The Boston University men’s soccer team will be in search of its first Patriot League victory of the year on Wednesday night when it takes the field against Colgate University at Nickerson Field.
The Terriers (3-4-1, 0-1-1 Patriot League) are coming off of a tough 2-0 loss to American University this past weekend, their first league loss thus far.
The Terriers, who prior to the start of conference play had been scoring an average two goals per contest, are struggling as of late. They were outshot 23-5 overall against American (5-3-3, 2-0 Patriot League) on Saturday, and 12-1 on goal. Additionally, the team has only netted two goals in its previous three contests.
Despite the recent mishaps, BU head coach Neil Roberts is confident that his team will get back to playing its brand of soccer on Wednesday.
“We just have to get our confidence back,” Roberts said. “We kind of lost our way a little bit. We just have to get that back and do what we do best.”
As for the Raiders (6-3-0, 1-1-0 Patriot League), they enter the BU matchup having played a bit better in league contests. Similar to the Terriers, though, they fell to the Eagles 3-0 on Sept. 24, but most recently shut out Lehigh University 1-0 on Saturday.
Roberts said he believes that this might be the most competitive the Patriot League has been throughout his entire BU tenure — a career that spans 32 seasons. In the eyes of Roberts, Colgate, like most conference teams, is very talented.
“Colgate is a pretty good attacking team,” Roberts said. “They’re just a good team. The conference is the strongest I have seen it.”
Senior Ethan Kutler currently leads Colgate with three goals and six points in only seven games played. BU’s defense will have its hands full defending against last season’s Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year.
The last two games are just a temporary slide, Roberts said, in what he expects to be an otherwise successful season. BU has enough strong-willed, mindful players who can help the team out of its losing streak and into contention.
Both senior goalkeeper Matt Gilbert and junior midfielder Anthony Viteri have been excellent thus far for Roberts’ squad, and should continue to be major contributors moving forward. Sophomore midfielder Magnus Benediktsson, who has a team-leading four assists, has helped the team in a number of areas as well. However, they are not the only ones capable of getting the team back into the win column, according to Roberts.
“This is the first time we’ve been through kind of a bad patch,” Roberts added. “We have a lot of guys capable of rallying the team, whether it’s Gilbert or Viteri.”
The men’s soccer squad is not built around one player, but rather a whole team. This is something that Roberts said he believes will ultimately be critical in correcting mistakes that have been plaguing the team recently.
“These guys are really motivated they care a lot and they work hard,” Roberts said. “It’s just a matter of correcting a few things that we’re making and catching a break. I think we’ll be fine. You don’t know who it’s going to be. That’s the thing about this team; there’s so many guys on this team who are capable of coming up with a big day.”
