason.
The story of the season has not only been BU's prolific offense, but also its rock-solid defense. Firing on all cylinders, the Terriers have outscored opponents 43-10 and won a program record 11-straight games. During the winning streak, which began on Sept. 16 in a 3-0 victory at Harvard, BU has outscored its opponents 32-0, and with one of the nation's stingiest backlines, now owns the sixth longest shutout streak in NCAA history.
In all, BU has broken records for shutouts in a season (13), longest winning streak (11), and consecutive shutouts (11). Individually, a number of student-athletes have flourished, as the offensive tandem of Luscinski and graduate student Lisa Kevorkian has disrupted opposing defenses all season long. Kevorkian is currently third in the BU record books for single-season goals (13) and points (31), while Luscinski has moved up in the BU annals and ranks ninth all-time among BU scorers with 49 career points. Kevorkian has also established herself as one of the nation's most prolific scorers this season. She currently ranks 11th for total points and 13th for total goals.
On the defensive end, King and Binns have combined for a program-record 13 shutouts and a .684 shutout percentage - good for sixth in the country. Additionally the defense ranks eighth in goals-against average (0.53) and 12th in save percentage (.877).
Albany, which hosted its first Division I postseason match, advanced to the semifinal round of the America East Women's Soccer Championships for the first time in program history after defeating No. 5 New Hampshire, 2-1, on Thursday afternoon in Albany, N.Y. With that victory, the Great Danes matched their highest win total since posting a 10-6-2 mark in 1988.
Shayla Bergeron is UA's leading scorer with nine goals and 18 points. Chelsea DeVerna and Chrissy Klepper have also netted multiple goals in 2010 with six and five points, respectively. In between the pipes, Breanna Maggio has seen the majority of time and she has accumulated a 9-4-2 record with seven shutouts.
Kick-off is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday with the winner advancing to next weekend's championship game.
