The Boston University men’s soccer team entered its fourth Patriot League matchup of the season against Lafayette College on Saturday and brought home another shutout win after beating the Leopards (1-10, 1-3 Patriot League) 2-0.
This conference start for the Terriers (5-6-1, 4-0 Patriot League) has seen a dramatic improvement in the backfield and team communication, as many of the inexperienced underclassmen have been settling into their roles.
BU has managed to bounce back from a 0-5 start, in which the team did not score a single goal, and head coach Neil Roberts said it was a testament to the players.
“[I] give them a lot of credit,” Roberts said. “We knew we weren’t that far off. They put that aside and kept working to correct things. It’s been fun to get on this run and to get into the conference. You have to credit the guys for keeping their composure throughout the first half of the season.”
On the other hand, Lafayette seemed to limp into the match, after being shutout in its previous two games and only scoring five goals so far this season.
Both teams seemed to struggle early on to spark their offenses.
Senior back Adam Sheikali and the rest of the Terriers’ defense did a good job of keeping the ball away from BU’s side of the pitch.
As the first half went on, the Leopards began to put some pressure on the Terriers.
One of Lafayette’s leading goal-scorers forward Evan Vare managed to get four shots off and was an important offensive weapon.
In the 44th minute of play, Leopards forward James Gibson had an opportunity to put the ball in the back of the net, but sophomore goalkeeper Michael Bernardi made a lunging save and the first half ended on a dramatic note with the score still tied at zero.
The second stanza opened with another opportunity for Lafayette, this time with a shot from Vare trickling past Bernardi and deflecting off the right post.
However, the Terriers were soon were able to take over the momentum in the 65th minute with a goal from freshman forward Austin D’Anna, his first of the season. The assists came from reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Week freshman midfielder Toti Knutsson and junior midfielder T.J. Butzke.
D’Anna is the ninth player to score for BU this season.
“It was good for us that our forwards scored,” Roberts said. “It’s good for their confidence and it’s good that they’re getting more involved in the attack. We’ve always been confident that we’ll get goals from our midfield.”
BU continued to apply pressure on its opponents as sophomore forward Matt McDonnell cut in front of Lafayette goalkeeper Brad Seeber to head a cross from Butzke into the back of the net for the team’s final goal of the game.
Bernardi prevented Lafayette from getting back into the match with multiple point-blank saves and he ended the game with four saves.
Saturday’s match was Bernardi’s fourth shutout in seven starts this season.
“He was forced to make some big saves because we had a couple mishaps in the back and he covered well for us,” Roberts said.
At game’s end, the Terriers claimed another Patriot League victory and now stand alone atop the conference standings.
They did so while only committing nine fouls, a improvement from the 26 they committed last weekend in their victory against Lehigh University.
Roberts explained that the team naturally plays physical, but that “we cannot give up fouls in our half of the field.”
“A lot of these teams are built on free kicks and restarts,” Roberts said. “It’s something that we’ve been trying to address all season and we know that it’s something that will hurt us if we don’t get better at it.”
