The Boston University men’s soccer team will resume conference play on Saturday — taking on Lehigh University — when the Terriers (2-6-1, 1-0 Patriot League) have the chance to bounce back from their disappointing 2-1 loss to Brown University on Tuesday.
BU, which finished 1-1-1 against Ivy League teams this year, will try to regain some momentum this weekend. But it won’t be an easy feat, since the Mountain Hawks (6-2, 1-0 Patriot League) have won five straight contests, after defeating St. John’s by the score of 2-1 on Tuesday.
BU’s lone goal against Brown (5-1-1) came off of a converted penalty kick in the 78th minute by freshman midfielder Toti Knutsson. Despite the loss, the Terriers outshot the Bears 10-9, proving that they had opportunities, but were unable to make the most of them.
Brown forward Toby Howell scored both of the Bears’ goals, getting through the Terrier defense despite the fact that BU head coach Neil Roberts has stated BU’s defense is its strength.
The team will have to regain their usually tight-knit defense before taking on Lehigh forward Mark Forrest, who currently has 16 points this season consisting of six goals and four assists, and was recently recognized as the Patriot League’s Offensive Player of the Week.
BU’s young offense will also have to step up against the Lehigh team, which has allowed merely three goals in its last five games.
With injuries to senior midfielders David Amirani and Anthony Viteri taking their toll on the Terriers’ level of experience, sophomores and freshmen have stepped up in recent games.
Sophomore forward Matt McDonnell scored a goal last weekend against American University while Knutsson notched his first goal of the season on Tuesday.
“The young guys have done a pretty good job,” Roberts said. “It’s a lot to ask from them and some of the juniors have to come through for us as things get moving into the conference.”
Heading into the game on Saturday, the Terriers will be led by senior back Adam Sheikali, who leads the team in points with one goal and one assist.
“[Sheikali’s] probably been our most consistent defender,” Roberts said. “He’s got a lot of young guys back there. Ben Valek is coming off injury himself, so it’s been kind of a struggle in the back.”
While the game against Brown did not end the way BU wanted, there were still plenty of positives to take away from it, Roberts said, including the Terriers’ second half where they did a better job of controlling the ball and putting more pressure on the Bears’ defense.
Roberts said that he liked seeing such aggressiveness from his players, but due to the absence of the team’s injured attacking players, the Terriers “have to play a little bit more direct.”
“That’ll have to be our style for a bit,” Roberts said. “It’s not a style that we’ve played in the past, but the situation dictates that.”
The Terriers will try to make the most of that style this weekend against Lehigh and Roberts hopes that the team can get back to its winning ways, he added.
“It’s a mental thing,” Roberts said. “Most of the goals we gave up in the ground game should be very preventable … We did enough to get something out of the [Brown] game so if we continue to do that and not make mistakes, I think we’ll be okay.”
