Coming off its first loss since early Sept. 7 on Tuesday – a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Boston College – the No. 20 Boston University men’s soccer team came up just short of a victory Saturday against Loyola University-Maryland, and had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
Entering the contest, the Terriers (10-3-2, 5-0-1 Patriot League ) knew they would have to battle, as they would be without two of their regular contributors. Both junior defenseman Jeroen Blugh and sophomore midfielder David Asbjornsson have been out for multiple games with injuries.
Despite playing without some of his key players, BU coach Neil Roberts was proud of the way his team regrouped.
“Obviously [senior forward] Dominique [Badji ] is a threat,” Roberts said. “When he’s on the field, three people have got to know where he is all the time. And David [Asbjornsson] and Jeroen [Blugh] are a big physical presence for us, but the other guys have been stepping up and doing the job.
“They had the ability to do the job today, but that lack of discipline at the end of the game just cost us… We had enough talent on the field to win the game.”
Even without a good portion of their backfield and their biggest offensive threat, the Terriers came out strong against Loyola (5-6-3, 2-3-1 Patriot League). After giving up a few shots to the Leopards that didn’t go on net, the Terriers were able to control the pace of the game, playing very deliberately and making crisp, clean passes.
In the 14th minute, those clean passes led to a goal when sophomore defender Duff Bedrosian intercepted a ball on the Leopards’ side of the field. From there, quick passes between him, senior midfielder Jordan Barker and sophomore forward Felix De Bona led to De Bona being alone in the box, putting it past Loyola goalkeeper Matt Sanchez easily to give BU a 1-0 lead
After the goal, the Terriers began playing a very defensive-oriented game, sacrificing many rushes in the process. With this strategy, they were able to control the pace of the game and chew off giant portions of the clock in the first half, ultimately entering halftime up 1-0.
In the second half however, the Leopards started controlling the pace of the game, and their pressure, combined with additional injuries to the Terriers led to a very lopsided half.
“Unfortunately [senior forward] Parker [Powell] got hurt in the first 10 minutes of the game, [and] we were down to just the one forward,” Roberts said. “We had to try to make a makeshift 4-5-1 which doesn’t really let us possess as much as we’d like. It lets teams come at you a bit more.”
While the Leopards had more chances, few went on net. In the 61st minute, Loyola defender Joseph Cahalan had a great scoring opportunity on the far side of the box, drawing out senior goalkeeper Nick Thomson . Cahalan , however, thought he had someone at the top of the box, but there was no one there, and his centering pass went straight to the Terriers who cleared the ball.
Just a few seconds later, after a failed free kick by Loyola’s German import Laurin Vogel, the Greyhounds were able to maintain possession and threaten with another shot that sailed wide. The Greyhounds’ first shot on goal of the second half didn’t come until the 67th minute – a slow roller that Thomson handled with ease.
In the 90th minute, the Greyhounds’ desperation and persistence finally paid off. After a good cross and a header shot by freshman Danny Mooney that the Terriers blocked, the Greyhounds were able to maintain possession and Cahalan was able to head the ball just to the right of Thomson and into the back of the net. His 90th-minute goal was his third of the season.
His goal proved to be the extent of the offense in the match, as both teams struggled to put anything on the opposing net for both overtime periods, resulting in the draw.
Despite only walking a way with the draw, the Terriers still remain undefeated in Patriot League play this season, something Roberts is very happy with.
“I was proud of the guys to be able to get the point,” Roberts said on the draw. “Giving up a goal late, guys were down and disappointed with themselves, but they regrouped and did a good job of making sure we got a point out of it.”
