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GAME NOTES

The Boston University women’s soccer team (13-4-4) opens play in the NCAA Tournament Thursday night against the University of Connecticut (15-4-2) at 6 p.m. The match will take place in Storrs, Conn., at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium, followed by Boston College (11-5-2) vs. Dartmouth (12-4-1). Thursday’s winners will meet in the second round on Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m.

The BU-UConn game is a rematch of the 2003 NCAA Tournament first round, where the Huskies beat the Terriers 1-0 en route to a berth in the national championship game. That game represents the only meeting between the schools, located just 86 miles apart. The Terriers are making their fourth NCAA Tournament in just their 11th year of existence. BU was eliminated in the second round in 2000 and the first round in 2001 and 2003. UConn, ranked 13th in the nation, has been invited to the NCAA Tournament in all 24 years of the event’s existence. The Huskies have advanced to the title game on four occasions, however, have never won.

BU is led by head coach Nancy Feldman (UMass ’83), who is the only mentor in program history. In 11 years on the bench, Feldman has a 135-68-19 record at BU, and she is 227-89-26 in 18 years overall. Feldman is the five-time America East Coach of the Year and she has led the Terriers to four regular-season and tournament championships.

On the field, the Terriers are led by local product Meghann Cook (Melrose, Mass.), the 2005 America East Striker of the Year. Cook is the leading scorer on the team with 25 points (9G, 7A), and she is BU’s all-time leader in assists with 25. Melissa Shulman (Huntington, N.Y.) has 18 points (8G, 2A), and ranks second at BU with 33 career tallies. Defensively, the Terriers have allowed just 14 goals in 21 games, and have held opponents to just 158 shots (7.5 shots per game). The defense is led by senior captains Brittany McDonald (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) and Susan Marschall (Baton Rouge, La.).

GAME NOTES

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Boston University women’s soccer team makes its fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament when the Terriers (13-4-4) face 13th-ranked University of Connecticut (15-4-2) Thursday night at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium, in Storrs, Conn. Game time is at 6 p.m., followed by Dartmouth (12-4-1) vs. Boston College (11-5-2). The winners of Thursday’s games will face one another Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m. in a second-round match.

BU AND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: The Terriers are no stranger to NCAA Tournament competition, as they are making their fourth appearance in the last six years. BU advanced to the tournament for the first time in 2000 and won its opening round game, 1-0 over Holy Cross. The Terriers lost in the second round to Dartmouth, 4-1. BU suffered first-round defeats in both 2001 and 2003, losing to the Huskies 1-0 two years ago.

BU’s NCAA HISTORY

2000 (@Hartford, Conn.)

Boston U. 1, Holy Cross 0 (1st round)

Dartmouth 4, Boston U. 1 (2nd round)

2001 (@Piscataway, N.J.)

Rutgers 4, Boston U. 1 (1st round)

2003 (@Chestnut Hill, Mass.)

Connecticut 1, Boston U. 0 (1st round)

RED-HOT TERRIERS: BU enters the NCAA Tournament on a roll. The Terriers have won a season-best five straight games and are 9-0-2 in their last 11 matches, having allowed a total of five goals in that span. Moreover, BU has just one loss in its last 16 games, going 11-1-4 since Sept. 9. BU rolled through the America East with a 7-0-1 record, its third unbeaten season in league play in the last six years.

BU VS. THE NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD: The Terriers have faced five members of the tournament field this season, going 1-2-2 against those teams. BU defeated Hofstra 1-0 on Sept. 4, tied Dartmouth (1-1 on Oct. 12) and Fairfield (1-1 on Sept. 16) and lost to Boston College (2-0 on Aug. 26) and Central Connecticut State ((1-0 on Sept. 2).

BU VS. UCONN: The Terriers and Huskies have met just one before on the soccer pitch - in the 2003 NCAA Tournament at Chestnut Hill, Mass. UConn squeezed out a 1-0 win in the first round and eventually advanced to the championship game.

HEAD COACH NANCY FELDMAN: Nancy Feldman is the only coach in program history and she has led BU to a phenomenal 135-68-19 record (.651). Under Feldman, BU has won four America East regular-season championships (2000, 2001, 2003, 2005) and four America East Tournament titles (2000, 2001, 2003, 2005). Feldman was named America East Coach of the Year for the fifth time this fall, as she also won the award in 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2003. In 1997, she won the NEWISA Division I Coach of the Year and in 2001 she was voted the Northeast Region Coach of the Year by the NSCAA.

