With the energy of returning to Nickerson Field after a long road trip and some extra kick from the former players in attendance for Alumni Weekend, the Boston University men’s soccer team looked near its best as it eased past Loyola Maryland 4-1.
“Today’s a great day, a good win,” said Head Coach Kevin Nylen. “It was a good performance by the group. You’re always wanting more, but [it’s] a good day back at Nickerson and three points in conference.”
The Terriers (7-3, 3-1 Patriot League) looked to dominate possession from the start, getting a shot off in the first minute before having a few more looks at goal. While these all fell short, it would only be a matter of time before they broke away from the Greyhounds (2-7-1, 1-3 PL).
Senior defender Quin DeLaMater delivered a dime over the top to senior midfielder Ethan Gill. Gill’s one-touch pass set up junior forward Andrea Di Blasio to finish the chance off the half volley in the sixth minute.
“We’ve known Andrea for a while, and now he’s continuing to find form and find the back of the net and find chances and also link up with guys,” Nylen said. “It’s a good day for him, and we get to see it quite often.”
While BU spent most of the first half on Loyola’s side of the field, the Terriers would only get one more shot off before the Greyhounds equalized the score. In the 19th minute, forward Steven Ozga caught the ball on the slide and midfielder Tyler Tucker headed it home.
Shortly after, Nylen made an attacking-minded substitution, bringing in junior forward Lapo Romieri — who, before Sunday’s game, led the team in assists — for freshman defender Anthony Harper, who had been playing in front of the pair of center backs.
Still very much in control at this point, BU slowed the game down with over 14 minutes to go in the half, allowing DeLaMater to find freshman midfielder Sebastian Otero with space.
While Greyhound goalkeeper Dylan Van der Walt’s hands touched Otero’s shot, the ball still went in, re-establishing the Terriers’ lead — their second goal and DeLaMater’s second assist of the game.
Not even five minutes later, the lead doubled, as sophomore midfielder Pharis Petrica settled the throw-in from senior defender Giuseppe Bagnato and ripped a shot from outside the 18-yard box.
The Greyhounds got their second and third shots late in the half — the first well-blocked by senior defender Aidan Kieffer and the next sent high and wide. They still struggled to make a dent in the Terrier lead.
The first half closed with a beautiful near-miss header from Gill on the cross from Romieri, but just a couple inches put the attempt over the crossbar and over an extended Van der Walt.
A two-goal lead at the end of the first half put the Terriers in a comfortable position to play out the final 45 minutes, having outshot the Greyhounds 9-3, with six of those shots on target.
However, Loyola managed to get the first shot of the second half off of its first corner of the game. Senior goalkeeper Sheraz Saadat got a good hand to it, directing the ball from Greyhound midfielder Richie Nichols out of the goal frame.
After coming off in the first half following a collision, Di Blasio made his way back on in the 52nd minute. Just about three minutes after returning back on the field, Di Blasio broke for the through-ball from Petrica, stepped over the Loyola keeper and made it 4-1.
The win-sealing goal would give Di Blasio his second-career brace and eighth-career goal while putting him atop the goals column for BU.
“Every time I got the ball, it was a different play. So I tried to score, I tried to create chances for the team and I happened to get two goals,” Di Blasio said.
The remainder of the game played out with little threat to the scoreline, though Saadat did have to make a couple more saves — and did so with confidence to keep the Greyhounds at one.
With the four goals on Sunday after a pair of three-goal results, the Terriers have already surpassed their scoring total from last season with at least six games to go.
“We have a lot of chemistry,” said Di Blasio. “We play for each other. We don’t play selfish. We have a bunch of guys scoring different goals, so it’s just great to see. We shoot the ball, we pass the ball, we make runs in behind. It’s awesome.”
The next opportunity to add to this is the second game of the three-game homestand: another conference matchup against Colgate on Friday.