Women's Soccer Rolls to 7-0 Win over Drexel
October 31, 1999 | Women's Soccer
BOSTON (October 31) -- Freshman Allison Merkle (Baltimore, MD) scored a pair of goals and senior Suzanne Finn (Dedham, Mass.) added three assists to lead a balanced Terrier attack in a 7-0 win over Drexel in America East women's soccer action at B.U. on Sunday (October 31st).
The seven-goal margin marked the most one-sided victory B.U. has had over a Division 1 program in the five years women's soccer has been a varsity sport at B.U.
It was the regular-season finale for the Terriers, who will host Hofstra at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday (November 3rd) in the first round of the America East post-season tournament. B.U. will go into the tournament with an 11-7-0 overall record and an 8-1-0 mark in the league. The eight wins mark the most conference victories ever by the Terrier women's soccer team.
The Terriers completely dominated play against Drexel, outshooting them, 29-2, for the game. In fact, the Dragons did not get their first shot on net until the 69th minute of the game.
B.U. scored three goals within a span of 6:57 of the first half to lead 3-0 at the 18:32 mark of the game. Merkle scored two of the goals, while Annalisa Rodovsky scored the third. In each case, Finn had the assist. "That was the turning point of the game," said head coach Nancy Feldman, whose team outshot the Dragons, 13-0, in the opening 45 minutes of play. "From that point, we took control of the game.
"Actually, I was concerned that we would be a little flat today, and we were at the very beginning," continued Feldman. "We had the big win over Hofstra on Friday night that assured us second place in the final league standings. But, we did come out a little flat until we scored those three goals."
Two of the goals came off corner kicks while the third was on a throw in, and Finn made all three of the plays.
"It was good to see us score those goals off set plays," said Feldman.
Merkle, who "was awesome today," according to Feldman, scored goals one and three, while Rodovsky scored the second goal.
Rodovsky came into this season as one of the school's all-time leading scorers. She was second in both goals with 28 and points with 68, and she was set to shatter both career records. However, she came into the season with a knee injury that forced her to wear a brace during the early portion of the schedule. Then, later in the season, she seemed snake bit in her attempt to score her 29th career goal. As recently as Friday night's game against Hofstra, she drilled a shot that hit the post.
Against Drexel, the frustration finally came to an end with the 29th goal and 71st point of her career, tying her with Christen Dutchka for second on the Terriers' all-time list in both categories.
Leading 3-0 at the end of the half, the Terriers never looked back.
Then, in the second half, B.U. got goals from junior Molly Nolan (Winchester, Mass.) sophomore Leah Tomberlin (Merrimack, NH), sophomore Nicole Soules (Springfield, VA), and senior Karyn Tabor (Amston, CT).
Tomberlin also chipped in with a pair of assists to finish the game with four points.
In all, six different players scored at least one goal, while nine players had at least one point. Ironically, Deidre Enos, the leading scorer in America East and the Terriers' all-time scoring leader with 31 goals and 77 points, did not have a point in the game.
Senior Beth Weisman (Potomac, MD) started in goal for the Terriers and earned the win. Senior Meghan Lynch (Andover, Mass.) took over in goal in the 16th minute and played until the 59th minute. Junior Danielle Demers (Portland, ME), making her first appearance of the season in goal, played the final 31 minutes of action. None of the goalies had to make a save.
"The game went just the way we wanted it to go," said Feldman. "We wanted a win so we would go into the tournament on a good note.
"This was also our third game in five days so we wanted to be able to use our bench," continued the coach.
The Terriers did exactly that as 23 players saw action.
"I was very pleased with how our bench played," said Feldman, pointing to the fact that two goals and six assists were accounted for by players coming off the bench. "In fact, I didn't see any drop off in play when we substituted for the starters.
"What's more, we didn't want anyone to get hurt, and we came out of the game in good health," concluded the coach. "In general, we accomplished what we had hoped we would."
Scoring Summary Drexel (5-12-1; 3-6-0) 0 0 -- 0 Boston University (11-7-0; 8-1-0) 3 4 -- 7
First Half:B.U.-- Merkle (Suzanne Finn), 11:35; B.U.-- Rodovsky (Finn), 17:22; B.U.-- (Finn), 1832.
Second Half: B.U.-- Nolan (Leah Tomberlin), 47:37; B.U.-- (Nolan, Tiffany Chag), 59:00; B.U.-- Soules (Amanda Lasowecky), 67:30; B.U.-- Tabor (Tomberlin, Lasowecky), 89:59
Shots: B.U., 29; DU, 2 Saves: Beth Weisman (B.U.), 0; Meghan Lynch (B.U.), 0; Danielle Demers (B.U.), 0; Joy Banares (DU), 11 Corner Kicks: B.U., 8; Drexel, 2
Scoring Summary Drexel (5-12-1; 3-6-0) 0 0 -- 0 Boston University (11-7-0; 8-1-0) 3 4 -- 7
First Half:B.U.-- Merkle (Suzanne Finn), 11:35; B.U.-- Rodovsky (Finn), 17:22; B.U.-- (Finn), 1832.
Second Half: B.U.-- Nolan (Leah Tomberlin), 47:37; B.U.-- (Nolan, Tiffany Chag), 59:00; B.U.-- Soules (Amanda Lasowecky), 67:30; B.U.-- Tabor (Tomberlin, Lasowecky), 89:59
Shots: B.U., 29; DU, 2 Saves: Beth Weisman (B.U.), 0; Meghan Lynch (B.U.), 0; Danielle Demers (B.U.), 0; Joy Banares (DU), 11 Corner Kicks: B.U., 8; Drexel, 2
