The Boston University men’s soccer team’s 2-0 victory over the University of Maine last evening was, to coach Neil Roberts, just “OK.”
While controlling the pace of the game and outwardly dominating a palpably sub-par opponent should constitute more than just an “OK” from the coach, the Terriers’ fractured effort against the Black Bears exposed the last piece of the puzzle that needs to fall into place before the team’s next home bout Saturday.
“There were bits and pieces that were pretty good,” said Roberts. “[On a scale of one to ten], I’ll give it a five. But the big thing was, we played OK in the first half, came out in the second half and played very well, but then we got two goals and started all over again. There’s just no need for that.”
After a season-long struggle to maintain possession, the Terriers held the ball for the first 21 of the opening 30 minutes. Generating opportunities through the midfield, the transition game opened up a flurry of scoring chances inside Maine’s defending end.
But true to their seasonal form, the Terriers failed to capitalize on their first six crosses, sailing three shots wide before ringing the left post at the 23-minute mark.
Not until the 41st minute did one of the Terriers’ nine first-half shots cross the goal line.
Hesitating in front of the net, freshman forward Aaron O’Neal collected a rebound off back-to-back saves by Black Bears goalkeeper Nemanja Kostic. O’Neal pounded the third consecutive volley into the back of the net to break the scoreless tie, subjecting Maine to the same momentum-ending final stages of the first half that paralyzed the Terriers last Saturday against Binghamton University.
Holding a lead at halftime for the first game since Sept. 21 – a win by the same score over the University of Rhode Island – the Terriers opened the second half still riding the momentum of O’Neal’s goal. BU generated three legitimate scoring opportunities in the final half’s opening 10 minutes by pressing the ball deep into Black Bear territory on the heels of quick, one-touch passing by junior midfielder Neil Hlavaty and sophomore forward Shaun Taylor.
Capitalizing on the third scoring chance, junior forward Jin Oh found O’Neal for a second time on the opposite side of the 6-yard box for an uncontested volley. With his first multi-goal game of the season, O’Neal now leads the Terriers in points with five goals and one assist (11).
However, masked by O’Neal’s individual dissection of the Black Bears’ defense was redshirt sophomore Joe Cullaro’s flawless first game as BU’s starting goalkeeper.
Cullaro, forced to redshirt his freshman season, blocked all three shots he faced, becoming the second BU athlete this year to record a shutout in their first career start. Cullaro’s blanking matched redshirt freshman goalkeeper Janie Reilly’s effort in the women’s second game of the year.
“It was good for [Cullaro] to get in,” Roberts said. “He has worked hard to get himself into this position. He’s been around a while, so good to see.”
Though a true rookie, Cullaro didn’t hold back when it came to being vocal, an advantage that helped sustain a defense that has struggled as of late.
“Joe was clean, he did what he had to do,” Roberts said. “He made a good save in the first half and he was clean coming out. They were very confident in him.”
Yet regardless of the outcome, closing out their opportunities remains atop Roberts’ list of things the Terriers need to improve.
“We started to do dumb things again once the game got helter skelter,” Roberts said. “It was not enjoyable to watch for a good twenty minute span. There’s no need for that. We could have put the third goal in and put the game away. We were not as smart as we should be at this point in the season. We need to be smarter than that.”