Despite a growing reputation as a men’s soccer conference worthy of respect, America East had its share of disappointments during the later stages of non-conference play.
Look at Sept. 26, when America East teams dropped games against Quinnipiac, Temple and Adelphi. Or view the results from Sept. 30, where BU’s draw at No. 19 Brown was a highlight compared to the 0-3 record of the Terriers’ conference-mates.
Conferences outside the upper echelon of any sport can’t be judged solely by the frequency ‘-‘- or infrequency ‘-‘- with which they manage to defeat teams from superior conferences. Quality and depth are just as visible, if not more so, when analyzing small-conference teams’ play against teams from similar or smaller conferences.
Simply put, a conference with depth has teams that do more than pull the occasional upset. Upsets aren’t enough ‘-‘- good teams need to take care of business against less capable teams.
The Terriers’ wins against big-name opposition have stolen most of the headlines. Looking deeper, though, those wins are made more impressive by how BU has fared in games it should win. Apart from a 1-0 loss at home to Boston College, there are no bad non-conference losses ‘-‘- in fact, the only other one on the Terriers’ record came on the road against Harvard, ranked No. 8 in the most recent NSCAA/adidas Division-I poll.
Indeed, BU is making a habit of turning in strong performances against all manner of competition. The same, however, cannot be said for the rest of the conference.
There are two other teams in America East with winning records. One of those teams is the Binghamton Bearcats, currently sporting a record of 6-4-1.
The Bearcats have wins over opposition of reasonable quality ‘-‘- a 2-0 victory versus Cornell in Ithaca is notable. However, losses in winnable games have prevented Binghamton from maintaining its usual status as a formidable title contender. Even splitting their four games against Villanova, Lafayette, Gonzaga, and Bucknell would give the Bearcats an impressive 8-2-1 record. Instead, the Bearcats have failed to make a statement entering conference play.
The other team with a winning record is the UMBC Retrievers. The preseason coaches’ poll picked the Retrievers to finish last. Nine straight wins to open the regular season changed a lot of minds ‘- UMBC even shot up to No. 18 in the NSCAA/Adidas poll, not far below the Terriers’ current No. 16 slot.
Then came the conference opener, where UMBC lost, 3-1, to a Vermont team that had yet to win a game. Suddenly the rigor of the Retrievers’ non-conference schedule was cast into doubt.
And here the importance of a balanced schedule and balanced play becomes all the more obvious. Just as it’s not enough to grab the occasional big win while struggling against mediocre competition, it’s also not enough to run through a schedule designed expressly to produce easy wins. Teams need a mix of winnable games and more challenging games in order to get an accurate gauge of how good they really are, and the better teams are ultimately the ones who can win some tough contests without flopping in the easy ones.
Binghamton has proven to be capable of some good things, but the Bearcats have to bring their ‘A’ game every time out if success is to follow. UMBC, on the other hand, is still an unknown and not to be trusted. The Vermont loss is a red flag, and despite the lopsided scores in some of the Retrievers’ wins, none of those results can truly be deemed a quality win. The ceiling on praise for an untested team can only be so high.
This leaves BU alone at the top, with enough separation from its peers to absorb a damaging loss and remain in good shape. The Terriers’ September schedule was difficult, leaving the team battle tested for conference play. More importantly, the Terriers are battle hardened from facing ‘-‘- and defeating ‘-‘-ranked teams. Nothing America East opposition has to offer will intimidate BU.
A couple of weeks ago, when several America East teams had momentum on their side and had yet to be exposed, it was more than reasonable to expect an all-out war in conference play. Fastforward a couple of weeks and, for the most part, the competition has subsided.
Sure, there are teams that can beat the Terriers on an off day. Not just UMBC and Binghamton, either. New Hampshire deserves some respect after last, as does Hartford. But this Terrier team is a notch above last year’s conference-title-winning team. BU has the tools to win it all, and there isn’t an obvious challenger in the way.
America East’s dreams of a second bid for the NCAA Tournament fade a little more with each loss by a contender. If no team steps up to rival the Terriers, BU will have to carry the conference torch alone once again. It’s an outcome that may not please conference commissioner Patrick Nero, but that’s not the Terriers’ concern.
After a month of worrying about strength-of-schedule and RPI, it’s conference season. Everyone plays everyone else.
And, at long last, a win is a win is a win.
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