Boston University men’s soccer went down to Baltimore Friday night for a conference showdown under the lights against Loyola University Maryland, to whom the Terriers (3-7-3, 2-2-1 Patriot League) lost 1-3.
Coming into the game, BU and Loyola (7-3-1, 3-1-1 Patriot League) were tied in the standings at 2-1-1, but the win gave sole possession of third place to the Greyhounds.
While the Terriers never had the lead in the match, BU head coach Neil Roberts said late errors ran up the score in Loyola’s favor.
“The last two goals, they were created by us, that’s disappointing,” Roberts said. “We created two … for them just out of poor play on our part.”
The Greyhounds held onto the attack in the first half, outpacing the Terriers 10-6 on shots and 6-1 on corner kicks.
Loyola junior Brian Saramago had a chance in the 27th minute, but his shot sailed over the net.
Senior defenseman David Riccio put a long shot on goal, but it fell into the hands of Loyola’s goaltender Chase Vosvick.
However, in the last five minutes of the half, things started to get a little hectic, beginning with the Greyhounds getting a goal on the board in the 42nd minute.
Loyola junior Josh Fawole scored off a rebound was initially called offside. Then, the referees discussed and decided to overturn the call, making it a 1-0 game.
“The reason [the referees] gave to me is they said there [were] two guys offside,” Roberts said. “It was interesting call.”
Less than two minutes later, after BU got one of its only chances close to the net in the first half, Loyola started a counterattack.
The Greyhounds got right into the 18-yard box, and midfielder Barry Sharifi seemed to score on a rebound.
For the second time in two minutes, the refs had to make a decision on a goal.
The initial shot was saved by Terriers senior goalie Mike Bernardi, who proceeded to cover up the ball. Sharifi kicked the ball out of his hands, which is illegal, so the goal was not counted.
The decision to kick the ball out of his hands did not sit well with Bernardi.
He and Sharifi got into a verbal altercation and several players joined in near the net, including Vosvick, who ran down from the other side of the field.
Even with all that action, the first half was not over.
BU got the ball back after a foul in the box, freshman forward John Siracuse got a penalty kick, but Vosvick made the save on a shot to his left and Loyola kept a 1-0 lead at halftime.
“I thought the guys played well in the first half,” Roberts said. “We knew we were short-handed, we knew we had to defend and we did a good job … [Loyola] got the goal where the guy seemed offside and that was really all they had that was dangerous. And then we miss a penalty.”
The two teams were more calm in the second half. Scoring opportunities slid to 7-4, with Loyola leading but failing to keep about of its shots on-goal.
Bernardi kept the deficit at one in the 52nd minute, making a stop on a shot from Fawole.
However, the back line could not hold the deficit.
Loyola scored two goals within two minutes of each other late to extend their lead to 3-0, with Fawole scoring his second of the game on a Bernardi-less net after the goalie left his perch trying to disrupt an entering pass.
Then, a minute later, Greyhound forward Nico Brown scored on a pass from senior Gabe Carlsson.
BU earned a goal in the 85th minute when junior midfielder Mana Chavali scored his first of the season with a rocket off his left foot.
The Terriers were picked to finish second in the Patriot League before the season began.
Now, BU is in the middle of the pack in the conference and has a winning percentage of .346 in conference play.
Roberts said that while less experienced players are performing well, the errors stack up.
“We had two or three guys out there that had never been on the field before, and they did a good job,” Roberts said. “They kept us in the game, but we made it look worse than it was with the late two goals.”
