Women’s soccer opens with losses to Sacred Heart, Fairfield

Sophomore forward Kerry Sullivan and freshman midfielder Kaitlyn Cook scored their first collegiate goals in a 3-2 loss at Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Conn., on Aug. 29.

Sacred Heart (3-1) scored just 2:49 into the contest and broke away from a 1-1 tie with two straight goals before fending off the Bearcats (0-2) in the final minutes.

“We came out flat and weren’t competing hard enough,” head coach Sarah McClellan said. “We have to compete for 90 minutes and if we do that, we are very good. Credit Sacred Heart ... they battled to win an extremely physical game. They out-competed us.”

Trailing 1-0, Sullivan got BU on the board in the 21st minute when she took a pass from sophomore linemate Sarah Furminger and found the net to even the score at 1-1. But Sacred Heart reclaimed the lead just over two minutes later on a header and carried a 2-1 lead into intermission. The Pioneers, who outshot BU 14-4, made it 3-1 in the 63rd minute. All three Sacred Heart goals were scored off set pieces.

Cook cut the deficit to 3-2 with an unassisted goal in the 71st minute.

Freshman keeper Carrie Martin made nine saves.

The Bearcats opened the season on Aug. 27 with a 2-0 loss to Fairfield. The Staggs scored in the 39th minute from 15 yards out and added an insurance goal in the 66th minute on a header off a free kick.

“I thought it was a pretty competitive game,” McClellan said. “Fairfield is a quality team ... an NCAA caliber team. We got a lot of minutes from a lot of different players and we will look to build from this game. We are way ahead of where we were at this point last season and I think we will only get better each game.”

The Bearcats hosts Delaware State in the home opener at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3, at the Bearcats Sports Complex. Men’s and women’s soccer tickets go on sale at noon Sept. 1. General admission tickets are $5 and can be purchased at http://www.bubearcats.com or the Events Center box office.