The Boston University men’s soccer team hopes to snap its three-game losing streak when it faces the University of Vermont Sunday afternoon at Nickerson Field. The match will prove tough for the Terriers, as the Catamounts currently hold the first place position in America East and have already secured a play-off spot.
Though already eliminated from postseason play, the Terriers (7-6-3, 2-3-1 America East) hope to find their offensive spark and pull out a win at home. Vermont (10-5-1, 5-1-1 America East) comes into the match having beat the University of Hartford, 4-2, last weekend and will be focused and poised. A win by Vermont will seal an America East title for the club for the first time since 1989.
The Terriers will have to watch Catamount forward Adam Wallace, who scored all four goals in Vermont’s last outing. The performance earned him America East Player of the Week. Wallace has also tallied six goals in just three games, and is a strong offensive threat.
BU Coach Neil Roberts said he believes the game will be a tough matchup.
‘We just need to go out and play our game, but [Vermont has] some guys that can score,’ he said. ‘We just have to go out and concentrate on us.’
Despite the four goals the Catamounts scored on the Hawks last weekend, they found themselves outshot, 29-22.
While the Terriers had high hopes this season for an America East championship, a lack of offense has been one main reason why they have been defeated. BU has clearly dominated most of their matches, but can’t seem to find the offensive spark that was evident during the first half of the season. In Wednesday’s loss to Hartford, the Terriers outshot their opponent, 10-3, and had a number of chances down low.
‘Even [against Hartford] we were still creating chances and we got behind the defense about eight times,’ Roberts said. ‘We just need someone to step up and put one away.’
Roberts also said he believes the losses can be attributed to a frustration the team has in not being able to score. While the Terriers are focusing on trying to put the ball in the net, the defense has tended to pull up to try and aid the midfield and offense, forcing gaps and mismatches by the Terrier defense.
‘The guys get frustrated that we can’t score,’ Roberts said. ‘We end up leaving a player open, exposing the back, and we aren’t dropping and holding the line. Instead, we’re trying to pull players offside.’
BU goes into the match having lost to Hartford just a few days earlier, a loss that put the team out of the running for the America East championship. However, Roberts said he hopes the team can bounce back from the loss and just play their kind of game and win.
‘It shouldn’t be too hard to bounce back,’ he said. ‘We just got to go out and try to score some goals and win the game.’
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