The No. 19 Boston University men’s soccer team held on to a 2-1 victory over the University of Rhode Island Saturday at the URI Soccer Complex on a tough defensive stand late in the game.
Junior Aaron O’Neal scored both of the Terriers’ (6-2-1) goals in the first half, his third multi-goal game of the season. He leads the Terriers with 16 points on seven goals and two assists in nine games.
BU coach Neil Roberts said he was concerned about O’Neal’s confidence at the beginning of the season, but those issues have now all but disappeared.
‘I think he’s found it, with as many chances as he’s getting and the way he’s putting them away is good,’ Roberts said. ‘He’s getting really confident with his scoring chances. And he’s playing well so it’s all very positive for us.’
In 2007, O’Neal earned America East Rookie of the Year honors after scoring six goals. Having already surpassed that total, the junior could be on track for more league honors at the end of the regular season.
The Terriers held on to their two-goal lead for most of the game, allowing their defense to take over and preserve the win. The backfield put up a good effort ‘-‘ the Rams (3-5-0) could not get a quality shot on goal until 44:39.
Saturday’s win continued the Terriers’ six-game winning streak against the Rams and improved their overall record against URI to 22-15-8. The last time URI defeated their former America East foes was in 2003. The victory also set up the Terriers first three-game win streak of the season.
The Terriers scored first at 5:56, their earliest goal of the season. Sophomore Michael Bustamante placed a corner kick on the foot of senior Samuel Appiah who fired a shot on goal but was off-target. O’Neal redirected the shot to put his team up by one.
O’Neal scored again at 22:29. Sophomore Ben Berube sent a crossing pass through the box that the junior headed into the left corner for the game-winner. Sophomore Erkko Puranen scored the Ram’s lone goal of the game just before the end of the first half at 44:39.
URI freshman Thomas Lindroos stopped BU’s attempt to clear the ball and passed to sophomore Reece Markman. Markman sent the ball to the corner where junior Matt Preyss was waiting. The junior sent a crossing pass that Puranen picked up with a diving header that just got past BU senior goaltender Hrafn Davidsson.
The two teams were even in shots at five apiece at the end of the first. But the Rams pulled ahead in the shot count in the second half, outshooting the Terriers 6-1.
However, according to Roberts, the Rams’ opportunities were taken in desperation and none of their shots were ‘dangerous.’
‘They really just threw balls into the box,’ Roberts said. ‘It was more out of hope than out of any real developed play. So in that way it was difficult for us to deal with.’
Davidsson only had to make four saves to maintain the win. On the other side of the field, URI’s senior Chris Pennock only made one save.
Offsides calls seriously hampered the Terriers on offense. Six different potential scoring chances were called back by the referees for offsides in the first half.
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