BOSTON—The Boston University women's soccer team heads to Holy Cross on Wednesday for the first Turnpike Trophy contest of the year. The game is set for 7 p.m. at Smith Soccer Stadium.
This marks the first time
Nancy Feldman will face one of her Boston University student-athletes as a head coach, with former BU player and assistant coach Casey Brown at the helm of the Crusaders. Feldman has faced one of her former student-athletes before, however, in her very first game as the head coach of the Terriers in 1995 when the team opened their varsity program against St. Joseph's, coached by a former Plymouth State player.
THE CRUSADERS
Holy Cross is currently 2-10-2 this season including a 1-3-2 mark in Patriot League play. Their record places them ninth in the conference standings, though a pair of wins puts them in contention for the Patriot Leauge Tournament.
Andj Seslija leads the team with six goals this season and is one of three players with multiple goals this year. Brook Holle has seen the most time in goal and has a 1-5-2 record, 1.86 goals against average and .717 save percentage.
CLEAN SHEETS
The Terriers won four-straight conference contest by way of the shut out, defeating American, Colgate, Loyola Maryland and Lafayette without allowing a single goal. The BU defense allowed just 2.5 shots on net per game throughout these contests and
Bridget Conway and
Hannah Ciolek, who split equal minutes in goal, stopped all 10 shots that came their way. Conway has not allowed a goal in the last six games, including the last two outings against Harvard and Lehigh, during which she played the first half.
TERRIERS START WITH TOUGH SLATE
Boston University began its season with one of the most difficult schedules in all of Division I women's soccer, which included two top-25 teams, No. 15 Connecticut and No. 18 Virginia Tech. Going into this weekend, the combined winning percentage of the 10 teams the Terriers began the season against is 68 percent (93-40-14). The 10 teams have collectively lost just 40 games at this point in the season. BU also faced three opponents for the first time in program history during the first eight games, including VT, Cincinnati and Arizona State.
BU SELECTED AS PATRIOT LEAGUE FAVORITE
For the fourth straight year, the Terriers were chosen to win the Patriot League title. BU was tabbed for the fourth straight crown by the league's coaches and sports information directors in the annual preseason poll. BU totaled 16 first-place votes and 160 total points in the poll, the most the team has ever received. Last year's runner-up, Bucknell, grabbed the remaining four first-place nods and was picked to finish second this season.
RECORD FOUR TERRIERS NAMED ALL-PL
After starting the last three straight seasons with two Terriers named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team, a record four earned the honor this year with 2015 Rookie of the Year
McKenna Doyle making the list alongside classmate
Julianna Chen. Senior captains
Rachel Blauner and
Rachel Bloznalis also made the list and Bloznalis earned the added distinction of being picked as the Preseason Patriot League Defender of the Year. All four Terriers earned All-Patriot League Team honors last season and Bloznalis is the only returning first team member for this year.
CAPTAIN RACHEL(S)
Seniors
Rachel Blauner and
Rachel Bloznalis were named captains for the season. Blauner returns for a fifth year this season and serves as a captain for the second time. The pair form the backbone to the Terrier defensive unit this season. The three other seniors,
Bridget Conway,
Ellen Starnes and
Erica Kosienski will also be called upon to guide the youngest Terriers in their final year in the program.
EIGHT NEWCOMERS JOIN THE FOLD
BU welcomes eight newcomers to the fold in 2016.
Chloee Sagmoe will serve as an attacking midfielder this season while
Ann Marie Jaworski and
Jordan Bailey will be beside her in center midfield. The Terriers picked up two new defenders in
Shannon Keefe and transfer student
Royce Light, who comes to BU after playing her freshman year at NYU. With the loss of Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year
Alyssa Parisi, the Terriers add
Emma Heil between the posts.
Rachel Kingston and
Kelly Park round out the newcomers and will add to the attacking unit as forwards this season.
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