After opening Patriot League play with a 2-1 win Saturday at home against American University, Boston University men’s soccer, looking for its third home win in a row, remains winless against the Ivy League as Brown University held onto a 2-1 win of its own.
The Bears (4-3) defeated the Terriers (2-5-2, 1-0 Patriot League) for the second year in a row on a physical night in Boston.
BU head coach Neil Roberts said he was happy the Terriers did not shy away from physical play against a larger team.
“They were a big team obviously, and I thought we handled it well,” Roberts said. “I thought the midfield played the best they played all year — we really pinned them in, and I thought we did a good job.”
In the first 10 minutes of the match, Brown had multiple trips into the Terriers’ penalty box, but the BU defense was able to repel the attack.
In the 17th minute, Bear midfielder Derek Waleffe stepped up for a free kick that slammed off the near-side post, but the Terriers were able to clear the ball after the rebound.
BU countered with a shot of its own two minutes later with a cross laid into the box, but it was headed off-target by senior midfielder T.J. Butzke.
The first shot on goal of the match was earned by Brown in the 27th minute when Bear forward John Vrablic took a shot from inside the box, but the shot was caught by sophomore goalkeeper William Bonnelyche, who made his first start since Sept. 7.
The Terriers earned the first corner kick of the game in the 37th minute, but it resulted in a flip of the field, and Bear junior Matthew Chow beat BU’s keeper but slammed Brown’s second shot off the post.
In the waning minutes of the first half, the Terriers began applying pressure to the Bears’ defense, culminating with a strike from junior midfielder Mana Chavali that sailed inches over the crossbar, thus ending the first half with BU and Brown knotted up 0-0.
Roberts said he was experimenting with his lineup against Brown because the Bears are an out-of-conference opponent, and overall he was happy with the result.
“I thought the team played well, I thought they really deserved better,” Roberts said. “The second half they didn’t let them [Brown] out of their end, they created chances, we got the goal.”
Bonnelyche made his second and final save of the match minutes into the second half after a pass was lofted into the box and headed toward goal by Bears defender Will Hayward.
The Terriers’ first shot on goal of the night came from the foot of freshman midfielder Kari Petursson, but the shot was struck directly at freshman goalkeeper Maxwell Waldau, who was making his first start of the season for Brown.
Chow, the reigning Ivy League player of the week, stepped up for a free kick in the 60th minute for the Bears and deposited the ball in the inside upper corner of the net for his second straight game with a goal.
BU attempted to answer back three minutes later with a shot from Chavali, but it was also saved by Waldau.
The Terriers took their third corner of the night in the 74th minute after the ball was deflected off the glove of Waldau.
However, the Brown defense held tight and cleared the ball out of the box, forcing Petursson to take a shot from outside the box which sailed over the net.
In the 79th minute, after a few minutes of offensive pressure applied by the Terriers, Petursson struck a ball from the top of the box which found the back of the net to earn his second goal of the year and tie the match-up 1-1.
Brown reclaimed the lead in the 83rd minute with a low, driven shot off the foot of Waleffe, which beat Bonnelyche and crashed into the back of the net.
The Terriers applied pressure to the Bears’ defense in the final minutes, including a free kick from about 15 yards outside the box, however Brown was able to hold on and win the match 2-1.
With a conference match-up scheduled for Saturday evening against Lehigh University, Roberts said that the offense would be the focus of the Terriers’ prep for the Mountain Hawks (4-4-1, 1-0 Patriot League).
“We got to do better than having two shots on goal and two goals, that’s the number one thing,” Roberts said. “I think if we take this and take the good things out of this and then move forward with that, I think we’ll be okay.”
