Defense proved to be the overriding theme in last night’s 0-0 deadlock between the Boston University men’s soccer team and Brown University at Nickerson Field. The evenly played match was the second scoreless decision for BU (1-3-2) and marked Brown’s (2-2-1) first tie.
Senior goalkeeper Hrafn Davidsson backed the Terrier defense, making two outstanding saves to keep BU in the game. He faced a total of three shots on goal, stopping them all for his third shutout of the season. Freshman Colin Henry and sophomore Matt Shea also stepped up, singlehandedly stopping many of Brown’s key chances.
‘We defended them pretty well, but Hrafn did a fantastic job. He played really well,’ BU coach Neil Roberts said. ‘He came off his line, held onto balls in traffic, punched a couple of balls and made that one big save in the first half where he kicked it out.’
Davidsson was named America East Player of the Week two weeks ago after BU’s 0-0 tie against No. 7 University of Connecticut, and is likely to receive attention for this week’s award, as well. After allowing five goals in the first two games of the season, Davidsson has only let one ball go by him since the Terriers’ devastating loss to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst on Aug. 31.
After battling in the midfield for most of the first half, Brown had the first opportunity to get on the board, but Davidsson had other plans. In the 38th minute, Brown sophomore T.J. Thompson headed a ball toward the goal after receiving a feed from a teammate on the left side. Davidsson stretched into a full split and just made contact with the ball near the right post with his left cleat, sending the ball wide for a corner kick.
While the Terrier defense shined, Brown lived up to the hype of being a historically strong defensive squad. After settling for a 1-1 record at the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Soccer Classic, the Bears were not likely to give up any easy goals last night.
‘They’re a good defensive team, and they gave up three goals over the weekend in South Carolina,’ Roberts said. ‘I’m sure they were pretty upset with themselves and wanted a good defensive showing. They’re known for their defense. They don’t give up a lot of goals, and it’s always been their strong points.’
The Terriers almost sealed the deal in the first overtime when freshman Ben Berube rocketed a shot from the left side of the box to the top right corner of the goal. Berube had Brown goalkeeper Jarrett Leech fooled, but his shot bounced off of the right post and straight back onto the field without crossing the goal line.
For the majority of the game, however, the BU offense stalled. The Terriers, who only recorded one shot on goal, were hampered by numerous injuries to key players. Freshman Stephen Knox, who tallied an assist last Sunday against the University of Rhode Island, went down in the first minutes of the game with an apparent quadricep strain and did not return.
Sophomore Aaron O’Neal, last year’s AE Rookie of the Year, left the game in the second half with an apparent leg injury. O’Neal was brought on as Knox’s replacement. After being sidelined for last weekend’s games, freshman Michael Bustamante returned last night but was not as sharp as he was before his injury.
Roberts believes the key to his front line’s success is maintaining possession and getting the flank players moving the ball better through defenders.
‘Our front runners have to be better and cleaner on the ball,’ Roberts said. ‘The first half they weren’t really clean — in the second half they were cleaner. If they can hold the ball and play the ball, then we’re all set. It’s just a matter of technically being cleaner. Our flank players, Ben [Berube], Jon [Jonsson] and Ryan [Shea], have just got to get around people. Brown is a good defensive team, but we didn’t have a lot of good flank play. We need to be able to do that to be successful.’
