Coming off scoring their first goal and win of the season, the Boston University men’s soccer team looked to continue their momentum Tuesday night against Princeton University. Unfortunately, the Terriers (1-5-1) were not able to come up on top, tying Princeton (0-3-2) 1-1.
The Terriers and the Tigers met for the fourth consecutive year and moved the series record to 2-0-2.
The Terriers fell behind early when Princeton junior Jeremy Colvin converted on an 18-yard shot which was set up by senior Daniel Bowkett. For Colvin, this was his second goal of the season. Colvin is currently tied for first in number of goals for Tigers with fellow senior James Reiner.
At the 43:14 mark, BU senior David Amirani was tackled hard by Reiner, resulting in Amirani being taken off the field via stretcher.
Roberts said that he was disappointed in losing Amirani early in the game
“I was really disappointed. The kid didn’t try to hurt Amirani but it’s such a reckless challenge,” Roberts said. “That was all that could really come out of it. I’m disappointed that the ref didn’t see it that way. Like I said it wasn’t intentional to try to hurt him, it wasn’t out of malice, it was reckless.”
Losing Amirani for an extended time would be a major blow to the Terriers offensive that is still recovering from losing Anthony Viteri for the year. Even though Amirani has not found himself in the point column this year, he finished third on the team in assists a year ago.
Although the extent of the injury is still unknown, Roberts confirmed it was a leg injury.
The Terriers were able to get into the scoreboard for the second consecutive game when junior Nicki Wieners connected just seconds into his night, on a 22-yard header which was set up by the reigning Patriot League Defender of the Week, senior Adam Sheikali.
Despite a sluggish first half in which the Terriers only registered one shot, they rebounded to tie the Tigers in shots in 14 by the end of the game.
The Terriers outshot the Tigers 12 to six in the second half. The Terriers also had more corner kicks in the second half of the game.
Freshman William Bonnelyche started his fifth straight game in goal for the Terriers and saved four shots.
In goal for the Tigers was Jacob Schachner, who has played every second of the season in the net.
For the second time this season, the Terriers committed fewer fouls than their opponent. Despite this, the Terriers were still carded one more time than the Tigers. Junior Ben Valek received a red card with 45 seconds left in regulation, but Roberts couldn’t say if that ultimately had any effect on the outcome of the night.
“Who knows?” Roberts said when asked if the red card changed the game. “I thought we played well. We had to adjust a little bit. It made it more difficult to win the game.”
The Terriers are set to begin Patriot League action Saturday when they take on American on the road.
Last season, the Terriers lost their game against the Eagles 2-0. But currently, BU is one place ahead of American University in the Patriot League standings.
Roberts said that he will need to see who he has available after playing a tough physical game.
“We have to regroup and see what we have tomorrow,” Roberts said. “This game got a little more physical than it needed to be.”
