For the second straight game, the Boston University men’s soccer team will battle an Ivy League opponent when they welcome Harvard University to Nickerson Field on Thursday evening.
BU (3-2) is coming off a narrow 2-1 defeat to Princeton University, all while Harvard (1-3-2) is reeling from a West Coast swing in which they dropped a 2-0 decision to Seattle University and drew with No. 10 University of Washington, 0-0.
From BU’s perspective, Princeton’s (2-2) disciplined and dynamic approach is often mirrored by Harvard, so BU coach Neil Roberts will have already seen the Crimson’s strategy.
Meanwhile, Harvard’s record does not tell the entire tale, as they have encountered top-level opponents such as the University of Connecticut and Loyola Marymount University in the first month of their campaign. The Crimson may be scoring just 0.80 goals per game, but Roberts said he feels statistics do not reflect their strength from front to back.
“Harvard is pretty much just like Princeton,” Roberts said. “They’re well-organized, a difficult team to break down and just came off a 0-0 tie with Washington [(4-0-2)] out on the West Coast, [which] is a real good team.”
“They’ve played some good teams so far in Connecticut [(3-1-3)], Washington, Loyola-Marymount [(5-3)] and Seattle [(5-2)],” Roberts added. “All that’s really different about them and Princeton is the personnel.”
In terms of specific players, Harvard has been led on the offensive front by seniors Jake Freeman and Oliver White. Both have two goals to their name, most of which can be attributed to the creative presence of midfielder Sam Brown. The reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year has two assists this season, as does senior Michael Klain.
“They’re a good team so it will be a difficult match,” Roberts said. “It’s always a good game, and the last time we played we drew at their place, so it will be a competitive game for sure.”
BU views the Harvard game as another opportunity to prepare for Bucknell University and other Patriot League opponents. In the meantime, the Terriers will strive to discover their best style of play, balance youth with experience and fine tune certain areas of their game.
“We need to get our game together for Bucknell [(3-3-1)] on Sunday,” Roberts said. “We have these non-conference games and are trying to get answers from a very young team. We’re getting answers and not always the answers we’d like, but we’re learning a lot about ourselves and in the process of putting things together. That’s what the game means for us, meaning we can answer more questions ahead of playing Bucknell.”
Finding answers to those questions will be no easy task, but some of them have already surfaced. Sophomore midfielder Anthony Viteri and junior forward Felix De Bona are vital offensive cogs, and junior goalkeeper Matt Gilbert has been a steady presence in goal from the season’s get-go.
Lastly, Roberts was also quick to point out that his team is in no way overlooking a strong Crimson team. After all, whichever side of the result the Terriers fall on will set the tone for their quest to defend their Patriot League regular season title.
“We’re not looking past Harvard, but we know that we need to get our game together for Sunday,” Roberts said. “We’ll need our system in place and how we want it to be, so that’s the key.”
Jonathan's a New Englander who writes about sports, features and politics. He currently covers men's hockey at BU, worked as Sports Editor during the spring 2016 semester and is on the FreeP's Board of Directors. Toss him a follow on Twitter at @jonathansigal.
