Yeah, that was me. I was that guy who in his first column told the campus to adopt the soccer teams as “BU Football.” I told you how well both teams would play and that they both had a great shot at winning the America East.
And the women’s team did a great job of making me look good. The Terrier women dominated from the start this season and just recently assured themselves of the No. 1 seed in the America East Tournament. Their current record of 11-4-4 (7-0-1 America East) is a testament to their consistent and excellent play.
However, in the early part of the season, the men’s team was struggling. The team started off its season with a less-than-stellar 3-6-1 record, and I for one was getting a little nervous. Wasn’t this team supposed to run over everyone in the conference, a team coming off an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament? I understood the injuries played a major role in the struggles, but I couldn’t understand why they still couldn’t get it together.
Then, all of a sudden, it seemed to click for the men. They won their next three games (Oct. 9, 11 and 15) by a combined score of 6-1 and looked like the team we all expected they would be. The men’s offense finally appeared to be clicking and their defense was on lockdown.
Add this streak to the team’s most recent games, two ties against the University of Vermont (No. 19 in the country) and the University of New Hampshire, and the men have put together a modest five-game unbeaten streak. All of a sudden the team has worked its way up to fifth in the America East standings, good enough for a spot in the playoffs if the season were to end today.
Men’s coach Neil Roberts contributed the team’s recent success to the patience of his players and acknowledges that “having a set lineup has been a big key.”
You could also look to the return of senior Sedrick Chin and sophomore Roland Erlichman, two of the team’s best players, as headliners in the turnaround. And let’s not forget that the Terriers started off the season with a brutal schedule, playing Boston College, the University of Notre Dame, Indiana University and Brown University, all of which have been nationally ranked this season, one after the other.
“Playing good teams, you need everything to be together,” Roberts said. And in the early part of the season, the Terriers certainly didn’t have everything together.
But the BU boys don’t exactly have everything together now, either. While they’ve gone without a loss in their past five games, the last two decisions have both been ties, not exactly what a .500 team wanting to secure a playoff spot needs. While the Terrier goalkeeping has been stellar, anchored by juniors Zach Riffett and Chad Comroe, the offense has been inconsistent and, at times, downright anemic.
Take, for example, the team’s last game, a 0-0 double-overtime tie with UNH. Although it extended BU’s unbeaten streak, the men were outshot, 11-8, and didn’t get their first shot on goal until the 86th minute. That’s quite a long time to go without getting one on the frame – though the Wildcats only registered three shots on goal themselves. BU was also only able to muster two corner kicks through the whole game and two overtimes, while the Wildcats took seven.
And this wasn’t the only time over the Terriers’ current unbeaten streak that the team has managed to squeak out a point. Against Vermont, the Terriers held onto a 1-1 tie in double overtime, despite scoring both goals of the match (BU scored an own goal, and the Catamounts were never able to put one past netminder Riffett). But BU got outshot 16-10 that game, though they held the corner kick advantage 7-3.
“We haven’t been as sharp as we’d like to be,” Roberts said. “We need to create more opportunities.”
But there has to be something said for a team that continues to accumulate points even though they continue to get outshot. Even though BU continues to be inconsistent offensively, it is managing to extend an unbeaten streak at a very important time. So when it comes down to it, the Terriers are somehow finding a way to get out there and win, or at least tie.
And if this unbeaten streak continues over its final two contests, the team may have put themselves in control of their own destiny in terms of a tournament spot. They currently sit fifth in the America East standings, but could work their way up to second if everything falls into place.
On the other side of the sword, they could end up missing the tournament entirely, because only the top six teams make it in. This would be a huge disappointment for a team that was expected to run over its conference rivals this year.
With tough games coming up against current conference leader the University of Maryland-Baltimore County at home (Saturday, 2 p.m.) and an away game against Binghamton University (Oct. 2), the Terriers need to focus if they want to get to the tournament.
But if they can continue this unbeaten streak and play the way they’re capable of, this team could not only get to the tournament, but win it as well.