Before its final regular season game, the Boston University men’s soccer team had everything to play for, as it could finish anywhere from first to fourth place in the Patriot League.
BU (12-4-2, 6-1-2 Patriot League) defeated the United States Naval Academy, 2-1, on Friday evening to give itself the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the Patriot League Tournament.
Freshman midfielder T.J. Butzke tied the game up in the 51st minute, but only after Navy (8-9-1, 4-5 Patriot League) senior P.J. Suess began the scoring in the 17th minute. BU coach Neil Roberts knew the affair would be scrappy, as the Midshipmen’s season was on the line, and that’s exactly what he saw unfold on Suess’ opener.
“They’re a very good passing team who works very hard to open you up and find seams to pass into,” Roberts said. “They’re very good at it and [the United States Military Academy] is probably more of a physical, try to run through you type of team. Navy, though, is a very good team and a very sophisticated team.”
Despite Navy’s steadfast defense and BU’s yearning for a game-winner, the tightly contested match ended 1-1 in regulation, meaning that two overtime periods were in store. Both teams struggled to generate much offense in the first stanza, but the Terriers ultimately found a way through in the 109th minute under strange circumstances.
Junior winger Mark Wadid, who was battling a stomach bug all game long, served in a cross that a Navy defender headed past goalkeeper Jackson Morgan.
“It was unfortunate that Wadid was sick with a stomach bug, so he struggled,” Roberts said. “He didn’t play much, but he did serve the ball in for the own goal. Even though he played 50 minutes or so, most of that was in the first half. He got in the last overtime and made a difference.”
As has been the case time and time again in Patriot League play, the Terriers came back from an early deficit to secure the win. Roberts stressed that it’s a perilous line to walk down, but he was nonetheless proud of the resiliency his time displayed against Navy.
“We’ve been doing that a lot this year,” Roberts said. “I don’t know how many times we’ve come back, but we’ve done it a few times. It’s a credit to them. We stuck to the plan and kept working and it paid off. We had some chances before overtime to win it, but it was good, hard-fought win.”
While there is still much to play for, Roberts also emphasized that he is proud of how far his team has come. After graduating the spine of their unconventional formation, many questions lingered when the team began their 2015 campaign on Aug. 28 against Fordham University.
Nonetheless, through a balance of youth and experience, the Terriers have now achieved back-to-back 12-win seasons for the first time since 1993-94. They will now wait, though, to see who their Patriot League Tournament foe is.
Army (5-7-5, 3-3-3 Patriot League) plays American University on Tuesday, while Bucknell University and Lehigh University also clash in the quarterfinal round on the same day. The Terriers will play the highest remaining seed, and Roberts is confident that his team will be ready for whoever comes their way.
After all, the first-round bye lets nagging injuries heal and sore muscles recover.
“The rest is the big thing,” Roberts said. “We feel that if we have a week to prepare for somebody, we like that. We’ll take some days off, get back together, put a plan together for [whomever] and go from there.”
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.
