Men’s soccer seeking 3rd-straight win in match against Holy Cross

The Boston University men’s soccer team will be looking for its third-straight win when it travels to Worcester to take on the College of the Holy Cross Wednesday.

The Terriers (6-2-1, 2-0 Patriot League) are coming into this game in the middle of a five-game stretch where they have not lost a game yet. They have outscored opponents by a combined score of 10-4 during this span.

“What we’ve been trying to do is just get better every day, and I think we’ve done that,” said BU coach Neil Roberts. “Even in the early games, when we weren’t scoring, we were around the goal and creating chances. We felt that if we just continued to do what we were doing, that the goals would fall for us.”

During this stretch, BU has also shown strength in the first two games of conference play. Picked to finish sixth in the Patriot League preseason poll, the Terriers will look to defy these rankings by continuing their solid play on both sides of the ball.

After some early-season struggles, it appears that the Terriers have found their way offensively, as the team has amassed two goals in each of the last five games. Leading the way has been the play of senior forward Dominique Badji, who is second in the Patriot League in scoring with 12 points on the season.

Another leader for the Terriers has been sophomore midfielder David Asbjornsson. In addition to strong defense, the Reykjavik, Iceland native has compiled five points on the year and has played the second most minutes of anyone on the team, falling behind only senior goalkeeper Nick Thomson.

Asbjornsson also recently earned national recognition for his efforts. The sophomore was given an honorable mention in the weekly Corvias Patriot League awards for this week.

Thomson has been integral to BU’s early season success as well. The Terriers have the lowest goals against average in the Patriot League thus far (0.64), thanks in large part to Thomson’s efforts.

“He [Thomson] was unfortunately coming off a pretty serious injury at the beginning of last year, and it probably cost him a year,” Roberts said. “He’s been healthy all spring and summer, and he’s an extremely hard worker.

“Nick has really just come in really great shape and mentally in a good spot. He’s continued that work ethic right to the preseason and through the first half of the season.”

In addition, Thomson has led BU to four shutouts, collected 29 saves and even recorded his first career assist thus far this season. His strong play led to a recent honorable mention in the Corvias Patriot League awards as well.

Most recently, the Terriers are coming off a 2-0 win against the United States Military Academy on Oct. 4 in a very physical match. Freshman defender Bjarki Benediktsson recorded two assists, both Badji and Asbjornsson scored and Thomson had two saves.

“The play in the first half was something we were very impressed with,” Roberts said. “We felt that we did a really good job in the first half of possession, moving the ball and creating chances.”

On the other hand, the Crusaders (4-3-2, 1-1 Patriot League) have had an up-and-down season thus far, coming off a 3-2 double overtime loss to American University on Oct. 4.

There were bright spots in the defeat for Holy Cross, as goalkeeper Kevin Wright recorded eight saves and forward Joey DeVivo connected for his third goal of the year.

Holy Cross is led by freshman Justin Carfora and DeVivo, who have eight and seven points, respectively, on the season.

DeVivo was nationally recognized for his recent play, being named the Corvias Offensive Player of the Week in the Patriot League.

“Anytime you go away in the conference and you play on the road, it’s difficult,” Roberts said. “[Holy Cross] creates some good chances. They went into Northeastern and won there…They’re a good team, and they’ve done a good job over there, so it will not be an easy game by any means.”