Boston U women beat UConn

BOSTON -  Backed by a three-goal outburst in the second half, the Boston University women’s soccer team (5-5-0) claimed a thrilling 3-0 victory over regional rival Connecticut (4-3-2) on Sunday afternoon at Nickerson Field. Junior Jessica Luscinski scored one goal and added an assist, and junior Lina Cords and sophomore Adrienne Anderson provided insurance goals midway through the second stanza.

 

Luscinski scored the go-ahead goal in the 55th minute to break the scoreless deadlock off a goal-line pass from graduate student Lisa Kevorkian, and Anderson upped the lead to two nearly 13 minutes later off a feed from freshman Kylie Strom. Cords topped it off with her first goal of the season off a Luscinski corner kick to give BU its largest victory in the series history with UConn and avenge a season-ending loss last year in the NCAA Tournament.

 

The best opportunity of the first half came when UConn’s Jessica Shufelt sent a high arching shot toward the crossbar, however, freshman Kelly King, who finished the first half with six saves, came up with a leaping stop as she pushed the ball just over the net. On the ensuing corner kick, the Huskies unleashed back-to-back shots that the BU defense was able to block and UConn continued with its onslaught when Elise Fugowski aimed for the far left corner, but once again King came up with the stop.

 

After a relatively quiet first half on the offensive front, BU came alive in the final few minutes of the stanza when it earned back-to-back corner kicks that resulted in a flurry inside the night and sophomore Brea Hewitt and junior Tayler Nichols fired off consecutive shots inside the six-yard box.

 

In the 53rd minute, Luscinski broke the deadlock with her fourth goal of the season. Kevorkian came rushing through the box and sent a short crisp pass along the goal line to Luscinski, who one-timed it toward the goal, and after an initial save she fought off a defender and slotted it in.

 

Anderson extended the lead in the 68th minute, when she flicked it past Jessica Dulski after receiving a serve from Strom on the far left side. Six minutes later, Cords headed home a beautiful goal off a Luscinski corner kick. Cords, leaping above everyone else on the field, rocketed the shot towards the left corner, making it impossible to stop.

 

After BU’s third goal, the backline held the Huskies to three shots in the final 17 minutes to earn its fourth shutout of the season.

 

BU returns to action on Sunday (Sept. 26) when it opens its America East slate with New Hampshire on Nickerson Field at 1 p.m.