The Boston University men’s soccer team closed out its regular season in impressive and outright dominant fashion with a 4-0 victory over the University at Albany on Senior Day Saturday at Nickerson Field.
The Terriers (11-4-1, 6-1-0 AE), having clinched the America East regular season title with a win over Binghamton University last Wednesday, will now enter the AE conference tournament as the number-one seed, a position that grants them a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the tournament.
The BU offense came out strong immediately, something that helped to fend off the Great Danes (5-10-1, 1-5-1 AE), as they hoped to extend its season with a win.
“It was a hard game, only because of the circumstances. They needed to win to stay alive,” said BU coach Neil Roberts. “I was happy with the way the guys approached the game in that they were able to stay at a certain level, which was good.”
It didn’t take long for BU to get on the board. Senior forward Aaron O’Neal helped extend the Senior Day festivities by netting a ball inside the near post off a through ball from junior midfielder/forward Ben Berube to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the match, a lead that they would not forfeit.
O’Neal’s goal moved him to 10th place in career goals in BU men’s soccer history.
A little over five minutes later, Berube was pulled down by an Albany defender in the box, setting up a penalty kick that junior midfielder Michael Bustamante converted to push the BU lead to 2-0. It was Bustamante’s second goal of the year, both of which came from penalty kicks.
The scoring continued for the Terriers in the 35th minute when junior midfielder Stephen Knox chased down a ball near the touch line at the edge of the box and sent in a lateral pass that senior midfielder Ben Havey sent home to give BU a 3-0 lead it would take into halftime.
“It wasn’t the best of finishes, but I’ll take it,” Havey said.
Berube finished off the scoring with a goal in the 72nd minute on an assist from senior midfielder Ryan Shea. It was Berube’s eighth goal of the season, tying him with O’Neal for the team-lead at the end of the regular season.
Having posted consecutive 4-0 victories, the BU attack has continued its profound emergence in the last nine games, a span in which the team has outscored opponents 22-4.
The goal-scoring ability of players such as Berube and O’Neal has made this possible, but Roberts noted the play of his outside midfielders &- Shea and Knox &- as being particularly critical to BU’s eight wins in the past nine matches.
“Once you get danger in the flanks, it opens things up and it makes it easier for the guys in the center,” Roberts said.
Balancing out this offensive outburst not only in the Albany game, but also the past several games has been a stout and emerging BU defense. The Terrier back line, along with the redshirt freshman goalkeeper Brandon Briggs, didn’t allow a shot on goal from the Great Danes and this unit has only given up two goals in the past six games.
The win over Albany not only culminated a successful regular season of the Terriers, but also the regular-season careers of the six seniors honored on Saturday.
“Obviously we know Aaron has always been successful for us and the Sheas have done well,” Roberts said. “But it’s guys like [senior midfielder] Jack Orr and senior forward/midfielder Temi Akinsanye] that I’m so happy for because they’ve just fought and trained and worked hard every day and always helped us.”
Senior Day itself also served as a sobering reminder to the team’s seniors who understand the kind of urgency with which the team needs to play the rest of the way because from now on, a loss could not only mean the end of the season but the end of a career.
“You never know when your last game can be,” O’Neal said. “So I’ve got to play every one like it’s the last.”
With a first-round bye, the Terriers are slated to play in the AE semifinals against the winner of the quarterfinal match between Binghamton and University of New Hampshire, who dealt BU its last loss on Oct. 23 in Durham, N.H.
BU would receive an automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament if it wins the conference tournament, but Roberts acknowledged that if the team loses in the tournament, it would have to improve its 34th ranking in order to have a good chance at an at-large bid.
But for now, rankings and style points do not resonate for a team that feels like it’s starting to come together, hitting its stride and reaching its potential at the right time of the season.
“We’ve certainly put it together going forward,” Havey said. “It’s been a gradual process the whole season really. We’ve gotten a little better each week, we’ve worked hard in training and we still know there’s a lot to work on. But it’s nice to know that we’ve got a lot of potential going forward.”
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