The day began with a dedication to Breast Cancer Awareness Month, both teams sporting pink warm-up shirts and ribbons in their hair, brightening the cloudy day. A bundled-up crowd of 236 cheered loudly as the starting lineups were announced.
Leaves fluttered to the field as senior forward Bella Miller fired the first shot for the American University Eagles in the 11th minute, a strong start to the exciting but eventual Oct. 17 American women’s soccer team (0-11-4, 0-5-2) loss against Boston University (6-8-2, 3-3-1) on a crisp autumn afternoon.
The drama began early with a necessary save by freshman goalkeeper Riley Molbury after a shot by Terriers midfielder Samantha Aronson hit the crossbar and looked to bounce in. As Boston was given another scoring opportunity, Eagles defensive sophomore Natalia Croce took down a Terrier inside the box and a foul was called.
American called for video assistant referee (VAR) review, but the call stood and a penalty kick was awarded to the Terriers. The Eagles bench protested the call enough that the referee presented them a yellow card.
The crowd sat in tense silence as senior forward Kat Slott stepped up to take the shot for Boston, and erupted in cheers as the Terriers’ shot sailed over the goal.
There was little respite before Boston was on the attack again. A run down the middle was shut down by American freshman center back Autumn Freeman. The Eagles turned on the offensive and made a play up the right sideline, with Miller crossing the ball into the box. In the midst of the chaos, Eagles senior defender Bella Vozar was taken down in the box but no whistle was blown.
American called for a VAR review again, which luckily worked in their favor this time. Terriers junior defender Alli Powderly was given a foul, and the Eagles were awarded a penalty kick. The sun broke through the clouds as Eagles senior midfielder Lauren Sanders stepped up for the shot. The senior midfielder sent the ball straight to the back of the net for the first goal of the game 20 minutes in.
Possession was split between the two teams until a steal and shot by Terrier sophomore forward Georgia Prouty outside the box tied the game up at 1-1 in the 29th minute. After their goal, Boston held the pressure on American, taking 3 shots in as many minutes with Molbury making 2 critical saves.
The intensity between the two teams continued to rise until a header by Terrier freshman midfielder Arianna Schwinn-Clanton, assisted by junior forward Olivia Avellar, landed the ball in the back of the net at the 41st minute. At the end of the first half, American trailed 2-1.
The second half saw the Eagles’ defense holding strong, keeping Terriers at bay. The defensive strategy seemed to be working for American, as a through ball to sophomore defender Jayden Fisher landed a scoring opportunity for the Eagles in the 51st minute, but Fisher’s shot fired wide of the post.
With the Terriers on a quick counter, a shot from Slott was met with a diving save from Molbury. The 52nd minute save was the second of 8 saves in the second half for the freshman, including 3 back-to-back saves off a corner kick in the 85th minute.
American had one final opportunity with a free kick in the 89th minute, but it just wasn’t enough and Boston took the narrow win.
Despite the loss, head coach Phil Casella showed his support for his team.
“Obviously the result hurts,” Casella said. “But when you go back and look at what the kids did in terms of their work ethic and the defending, obviously super satisfied with that.”
The Terriers were relentless, putting up 18 shots against American in the second half. However, the Eagles kept within one for the rest of the game: an accomplishment coach Casella took pride in.
“[American] lost 6-0 last year,” Casella said. “To go out against a team that is consistently in the championship like that, super proud of the ladies’ effort and their battle and their heart and dedication for 90 minutes.”
The Eagles fell 0-3 to the Navy Midshipmen (12-4-2, 5-1-1) on Oct. 23. They seek out victory against Holy Cross (7-6-3, 3-2-2) on Nov. 1 before their final home game against Bucknell (6-7-3, 3-2-2) on Nov. 4.
This article was edited by Matthias Jaylen, Jack Stashower and Gabrielle McNamee. Copy editing done by Avery Grossman, Nicole Kariuki, Rena Jalon and Abigail Jose.
