The main objective for the Boston University men’s soccer team on Wednesday isn’t to beat the University of Vermont.
It’s to avoid losing.
A loss in either of the Terriers’ final two games would eliminate them from the America East Tournament and add the gravest possible injury – exclusion from the NCAA Tournament – to an already insulting in-conference showing.
‘A tie doesn’t kill us, a loss obviously kills us,’ BU coach Neil Roberts said. ‘[The players] know what they have to do. We know it’s going to be difficult.’
Right now, BU (7-6-2, 1-4 AE) finds itself in seventh place out of eight, on the outside of the tournament picture looking in at the sixth place Catamounts (1-9-5, 1-3-2 AE), whose only win came against the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
In the last game they played, the Terriers dropped a Senior Night-spoiling heartbreaker to UMBC, 2-1. Following the game, players hung their heads, motionless on the bench, the latest disappointment in a stretch of four-straight losses.
But according to Roberts, this team hasn’t been bogged down by negativity.
‘The thing with this group is that they have not changed,’ Roberts said. ‘The overall atmosphere and commitment from the group has been fantastic.’
And upon further inspection the team, as a cohesive unit, is as strong as ever. It has led in two of the four games, was tied in the other half and has nearly doubled opponents’ shot attempts, 62-32, cumulatively.
Instead, individual miscues have brought down the entire group.
On Oct. 10 versus the University of Hartford, sophomore midfielder Ryan Shea’s 73rd minute red card seriously disabled BU just two minutes after junior Aaron O’Neal’s game-tying goal. A man down, the Terriers yielded two goals down the stretch to lose 3-1.
On Oct. 16 against Binghamton University, the Terriers put themselves in a hole in the fifth minute when a defenseman’s header back to goalkeeper Hrafn Davidsson didn’t quite have enough juice to make it to the senior’s hands.
Binghamton freshman Jake Kegan had no qualms with accepting charity for his first-career goal.
‘We’ve controlled and dominated each of the four games,’ Roberts said. ‘We can’t make big individual mistakes.’
In addition to avoiding solo errors, the Terriers must do a better job keeping offenses in front of them.
Roberts blamed his own halftime adjustments for losing to Binghamton. According to the coach, an overly aggressive plan of attack left extra space in front of the goal, which in turn left the Terriers vulnerable behind their defensive line.
Besides shoring up their own chinks in the armor, the Terriers are preparing for a Vermont team with an advantage in size.
‘We have to try to impose our game on them,’ Roberts said. ‘We have to be athletic with the ball on the floor, we have to play to keep possession of the ball so they can’t watch balls that drop off, and then, you know, bang people around.’
‘Their game’ has gotten the job done against then-No. 1/4 St. John’s University and then-No. 1/2 University of Connecticut this season.
The Terrier team that’s dropped games recently doesn’t look dramatically different.
‘Our training hasn’t changed since September when we were one of the top teams,’ Roberts said. ‘It’s just a matter of scoring a couple goals, get the win and get that feeling back.’
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