Three games. Two goals. One win.
Those are some of the most important numbers behind the Boston University men’s soccer team’s young season. The team (1-2) is riding a two-game losing streak after back-to-back 1-0 losses to No. 17 Monmouth University and St. John’s University this weekend in games that had several crucial aspects in common.
Both games featured a strong non-conference opponent, a deflating first-half goal for the opposition and – worst of all for the Terriers – a lack of a comeback despite several chances.
On Thursday at Monmouth (2-0), the Terriers outshot the Hawks 9-8 – including 6-4 in the second half – but failed to put one in the back of the net.
“We created three very good chances inside the [6-yard box],” said BU coach Neil Roberts Thursday night. “When you’re playing a very good defensive team like they are, we just have to out one away.
“We got ourselves in good spots, and we just couldn’t pull the trigger.”
Saturday night against the Red Storm was a slightly different story with the same ending. St. John’s outshot BU 17-10, and no Terrier put a shot on goal, but that doesn’t mean BU was without its chances.
In the 14th minute, after the first corner kick of the night, BU fumbled around with the ball near the 18-yard box, eventually resulting in a shot over the goal from senior midfielder Stephen Knox, the owner of BU’s only two goals this season.
Later, in the 32nd minute, senior forward Ben Berube nearly connected with freshman forward Dominique Badji with the pass that Badji took, turned with and shot barely over the top post for another near goal.
“You have to break [St. John’s] down, which we did a few times but not enough, and you have to take your chances,” Roberts said. “We had one pretty good chance in the first half.
“It’s all about taking your chance when you get it against good teams. Today we didn’t create enough good chances.”
Several times in the second half, Badji and Berube again nearly connected to tie the game, but the pair missed each other by a step. It was just their third game playing together up top, and as Roberts said, the chemistry has not quite developed yet for the team’s speedy duo.
“It’s not there yet,” Roberts said of Badji and Berube’s relationship. “I think we need to do more work on our front-runners getting a little bit more dangerous, but I think that will come in time.”
The dynamic up top for the Terriers is representative of the entire team’s play. Starting three sophomores and four freshmen on a regular basis, BU is a young team still learning to mesh, and Roberts even speculated that the larger-than-normal home crowd of more than 3,200 Saturday night put a bit more pressure on the Terriers.
“They didn’t play well in the first half,” Roberts said. “First twenty minutes we were uneasy, I don’t know why. Maybe that was it.
“It was the first home game. Like I said, it’s a lot of young guys, but as the game went along they did a better job.”
As the non-conference portion of the season progresses, the Terriers will likely grow and develop a rhythm together, but for now Roberts is not too worried about the missed chances. In the meantime, he’s preaching patience.
“We’re looking at a lot of people still,” Roberts said. “We’ve played a lot of people and I wouldn’t say we have a set rotation yet, we don’t have a rhythm on who is playing what. We have a lot to choose from, so I think that’s pretty good, so we just have to settle in and be patient.”
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