Feldman began her coaching career at Lake Forest in 1988, where she compiled a 17-10-1 mark in two seasons. She moved on to Plymouth State, where she amassed a remarkable 75-11-5 record in five seasons. In addition to her coaching duties on the soccer pitch, Feldman also coached the Plymouth State basketball team, where her squads went 68-44. The year prior to taking the BU job, Feldman guided her PSC soccer and basketball teams to the NCAA Tournament.

Feldman’s assistants are Dave Bucciero (James Madison ‘95) and Jennifer Goff (SUNY Plattsburgh ‘95).

TERRIERS DOMINATE ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: BU placed four members on the America East’s First Team All-Conference: senior forward Meghann Cook, junior forward Lauren Erwin, senior midfielder Brooke Bingham and senior fullback Brittany McDonald. Cook was named the league’s Striker of the Year and became just the fifth player in school history to earn all-conference accolades four times.

Two Terriers were recognized as second-team all-conference: senior fullback Susan Marschall and senior forward Melissa Shulman. Freshmen Marisha Schumacher-Hodge and Ashley LoCasale were named to the America East all-newcomer team.

COOK-ING UP SOME RECORDS: Senior forward Meghann Cook will leave her mark all over the BU record books when her time is done on campus. The Melrose, Mass., native is the Terriers’ all-time leader in assists with 25, and she ranks fifth in goals scored (28) and second in points (81). Cook led BU and was second in the America East with 25 points in 2005, including nine goals and seven assists. She had three game-winning goals as well.

SHULMAN SHINES: Senior forward Melissa Shulman teamed with Cook to form one of the most potent one-two punches in college soccer. Shulman finished the year with 18 points (8 goals, 2 assists), and had four game-winners. She was especially clutch in BU’s semifinal win over New Hampshire in the America East Tournament, as she scored the tying goal with four minutes remaining and the winning goal less than two minutes into overtime. Shulman is second all-time at BU with 33 goals and she is third in school annals with 79 points.

DON’T FORGET MARSCHALL!: Despite being one of the dominant defensive players in the league, senior fullback Susan Marschall has a knack for finding the back of the net. She tallied four goals on the season, including the championship clinching tally on a header in the second overtime against Maine in the America East Tournament. Clandestinely, Marschall ranks ninth all-time at BU with 14 goals and 11th with 36 points. She was also second team all-conference as a defensive stalwart in both 2003 and 2005.

STINGY D: The Terrier defense was the true backbone of the 2005 squad, as BU allowed just 14 goals in 21 games. More impressively, BU’s defenders jammed up opposing offenses so well, foes averaged just 7.5 shots per game, less than four of which were on goal. Seniors Brooke Bingham, Christina Kim and Susan Marschall, along with junior Erica Lee and freshman Ashley LoCasale were the main components in keeping opponents off the scoreboard. BU enters the NCAA Tournament with a 0.63 GAA, the second-lowest in school history, behind the 0.58 GAA the 1995 squad allowed.

BU posted nine shutouts on the season and was impenetrable in America East play, as the Terriers allowed just two goals in eight regular-season games. The Terriers were second behind Maine (0.61) in team GAA in the league. BU allowed more than one goal on just two occasions this season: a 2-0 loss in the season-opener at Boston College, and a 2-2 tie against Princeton on Sept. 18.

TWO-HEADED KEEPER: BU split its goal keeping duties down the middle this season, as junior Stephanie Dreyer and sophomore Christina Reuter each saw action in 12 games. The pair alternated starts during the year until the America East Tournament, when they would split halves. Reuter will start in goal against UConn, and she compiled an impressive 7-1-3 record on the season, with a 0.63 GAA and four shutouts. Reuter more than doubled her win total from her freshman year, having gone 3-2 in 15 games as a rookie. Dreyer, meanwhile, was 6-3-1 with a 0.64 GAA and five shutouts. However, after an 0-3 start to the season, she went 6-0-1 with a 0.50 GAA in her final nine appearances. Dreyer has 16 wins at BU, the third-highest total in school history.

AN EXPERIENCED BUNCH: The Terriers feature 12 players on their current roster who were members of the 2003 NCAA Tournament team: Tiffany Taylor (a redshirt in 2003), Brooke Bingham, Stephanie Dreyer, Ashley Chassar, Christina Kim, Lauren Erwin, Erica Lee, Melissa Shulman, Brittany McDonald, Meghann Cook, Paula Moniz and Susan Marschall. Shulman also played in the 2001 NCAA Tournament as a freshman, against Rutgers.