In each of the last four Senior Day ceremonies since Head Coach Kevin Nylen took post, the Boston University men’s soccer team has drawn or won. Unfortunately, this season, the same would not be true, as the Terriers (8-6, 4-3 Patriot League) fell 2-0 to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (8-5-3, 5-1-1 PL) on Saturday at Nickerson Field.
Before kickoff against Lehigh University, BU honored 11 seniors for their successes on and off the field. This was the largest group of seniors under Nylen, most of whom were recruited as freshmen or transfers.
Saturday’s loss marked the second game in a row in which the Terriers failed to convert a result to clinch a spot in the Patriot League Tournament. They would have clinched with a win in either game.
“We deserved to lose. We defended poorly on two big balls. It could have been a third goal for a third big ball,” Nylen said. “[We] don’t put chances away in the first half, so a really disappointing day and a bad day for our group.”
In the first half, opportunities were not scarce. The first came as senior midfielder Diego Rived gained possession in the midfield, progressing the ball past a Lehigh defender and challenging goalkeeper Anton Kinnunen.
In the 27th minute, freshman defender Anthony Harper sent a through ball to senior midfielder Ethan Gill, which took a deflection and an awkward bounce. Gill was unable to make solid contact with a golden opportunity with Kinnunen off his line.
Minutes later, the Terriers cleared an attempt from Lehigh and broke fast. Sophomore forward Dylan Williams surged upfield in line with junior forward Andrea Di Blasio and three Mountain Hawks, but the play came to no avail.
The half closed with senior goalkeeper Ben Alexander — in his first start since Sept. 13 — making an impressive tip over the crossbar.
In typical fashion, Nylen made his first big round of substitutions after halftime, mostly switching out the attacking front.
For the first 20 minutes of the half, though, the Terriers failed to get a shot off.
“The subs who came in at half came on and were flat, weren’t ready to go for whatever reason,” Nylen said.
In the midst of this drought for the Terriers, the Mountain Hawks were energized. Midfielder Aiden Gonzalez ran upfield and sent the ball over a BU defender, which Lehigh defender Trey Sheeler finished, giving the Mountain Hawks a 1-0 lead.
Twice this season already, the Terriers have conceded two goals within four minutes of one another — in a 41-second span against Boston College, and in three minutes and 31 seconds last week against Northeastern.
It happened again Saturday — and in less time. In just 37 seconds, the Mountain Hawks doubled their lead, intercepting a pass and laying a well-placed cross square in front of the goal where Lehigh forward Thomas Robertson was waiting.
Nylen substituted players in the 65th and 73rd minutes, changing up the team again and going with fewer defenders in an attempt to create scoring opportunities.
With Lehigh more comfortable sitting back given the two-goal lead, the Terriers started getting looks at goal again. Senior defender Giuseppe Bagnato found a shot and had a few good deliveries into the box, but there was no one to get on the end of them.
As urgency was building, the Terriers ripped back-to-back shots in the 82nd minute, but still could not find the back of the net. Kinnunen held strong in goal.
With the result at this point in the season, there is greater pressure on the outcomes of the Terriers’ final two regular season conference games — a far cry from their form just weeks ago.
Next, BU will travel to Pennsylvania on Friday for a final conference road contest against Lafayette before hosting Holy Cross to close the regular season Nov. 4.