The Boston University men’s soccer team will travel to Amherst on Saturday looking to earn its first victory of the young season against in-state opponent University of Massachusetts Amherst while continuing the opening stretch of out-of-conference play.
The Terriers (0-2) will enter Saturday’s match coming off two consecutive 1-0 losses against Boston College and the University of New Hampshire, while the Minutemen (2-0) are coming off a dominant 4-0 victory against Sacred Heart University on Sept. 2.
BU head coach Neil Roberts said the team is battling out on the field, but needs to work on possession to get to the next level.
“I see a lot of fight and definitely a lot of commitment,” Roberts said. “I think they just have to respect the ball more and make sure we try and keep the ball so we don’t have to defend as much.”
In the opening matches thus far, BU has been outshot by opponents 33-14 and opponents have doubled up on the number of corners earned 12-5.
The Terriers have also earned a large number of fouls over the first two games with 30 fouls and four yellow cards.
Despite two consecutive losses, there are bright spots for the Terriers, such as junior goalkeeper Michael Stone, who has allowed only two goals on 33 shots faced while making 15 saves in his first two starts as a Terrier since transferring from Amherst college in the Spring.
Roberts said the team knew what Stone was capable of, but that it’s only possible to make so many saves.
“We saw Mike in the spring, we knew that he could make big saves, but unfortunately for Mike, he’s had to make more than we’d like in the early part of the season,” Roberts said. “If a goalkeeper could come up with two big saves that should be enough for a day.”
For Roberts, non-conference play is an opportunity to see what each member of the team is able to do and what roles they can assume.
We’re going to really try and find out what we have and what’s going to work,” Roberts said, “and what combinations are going to work.”
For UMass, the players to watch will be sophomore forward James McPherson and junior midfielder Chandler O’Dwyer. O’Dwyer has been a focal point of the offense as he leads the team with three assists in two games while McPherson has contributed a goal of his own while racking up two points early in the season.
Roberts said the Minutemen are going to be a challenge to crack if the Terriers don’t emphasize possession of the ball.
“They’re very organized, they don’t give up a lot, they’re a very difficult team to play against,” he said. “You’ve got to be patient and you can’t give the ball away in bad areas, so that’s going to be the key for us.”
BU and UMass met at Nickerson Field last season, in which the Terriers scored two goals in the final seven minutes of the game from the feet of senior forward Matt McDonnell and sophomore midfielder Kari Petursson to shock the Minutemen.
In the Distant Future
The Terriers will continue their tune-up games against non-Patriot League opponents for the first half of September before opening conference play against the Lafayette Leopards in Easton, Pennsylvania on Sept. 21.
