A team does not record 10 wins in a season without a disciplined and reliable back four, but that script was absent Saturday evening at Nickerson Field for the Boston University men’s soccer team.
Slated against Lehigh University, BU (10-4-1, 4-1-1 Patriot League) dropped a 3-2 overtime decision that was full of avoidable mistakes in its own 18-yard-box.
Senior Jamie Luchini’s 26th minute strike, freshman Mark Forrest’s 53rd minute header and forward Doyle Tuvesson’s 91st minute golden goal for Lehigh (9-5-1, 3-3 Patriot League) all left a sour taste in BU’s mouth.
“The disappointing thing is the first two goals we gave up,” said BU coach Neil Roberts. “They were just giveaways in our 18 [yard box]. You give the ball away in your 18 against any Division I team and you should be punished for it and we were.”
For a team that is so reliant on building possession from the back, it is of the utmost importance to protect the ball. One misplaced pass, one dribble too many, or one wrong turn into pressure can be lethal.
Lehigh was fully aware of this, as it dared junior goalkeeper Matt Gilbert to thwart advances that resulted from high pressure. To Gilbert’s credit, there was little he could have done on either goal, but Roberts still expected more from his team.
After all, the Terriers have recorded seven shutouts on the year and Lehigh has not always had its finishing boots on in 2015.
“This isn’t a high-scoring team even though they got three goals on us,” Roberts said. “You saw what happened when we gave the ball away. The first two goals were balls given away inside of the 18, you just can’t do it.”
“It wasn’t like we were under pressure or anything,” Roberts said. “It just was bad decisions and poor play. You can’t win games when you give up two goals like that.”
While BU was thoroughly disappointed, Lehigh was clicking on all cylinders in the attacking third.
Freshman Alex Greene, who assisted his team’s second tally, pulled the strings from his attacking midfield position. Meanwhile, Forrest’s pace kept BU’s defense on its heels and Tuvesson routinely gathered the ball in his own half, only to audaciously foray forward.
Most noticeable, though, was the presence of Luchini. The senior leads the Patriot League in points with 19 and looked the part of a league leader on Saturday. Through ingenuity and power, Luchini was often too much for BU to handle.
“We knew they were going to run at us, we just have to be able to deal with it,” Roberts said. “It’s a credit to [Luchini], it was one-on-one and he won. He was better than our guy, so that’s the bottom line.”
Despite the poor defensive showing, there were several moments of hope and inspiration. First, sophomore midfielder David Amirani returned to the fold for the first time since Oct. 7 and played 46 minutes.
His physically imposing frame shields the back four and his quick feet allow BU to play its possession-oriented game to its fullest.
Meanwhile, senior center back Jeroen Blugh also played the last 46 minutes after a brief injury spell. He corrected some of BU’s early defensive troubles, but did as much as one could expect a singular player to do.
“[Jeroen] looked alright, he looked okay in the second half,” Roberts said. “He hasn’t played in a little bit, but hopefully he’ll respond to it and there won’t be too many setbacks.”
One thing is for sure, though, and that is BU needed Blugh to eradicate their defensive woes against Lehigh. The Terriers’ final three contests are all against Patriot League opponents and a return to defensive form is needed.
Jonathan's a New Englander who writes about sports, features and politics. He currently covers men's hockey at BU, worked as Sports Editor during the spring 2016 semester and is on the FreeP's Board of Directors. Toss him a follow on Twitter at @jonathansigal.
