3. WOMEN: BU leads upset victories
- by Soccer America , Sep 18, 2006
Boston University pulled off the biggest upset of the 2006 women's season when it beat Santa Clara, 1-0, Friday night at the Stanford Nike Classic.
Sophomore Marisha Schumacher-Hodge fed senior Lauren Erwin, who scored with a blast from 15 yards for the game's only goal in the 63rd minute. Senior goalie Stephanie Dreyer made five saves, including a crucial stop on Santa Clara's Brittany Klein.
"We approached the game like any other," said BU coach Nancy Feldman. "We were confident and stuck to our game plan in how we wanted to play and defend. We have a lot of respect for Santa Clara. They are a great team with great players."
BU defeated ranked Boston College (1-0) to open the 2006 season and upset Connecticut (1-0 in overtime) in the 2005 NCAA tournament. On Sunday, the Terriers fell to Stanford, 3-0.
The weekend featured a rash of upsets as ranked teams Missouri, California and Nebraska all lost for the first time this season, falling to unranked teams.
Jodi Klagos's early goal gave Wisconsin-Milwaukee a 1-0 victory over Missouri. California dropped a 1-0 decision to Ohio State at the Ohio State Invitational. Jenna Greenwood netted what held up as the game-winning goal for Ohio State in the 15th minute when she tapped in the rebound of Laura Dickenmann's long-range shot. Central Michigan moved to 7-0-0 when the Chippewas rallied for two goals by freshman Stephanie Martin to beat Nebraska, 2-1, on the road.
In another major upset, Cal State Fullerton defeated Texas A&M, 2-1, thanks to a pair with counter-attacking goals by midfielder Lauryn Welch. Fullerton goalkeeper Karen Bardsley made 12 saves, while the Fullerton defense cleared two more Aggie attempts off the goal line.
Along with Cal State Fullerton, Central Michigan, Ohio State and Boston University, Pepperdine and Brown moved into the Top 25 with victories over ranked teams.
Pepperdine rallied from one-goal down at halftime to beat ranked Kansas, 3-1, then knocked off tough Arizona State, 1-0. Jennifer Brewer started the comeback against the Jayhawks with a goal on shot from 45 yards. Brown upset Boston College, 2-1, to snap BC's four-game winning streak. The Bears won thanks to early goals by Kerrilynn Carney on a header in the 7th minute and Kathryn Moos in the 12th minute.
West Virginia fell from the ranks of the unbeaten and untied teams when Virginia tied the Mountaineers, 1-1, on Sunday.
Only three Top 25 teams remained unbeaten and untied: 1. Florida State (6-0-0), No. 2 Notre Dame (8-0-0) and No. 10 Villanova (8-0-0). Besides Central Michigan, which moved into the Top 25 for the first time, Navy (8-0-0), Akron (7-0-0) and Old Dominion (7-0-0) still have perfect records.
