The Boston University men’s soccer team was commanding in their home contest against the United States Naval Academy on Saturday afternoon, winning 4-1 to continue their season-long unbeaten streak at Nickerson Field.
“We have to protect [our] home,” head coach Kevin Nylen said. “We have to make it difficult for teams who are coming here.”
The match started tame and rather balanced, with the Terriers (7-2-2, 4-0-1 Patriot League) maintaining possession but being limited to their own half early on by the Midshipmen (5-5-2, 2-1-1 PL).
BU started to dissect the Navy defense, however, and in the 18th minute, senior midfielder Eitan Rosen — through sheets of rain and two Midshipmen defenders — lifted a shot tight into the top-right corner to put the Terriers up 1-0. After the game, he heaped praise onto graduate student midfielder Colin Innes.
“[Innes has] been providing me a lot of dimes this year. He’s really had a lot of faith in me,” Rosen said. “That speaks to our connection. We play really well together.”
It was Rosen’s fifth goal of the season, and he has scored in each of BU’s last four wins. It is not just a personal hot streak, but an indication of the overall success the Terriers have been having. Twelve players have recorded at least one goal or assist in this campaign, and the team is holding their opponents to less than a goal per game.
The reigning Patriot League Defender of the Year, senior Griffin Roach, has played a large part in that latter statistic, but he found himself making an impact on the other side of the ball on Saturday. In the 28th minute, he scored his second career goal for the Terriers, almost exactly a year after his first.
“We’re a more cohesive team [this year],” Nylen said. “We are more mature, we’re more experienced… and we continue to enjoy being around each other.”
However, the Terriers would not get away with a completely unblemished scorecard, as Navy senior midfielder Jason Aoyama put the Midshipmen on the board with the last scoring play of the first half.
Despite the visitors halving their lead, the Terriers stayed confident and sound in their backline while being aggressive in attack, notching two more goals before the final whistle thanks to senior midfielders Andrew Rent and Aidan Holmes.
BU seemed to frustrate Navy, as they committed just four fouls to the Midshipmen’s 10 and received one yellow card to Navy’s two.
“Towards the end of the first half, I thought [Navy] came into it, and they’re really good at times,” Nylen said. “But we didn’t really need to change much at half.”
As a testament to its complete performance, BU kept Navy senior midfielder David Jackson — the team’s leader in both goals and assists — unthreatening in open play, holding the reigning Patriot League Midfielder of the Year shotless for only the fourth time in his 12 games.
“[Jackson is] a really important player for them, and I thought he was quiet on the day,” Nylen said. “Our setup and how we played limited his ability, and he is a really good player.”
After a bitter end to a 2022 season that saw the Midshipmen move on to the Patriot League Championship after dispatching the Terriers, Saturday’s statement win was just a little bit sweeter.
“There’s a little extra [motivation] for sure,” Rosen said. “These are the guys that knocked us out [last season]. They have that on us and our goal this year is to win the whole thing.”
That result looks within reach this season, as the Terriers are in a prime position with four conference matches remaining. They’re tied at the top of the league table with Loyola University Maryland, the team that BU will host in its final home game of the season.
Despite the likely crucial matchup looming at the end of the month, Nylen and his team are still taking it day-by-day, game-by-game.
“[Loyola] always has a good team, but we’ll have a couple weeks before we have to worry about them,” Nylen said. “We’ve got to think about Harvard before anything.”
Now that this three-game homestand is over, BU will make the short trip to Allston for that aforementioned contest against the Crimson on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
