Put it on the board

The Boston University men’s soccer team recorded its first conference victory and road win last night, 1-0, over Stony Brook University at LaValle Stadium.
The Terriers improved to 4-5-2 on the season and evened their record to 1-1-0 in America East play, while the Seawolves fell to 2-10-1 and 0-2-0 in conference.
‘We’ve played well on the road before and we’ve gotten draws. But it was good,’ BU coach Neil Roberts said. ‘They put us under pressure in the beginning of the game and we dealt with it well. It was a very hard-fought game, and it was a game that we needed. To be able to win it and keep it under control was a good sign for us.’
Stony Brook came out of the gates firing, recording six shots in the first 11 minutes. But by the end of the first half, the game remained scoreless and BU had outshot Stony Brook by one.
‘They came out and surprised us a little bit because they’ve been playing pretty conservative,’ Roberts said. ‘I think they changed that up after losing to Vermont [Oct. 4]. They threw everything they had at us in the first 15 minutes and it caught us off-guard.
‘Then [senior goalkeeper] Hrafn [Davidsson] made some good saves and they missed some opportunities,’ Roberts continued. ‘And once we were at the 25-minute mark, we got it under control.’
But BU was able to settle down for the remainder of the first half and came out with intensity in the second frame.
In the 47th minute, freshman Michael Bustamante scored his second goal of the season and his first game-winner.
Sophomore Aaron O’Neal gained the ball off a counter attack and brought it up the left side of the field. He then crossed the ball on the ground to Bustamante, who beat a defender and put the ball into the far corner of the net.
With the assist, O’Neal now leads the team with five helpers on the year.
With the majority of the half still remaining, the Terriers had to play solid defense in order to seal the win. The Seawolves fought hard to tie the game, posting 10 shots and three corner kicks in the second half, but could not convert on any of their chances.
‘ Keeping the Seawolves’ attack down in the second half was difficult for the Terriers, as junior goalkeeper Joe Cullaro entered after Davidsson departed with a leg injury.
‘[Davidsson] got hurt so we made some changes in goal. Joe came in for us and did a good job. He kept everything calm back there,’ Roberts said.
Davidsson recorded three saves in the first half, while Cullaro made two in the second frame for the combined shutout.
The Terriers are hoping to regain their momentum with six games remaining this season. The team expects to continue recording victories this weekend against Binghamton University on Saturday at Nickerson Field.
Last night’s win was a positive sign for Roberts.
‘We fought and battled hard,’ he said. ‘They were throwing a lot at us at the end, and we were able to control things. We were able to keep the ball away from them and limit their chances. We were able to come up with plays and able to come up with some big tackles. We were able to come up and just battle with them, which was good.’