If you had to choose between the Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of San Francisco or Boston University, would you ever pick the Terriers to escape a weekend soccer tournament in Happy Valley unscathed?

Exactly. No one else gave the No. 23 Terriers a chance either, but BU continued its inspired start to the season, going 1-0-1 in the Penn State Nike Classic this weekend.

The Terriers (4-0-2) defeated Ohio State, 1-0, Friday and played to a hard-fought 1-1 draw against the host school, Penn State, yesterday afternoon to remain undefeated on the season. While No. 9 San Francisco also went 1-0-1 and won the tournament via tiebreaker, the Terriers established themselves as competitors on a national level with their showing in Happy Valley.

Coming into the season, the Buckeyes (1-3-2) were nationally ranked but quickly dropped out of favor after losing to North Carolina and Wake Forest. Despite those losses, the Buckeyes are no slouches-no Big 10 team is. That’s part of what makes the Terriers’ victory over OSU so impressive-it was their first ever over a Big 10 team.

Senior co-captain Zach Kirby provided the lone tally for either team, capitalizing off a header from Moshe Shalchon that hit the crossbar. It was the first time the Terriers scored a first-half goal all season.

“Obviously that was something we wanted to do and it was the goal of the weekend,” said BU coach Neil Roberts. “That takes a lot of pressure off of the offense. It was really nice to score first, especially against a team that’s looking for a win. It forces them to go a little bit more and make some mistakes.”

Senior goalkeeper and co-captain Zach Riffett set the tone early and often for the Terriers as he was called upon to make eight saves in the first half alone. The Terriers were outshot, 21-7, on the afternoon, but weathered the storm nicely and hung on for the win.

“They put us under pressure a little bit in the first half,” Roberts said. “Zach [Riffett] made two or three big time saves to keep us in the game. We kept our composure and in the second half we played much better.”

Riffett has been nothing short of sensational in BU’s last three outings. By blanking the Bucks on Friday, he extended his shutout streak to 301:59.

“They didn’t get to Riff as much in the second half and we countered well,” Roberts said. “I don’t think we ever took them out of their game, but as a group we played well.”

In fact, they didn’t get to Riffett at all in the second half, as all seven of Ohio State’s shots on goal came in the first 45 minutes of play. The Terrier defense has created opportunities on offense all season and is a big reason why BU is still undefeated.

Sunday, the Terriers took their unblemished record into a match with Penn State, much more of a finesse team than Ohio State.

“Penn State put us under a lot of pressure,” Roberts said. “They made it very difficult for us to get out of their half. We knew they were playing home and definitely wanted to score after losing on Friday night.”

This season hasn’t treated the Nittany Lions well at all. After opening the year at No. 13 in the NSCAA polls, PSU has gone 1-4-1-the worst record in the Big 10.

For the second game in a row, the Terriers struck first. This time it was sophomore Neil Hlavaty who finished on a perfectly executed give-and-go down the right flank from classmate Paul Mignogna. Hlavlaty’s tally was his second on the season, while Mignogna registered his first career point.

“We countered well early and got a score out of it,” Roberts said. “They took the pressure up and in the second half we really struggled getting it out of our end. In the beginning we battled, but they really brought it.”

Which meant Riffett had to once again be on the top of his game. The senior from Texas made six saves in the game, including two crucial ones in the second overtime, helping BU get off to their best start in 12 years.

“We would have liked to have played a little better today and created a few more chances, but when you’re playing against desperate teams that take a lot of chances, it’s tough,” Roberts said. “We definitely handled it well and fought the whole time.”