In recent weeks, game after game, tough loss after tough loss, Boston University men’s soccer coach Neil Roberts has sounded a bit like a broken record.
“We just couldn’t pull the trigger.”
“We just have to settle in and be patient.”
“We’re not there yet.”
But after Friday’s loss – the team’s fourth straight – in the form of a 1-0 decision to No. 2 University of Connecticut, it was a bit of a different story.
“For the first time we were a team – we were a team,” Roberts reiterated. “We proved to ourselves that we can play, we can possess, we can defend and this is the beginning of where we want to be, and I’m proud of them.”
In a physical, emotional and tightly contested battle of canines, the Terriers (1-4) didn’t let the Huskies (6-0) score until the 78th minute, and that was only after an errant BU goal kick gave UConn possession on the Huskies’ offensive side.
The score stayed that way for the last 12 minutes of gameplay – despite a near BU goal with 17 seconds remaining that was pulled back on an offside call – but that doesn’t mean Roberts and his athletes weren’t pleased with the team’s progress against one of the best teams in the country.
Besides the obvious challenges – that of UConn’s undefeated record, current position as the Big East team to beat and multiple players with scoring potential – Roberts identified two dilemmas BU faced.
One of them came directly from UConn and one only indirectly, and Roberts said he was pleased with the way the team responded each time. The Terriers’ most important response was to UConn and its 13 players six feet or taller “trying to intimidate us,” as Roberts put it.
“They are a very big physical team and I thought we stood up to them,” Roberts said. “I thought we dealt with it well.”
The most explicit attempt at intimidation came just 11 minutes in when sophomore defender Kelvin Madzongwe and UConn defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste got tangled near the sideline by the BU bench, resulting in the two tumbling to the ground.
Once the two quickly stood, they bumped chests and engaged in a quick shoving match, leading to both benches clearing. No punches were thrown, but Roberts disagreed with the referees’ decision – or lack thereof.
“I thought the kid raised his hands to Kelvin and pushed him in the face, and it was disappointing that nothing was done,” Roberts said.
Madzongwe, however, said he was okay with how the tussle played out.
“It was game anger,” said Madzongwe with a smirk and a laugh. “It happens. It’s frustrating. You try to take someone out of the game and it happens.
“There were some things I did [in retaliation], so that’s why I didn’t mind.”
Roberts’ frustration and disappointment came through again in the latter 45 minutes when BU faced the indirect challenge – one Roberts saw from the refs.
UConn was called for five fouls over the course of the game, but several times in the second half, UConn’s players had slight pushes, subtle holds or hard slide tackles, much to the dismay of the BU bench, whose members often rose their hands at the absence of a whistle blow.
Roberts never explicitly said the refs favored the Huskies, but he didn’t shy away from the issue either.
“Sometimes when you’re ranked as high as they are, and as good as they are, [BU isn’t] supposed to be ‘in the game’ so to speak,” Roberts said, shrugging his shoulders repeatedly, “and sometimes that plays over to other people as well.”
Questionable calls aside, Roberts was satisfied with how the team rose up, and his players expressed a similar “team” sentiment.
“It was a great team effort today,” Madzongwe said. “Everybody was working hard. It’s probably our best game together.”
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