It is that time of year again.
Boston University men’s soccer will write another chapter in the Battle of Comm. Ave when they face rival No. 14 Boston College on Tuesday at Nickerson Field.
The Terriers (7-6, 3-1 America East) are coming off a thrilling 1-0 win over America East Conference opponent Stony Brook University, in a game where Dominique Badji scored the golden goal in overtime. Thanks to Badji’s goal, the Terriers were able to capture three points and move into second place in the America East standings, trailing only the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
Despite the victory, the Terrier offense has to improve if they are going to make it to the NCAA Tournament.
In regulation time against Stony Brook, BU only tallied one shot on goal. The Terriers are tied for last place in the America East in goals with 11.
“We have got to look at the tape [from Saturday’s win] and figure out why things didn’t gel,” BU coach Neil Roberts said. “Was it the formation? Was it a bad day? We have got to figure out why.”
After scoring the goal in overtime against Stony Brook, Badji has quickly shifted his focus to beating cross-town rival BC. The Terriers only have two full days of rest before they take on the Eagles, but Badji is not worried about the short rest.
“We will be prepared,” Badji said. “We are looking forward to bringing them down.”
BC (9-4, 2-3 ACC) is coming off a 2-0 loss to Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Clemson in which they outshot the Tigers 19-7. However, the Eagles have not lost consecutive games this season, and are outscoring opponents 7-3 in games after losses.
Last season the Eagles crushed the Terriers at the Newton Campus Field by a score of 4-0. BC midfielder Conor Fitzpatrick started the scoring with a goal in the 33rd minute, and the goals just kept coming for the Eagles.
From the 33rd minute to the end of the first half, BC scored all four of their goals and killed any chance of BU coming away with a win. Freshman goalkeeper Nick Thomson is looking to make this year’s result much different than last season’s.
“We will be [ready],” Thomson said. “It will be a really good game, and it will be exciting so we will try to get a win for BU.”
While last year’s team let up four goals last season to the Eagles, this year’s Terriers are playing very well defensively as of late, only allowing one goal in the past five games. With senior defender Colin Henry out of the lineup with a hamstring injury, sophomore defender Kelvin Madzongwe has stepped into a larger role on the back line.
“We knew Kelvin was going to be under a lot of pressure with the system that we are playing. We said in training that he was going to have to be huge in [Saturday’s game] to win, and he was,” Roberts said.
Another key to the BU defense has been Thomson. Thomson has found a rhythm in recent games, recording 11 saves in his past two games. The Cramlington, England native has been solid in net, and has been a big part of the Terriers league-leading goals-against average of 0.76.
On the other end of the pitch, the key man for the Terrier offense all season has been senior midfielder Stephen Knox. Knox was injured at the end of the first half against the Seawolves, but returned midway through the second half, and created two great chances in overtime before Badji scored the golden goal.
This rivalry game is the final non-conference game of the season for the Terriers, who have struggled against out-of-conference opponents to this point. The Terriers have gone 4-5 in non-conference games this season.
The Terriers have struggled at home this season as well, posting a 2-4 record at Nickerson Field. However, BU has won two of their past three games at home, including a 1-0 victory over then-No.22 Providence College.
While the matchup between BU and BC is a big event every season, Roberts sees this game as another chance for the Terriers to improve their team in preparation for the AE games.
“We’ve just got to keep getting better. That is the big thing,” Roberts said. “This is what is good about this group; they will keep working and we will figure out a way to get better.”
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