Boston University women beat Washington

BOSTON - In front of a crowd of 2,004 fans, the Boston University women’s soccer team handed Washington, a team receiving votes in the most recent NSCAA poll, its first loss of the season as it won by a 3-0 margin. Junior Jessica Luscinski broke the scoreless deadlock in the first half with a beautiful shot to the far left post, and freshman Emma Clark and sophomore Jessica Morrow added insurance tallies in the second stanza.


The Terriers more than held their own against the Pac-10 squad as they were aggressive in the offensive third and held a dominating 8-2 advantage in corner kicks. Both teams unloaded 13 shots with the Huskies maintaining the slight 7-6 edge in shots on net.

 
Freshman Kelly King and junior transfer Alice Binns shared the shutout with two and five saves, respectively. King got the nod in the first half and came up with a pair of spectacular stops, including one where she came aggressively off her line to smother a shot attempt near the 18. Binns took over in the second half and was just as strong as she made a similar save in a one-on-one situation, coming off her line and preserving the blank sheet.
 

After a quiet start to the game that saw neither team finding its rhythm, the Terriers peppered the Washington defense with a flurry of shots at the 12:43 mark. Luscinski sent a corner kick right into the middle of the pack and senior Lina Cords and Morrow rocketed off back-to-back shots that were blocked by the Huskies’ defense and ushered out of danger.
 

Washington had a good opportunity when McKenna Waitley headed a beautiful cross right into the six-yard box, which Sarah Martinez nearly got on the end of but just missed the connection as the ball skipped out of bounds for a BU goal kick.
 

King made a huge save that got the crowd on its feet in the 27th minute when she came off line and smothered a shot attempt by Kellye Joswick up near the 18-yard box. Four minutes later, junior Tiya Gallegos nearly broke through as she one-timed a cross from senior Corie Halasz inside the six-yard box that Jordan LaFontaine-Kussman stopped point-blank only two feet away and punched out of bounds.
 

Luscinski broke the scoreless deadlock in the 40th minute as she beat a Washington defender coming down the right side and unleashed a rocket to the upper left corner that was perfectly placed in between the cross bar and post, making it impossible to reach.


In the second half, the Terriers made it a 2-0 advantage in the 52nd minute when Clark chipped it in for her first collegiate goal off a feed from senior Shauna Kelleher. Just 15 minutes later, the Terriers  stretched the lead to three goals when Luscinski stepped up to take a corner kick and sent a cross into the box that freshman Kylie Strom got a foot on, sending it straight to Morrow, who headed it home.

 

The Terriers’ defense took over from there, allowing just four shots in the final 20 minutes as they held on for their second straight win.

 

BU will next face No. 7 Boston College on Friday (Sept. 3) at 7 p.m. on Nickerson Field.