The Boston University men’s soccer team began the season on the right foot with a 2-0 victory over the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Ma.
Senior midfielder Stephen Knox both goals for the Terriers, doubling his total from last season in the first game of the season.
“[Knox] has had a pretty good summer and he has played extremely well,” BU coach Neil Roberts said. “He is going to be involved in a lot of the scoring that we do.”
Knox got the scoring started quickly for the Terriers, blasting a shot from the right side into the top left of the goal in the 10th minute.
According to Roberts, the early goal let BU control the flow of the game from then on.
“When you play with the lead, especially the way we play, it allows you to control the pace of the game,” Roberts said. “We felt pretty good offensively as the game was going on, and Ben Berube played a great ball into Knox for the goal.”
The second goal of the game for Knox came in the second half from a breakaway pass from freshman midfielder Cameron Souri, who tallied his first career assist in his first career game, which he entered as a substitute.
“Cam is going to play a lot for us,” Roberts said, “He is very versatile and he is very talented; we just need to figure out where he fits in, but he is going to play a lot for us.”
Another freshman making a big impact was goalkeeper Nick Thomson. The Cramlington, England native made four saves and earned the shutout in his first collegiate start.
“He controlled the game extremely well,” Roberts said. “It’s never an easy thing to put a true freshman in goal and have him start right away, but he is very athletic, he is very quick, and he did a fantastic job.”
The freshmen, which were part of the No. 22 recruiting class according to CollegeSoccerNews, were crucial in the win for the Terriers, as five freshmen were in the starting lineup including Thomson.
Forward Dominique Badji, midfielder Keagan McDonnell, and backs James Holler and Sanford Spivey all made their first collegiate starts on Friday night.
“We saw some mistakes, we saw some excitement, we saw a lot of energy, but we also saw a lot of potential and talent,” Roberts said.
With the win, Roberts is now only one win away from the 300th of his career. However, Roberts is more focused on the team’s success this season than his own milestone.
“I think the thing that is important right now is that we have the potential to be a pretty good team. The guys are working really hard, so I’m very pleased and confident with the group of kids we have,” Roberts said.
Up next for the Terriers is a game against Monmouth University on Thursday. The Hawks are ranked No. 21 in the nation and feature a former BU player in goalkeeper Brandon Briggs, who left the university after last season.
While it is his first chance to capture his 300th career win, Roberts is looking forward to the challenge Monmouth will pose to his team.
“We know we are going to need to do things better than we did yesterday,” Roberts said, “but we will be prepared for it and we are looking forward to it.”
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