Saturday, the Boston University men’s soccer team strives for something unheard of in this 2005 roller-coaster season: a winning streak. Forget about “unbeaten” streaks. Forget about ties and shutouts and anything that almost was. When the Terriers return to Commonwealth Avenue, they will know, for sure, if their 3-0 domination of Harvard University was the real deal – if they have truly found their stride.
But some of those Terriers already know.
“Most definitely,” said junior back Zach Kirby of the permanence of the team’s newfound flow. “I think people are starting to get confident and we are starting to mesh better as a team.”
That confidence of the Terrier squad was evident on Tuesday, particularly in the three-goal second half. But BU shouldn’t be – and isn’t – counting the 5-5-2 University of Hartford (2-1-1 America East) out.
Last year, the Terriers and the Hawks battled to a double-overtime 1-1 tie, with goals from BU’s Roland Erlichman and Hartford’s Martin Kenniel, both of who return this season. But Hartford is finally missing one player who has had BU’s number for the past four years. Alon Lubezky, the Hawks’ all-time leading scorer, notched at least one point each time he faced off against the Terriers.
“All you can do is wait for him to graduate,” said BU coach Neil Roberts in an Oct. 1, 2004 interview with The Daily Free Press. “One minute you have a 3-0 lead and the next thing you know the score is BU 3, Lubezky 3.”
But the Terriers (5-6-1, 1-1-1) won’t have Lubezky to worry about come Saturday. The forward, who scored at least one goal against BU in his first three seasons and caused the least damage last year with an assist, graduated last spring. But Kirby didn’t think Lubezky’s departure would matter all that much.
“He’s just one player,” he said. “They’re still gonna be as good as they were last year.”
Currently, BU comes in three conference spots behind the third-ranked Hawks. And the Terriers hope that both teams will leave Al-Marzook Field at .500 – Hartford in conference play and BU overall.
With just five games left to make the America East Tournament cut, every game counts for the Terriers in clawing their way to the top.
“It’s definitely big,” Kirby said of the impact of Saturday’s game. “We’re getting into the heart of conference games. We have to win, hands down.”
One thing that will help the Terriers on the road to victory is the solid play of both goalies, juniors Zach Riffett and Chad Comroe. The two keepers hold the No. 4 and No. 6 spots in America East for saves per game, respectively. Both also make marks in the conference top 10 in goals-against average. But the Hawks will counter with a wall of their own between the posts.
Ryan Carr has played in all but one game for Hartford this year, posting 4.82 saves per game, good for second in the conference.
But in the end, none of that really matters.
As the Terriers enter their final five-game stretch, Kirby echoed the feelings of the BU squad.
“[We want] to be at the top of our conference standings at the end,” he said. “It’s win or go home.”