The Boston University men’s soccer team bounced back from a two-game losing streak this weekend with home wins over the University of San Diego, 2-1, and the State University of New York at Binghamton, 3-0.
The Terriers (6-3-1, 1-0-0 America East) remained undefeated at home this season, as all six wins have come at Nickerson Field. This weekend was big for the Terriers in two totally different ways. They tallied their second win against a ranked opponent with a win over the No. 12 San Diego Toreros (9-2-0), and a win in their first America East matchup against the Binghamton Bearcats (4-5-1, 1-0-0 America East).
On Friday night, the Terriers faced their last tough non-conference test, and proved that an earlier win against No. 7 University of Connecticut was no fluke. The Terriers held the lead early as junior defenseman Karl Ruegemer stole the ball from a Torero defenseman at the top of the box. He then fired a shot past goalkeeper Parker Jarvis at 15:16 to put BU up, 1-0. Freshman midfielders Sedrick Chin and Jamie Johnson assisted on Ruegemer’s goal.
San Diego came charging back just 10 minutes later when midfielder Scott Burcar sent a sweeping cross into the box where midfielder Calle Rendahl got a head on the ball. Midfielder Matt McCausland received Rendahl’s header on his foot and slammed the ball past BU senior goalkeeper Matt Smith at 25:26 to even the game at 1-1.
At 58:17, senior midfielder Tony D’Angelo received a ball from senior forward E.A. Carr as he headed toward goal. D’Angelo swept by a swarm of Torero defensemen and blasted a ball into the left corner of the net for what would turn out to be the game-winning goal. Despite being out-shot in the game, 31-8, BU capitalized on the few chances that came its way.
While San Diego kept pounding away at the Terriers, the BU defense remained solid throughout regulation with outstanding efforts by Ruegemer and sophomore defensemen Erik Evjen. Senior goalkeeper Matt Smith had 13 saves on the evening, marking a career high. Torero goalkeeper Parker Jarvis had three saves in the loss.
BU Coach Neil Roberts said he believed everything came together for the team on Friday night and the team worked hard and executed well.
“This is the most ambitious season we’ve had,” he said, referring to the large amount of non-conference and ranked opponents. “We’re playing all different types of teams and they’ve given [us] everything they could give in one month, and we’ve responded.”
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Coming off a hard-fought battle against San Diego, the Terriers had only 40 hours of rest before their first America East game of the season Sunday afternoon against Binghamton. Despite the big win on Friday, Roberts said he thought it was demanding on his players to play two games in such a short span.
“We knew coming off San Diego was going to be tough,” he said. “I knew we’d be tired.”
The Terriers didn’t seem a step short, trampling the Bearcats, 3-0, to tally their first conference win of the season. Three different players scored as the BU offense was hungry for goals throughout regulation and creating numerous plays in the box.
Roberts said he added another player up front, in the person of junior Andrew Dorman for most of the game, which contributed to the Terriers’ offensive production.
Dorman put the Terriers on the scoreboard when he sent a rocket into the top left corner of the Bearcats’ net at 34:28 to put BU on top, 1-0. Senior defender David Fahey and sophomore midfielder Federico Bianchi were credited with the assists.
At 68:35, BU tallied another goal after a throw-in by Fahey. Bianchi capitalized on an error by Bearcat goalkeeper Ian Wendel and knocked the ball into the net to put the Terriers up, 2-0.
The Terriers’ final score came when Johnson fired a shot into the far right corner of the net off a header from junior forward Alan McNamara at 78:39 to put BU up, 3-0. Carr also earned an assist on the play.
Roberts said he was pleased with the team’s offensive performance and thought the squad played strong through all 90 minutes.
“I am happy with our offense,” he said. “Especially in the second half, we created opportunities. We scored three goals today but also had four or five different chances.”
Binghamton was a tough, physical team, accumulating 21 fouls to BU’s seven. Despite the physical play, the Terriers outshot the Bearcats, 12-8.
Smith wasn’t too busy in net during the match, but recorded his fourth shutout of the season with four saves on the day. Bearcat goalkeeper Wendel made three saves in 69:17 minutes of play. He was replaced by Matt Nolan, who made one save in just over 20 minutes of action.
This is the Bearcats’ first season playing Div. I soccer in the America East conference. Roberts said he believes Binghamton will be a team to watch out for in the future.
“Binghamton has a lot of energy and counterattacks well,” he said. “They’re going to be a good team. They went from one of the worst ranked teams, and in one year, I can tell that they’re going to be a pain in the neck.”
The two wins this weekend will help the Terriers this week when they face the University of Maine on Wednesday in Orono, and the University of West Virginia on Oct. 13 at Nickerson field.
“This team has done everything we asked of them,” Roberts said. “They want to be one of the nation’s best teams.”