Despite a five-game winless streak, the Boston University men’s soccer team has a pair of freshmen who have stepped up recently. Forward Matt McDonnell and midfielder Jerry Ozor have combined for nine points thus far, and are impressing BU head coach Neil Roberts and his staff.
Though only starting one of the Terriers’ (3-5-2, 0-2-2 Patriot League) 10 games, McDonnell’s six points is good for third-best on the team. Ozor, on the other hand, has started only three games, but is second on the team with 3 assists.
Although they are both newcomers, Roberts likes the way they have settled down and found their niche.
“They’re both playing well, they’re getting comfortable and they’re contributing quite a bit.” Roberts said.
One of the more important aspects of the emergence of these two freshmen is that it is forcing opposing teams to take focus away from junior midfielder Anthony Viteri and senior forward Felix De Bona, the team’s top two point producers.
In the Terriers’ most recent game, a 3-3 draw against the University of Loyola Maryland on Saturday, De Bona scored the Terriers’ last two goals. He had more room to work when either McDonnell or Ozor was on the field.
Look for the freshman pairing to continue to make strides in their development for BU as the season progresses.
Defensive struggle hurting Terriers
Despite ranking last among qualified goalkeepers in the Patriot League with 1.642 goals against per contest, senior goalkeeper Matt Gilbert’s 4.9 saves per game tops the league.
What does this mean for the reigning Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year? It means that Gilbert has been extremely busy in net thus far this season.
A fifth-year senior, Gilbert looks sharper than ever, making both the routine and difficult saves, but Roberts feels that he needs more from his defense as a collective.
“Gilbert’s being left alone out there, it’s a shame,” Roberts said. “I think it’s just collectively we’re making some mistakes and it’s costing us … defensively we just have to be better.”
Since the Terriers possess offensive-minded midfielders, their aggressive attack can often lead to offensive opportunities for opponents, something Roberts has noticed.
“A lot of their two-on-ones are when we are pushing forward, and then they get a break,” Roberts said.
The Terriers’ defense will be looking to get back into form against a Lafayette College team that scores a meager .917 goals per game, second-worst in the league behind the United States Naval Academy (.727 goals per game).
Is BU a streaky team?
In its opening five matches, BU was above .500 with a 3-2 record. Five games later, and the Terriers have yet to win another game.
One is left to wonder whether the Terriers are prone to streaky play, or the recent stretch is simply a testament to the quality of opponents they’re up against. Roberts said he believes it’s more the latter.
“I think we’re just in a patch right now,” Roberts said. “We lost a little bit of confidence, hopefully the comeback the other day will help with that.”
The comeback Roberts is referring to is the recent tie at Loyola (5-5-1, 3-0-1 Patriot League), where De Bona’s second goal in the 80th minute helped BU draw even with the Greyhounds, who own the best conference record.
Although BU has underperformed by entering the heart of league play winless, it still has five conference games left to earn itself a better seed in the Patriot League Tournament. Roberts and the squad will look to regain the confidence they had earlier in the season on Saturday afternoon at Nickerson Field.
