With a victory over the 10th-ranked team in the country and a tie with the 16th-ranked squad, America East women's soccer kicked off the 2006 campaign with a bang this past weekend.
Defending America East Champion Boston University (1-0-0 overall, 0-0-0 America East) showed why it was picked to win back-to-back league titles as the Terriers recorded a 1-0 overtime victory over No. 10 Boston College on Friday night. Freshman forward Farrell McClernon netted the game-winning goal for the Terriers in the 94th minute to defeat their cross-town rivals.
On Sunday, Maine (1-0-1, 0-0-0) battled No. 16 Connecticut to an impressive 1-1 draw after defeating defending Metro Atlantic Champion Fairfield 2-1 earlier in the weekend. The Huskies have now failed to win consecutive games versus America East opponents as the Terriers gave UConn an early exit from the NCAA Tournament this past season.
Entering 2006, Boston College topped the Soccer Buzz Northeast Regional Poll, with Connecticut coming in at fourth, Boston University eighth, Maine 10th and Fairfield 12th. Binghamton (0-1-1, 0-0-0), who opened the season with a 1-1 tie versus Georgetown, was also pegged at 15th in the regional rankings.
Other notable games on the weekend featured New Hampshire's 2-0 win over the Atlantic-10's Massachusetts and Hartford's (1-1-0, 1-0-0) 3-0 victory over Albany (0-2-0, 0-1-0) to get the 2006 conference slate underway.
Boston University travels to UMass on Wednesday (4:30 p.m.) before heading to Princeton on Saturday (4 p.m.) to take on the Tigers, who are ranked sixth in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Binghamton faces No. 18 West Virginia on Sunday (1 p.m.) in Morgantown.