Despite an early penalty-kick goal, the Boston University men's soccer team ended its first regular-season game in a 1-1 tie with the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
The Terriers (1-0) controlled the ball for the majority of the early minutes of the game, and junior forward Stephen Knox's aggressive push to the net was rewarded with a penalty kick just six minutes into the half. Junior midfielder Michael Bustamante took the kick and beat UMass (0-1) goalkeeper Chris Piekos in the lower right corner of the net.
"It definitely feels good to go one-nil up early in the game," Bustamante said. "They'll just play defense all day, so going one-nil up early is good. They knew me a little bit, so they were whispering where I was going, but it didn't work too well."
For the rest of the first half, though, neither team could organize its attack well enough to score. Knox and senior forward/midfielder Aaron O'Neal each made rushes up the sides of the field, but couldn't capitalize on any of their offensive chances. UMass had similar problems, only forcing BU redshirt freshman goalkeeper Brandon Briggs to make two saves in the game.
Barely a minute into the second half, the young Terrier defense found itself overwhelmed by pressure from the Minutemen. Freshman midfielder Kelvin Madzongwe misplayed a ball within the box that bounced to UMass junior Bryant Craft, and Craft was able to chip an easy shot past Briggs to tie the game, 1-1.
"Briggs was solid," said BU coach Neil Roberts. "There was nothing he could do with the goal &- he was kind of hung out to dry. The guys were under a lot of pressure back there, and especially in close games, you just can't make mistakes. They'll get better at it."
The Terriers maintained possession throughout most of the second half but were unable to finish on any of their chances, partly due to strong play by Piekos. Bustamante had multiple quality shots denied late in the game, including one from long range that Piekos had to leap into the air to save late in the second overtime.
O'Neal, the 2007 America East Rookie of the Year and last year's MVP for the Terriers, left the game with just under 10 minutes to play, limping off with a twisted ankle. He was replaced by Knox and did not return in overtime.
"I don't think it's too serious," Roberts said of the injury. "He twisted his ankle and obviously it's going to be sore, and whether he's ready Saturday or he's ready Sunday, we'll figure out tomorrow."
In overtime, the Minutemen played defensively, apparently hoping to preserve the tie, while the Terriers kept up the attack despite the loss of O'Neal. Piekos stifled a number of opportunities close to the net by catching shots and balls that bounced into the air, and though it spent a great deal of time in front of the UMass net, BU couldn't break the tie.
"It's not a happy tie," Roberts said. "You wouldn't call this a good tie. We thought we left some points out there. But there are a lot of positives. I thought the second half was better, and we closed down better. Hopefully the second half was a little bit of the way we'll start right from the beginning."
"We kind of felt like we let two points walk away," Bustamante said, echoing Roberts's sentiments. "I'm friends with a lot of those guys from UMass, I've played with them in club, so I definitely don't want to lose to them &- I want to win. But it didn't happen, so we've got to keep working."
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