New England goes national

The Boston University men’s soccer team’s last home meeting with Boston College drew 5,111 fans to Nickerson Field. BU coach Neil Roberts and the rest of the soccer staff expected this year’s edition would draw similar buzz when they struck an off-season deal with Fox Soccer Channel to televise the game.

Yet, through five games a piece, there’s no statistical indication the pairing has the competitive weight to draw ratings from the casual fan tonight when they meet at Nickerson Field at 8 p.m.. After all, the Eagles, who are 2-3-0 in the midst of a rebuilding year, are over-matched on paper by the No. 17 Terriers (3-1-1).

But that’s not Roberts’ concern ‘-‘- he’s only interested in pulling the age 15-18, male, soccer-playing demographic.

‘ ‘Getting national coverage is such an important recruiting tool for us,’ he said. ‘We’ve had kids contact us and say, ‘Hey, I liked what I saw. Tell me about the program. The school. How’s SMG?”

BU wants to take full advantage of its airtime. According to Roberts, a broadcast complete with fan electricity and polished play would go a long way in legitimizing BU as a perennial power to recruits.

Given the natural firepower of the BU-BC rivalry, coupled with the excitement created on campus by the Terriers’ 1-0 upset of No. 1 St. John’s University on Sunday, he is optimistic the scene will pique interest.

‘The BU-BC games tend to get fans of soccer from all over Boston,’ Roberts said. ‘The students get into the rivalry, too, so we think they will really come out.’

Students who were burned by BC’s 1-0 visit at the 2007 Terrier Tailgate won’t see many familiar faces for the Eagles. Freshmen accounted for all three goals in BC’s last game, a 3-0 victory over Fairfield University on Tuesday.

‘They’re a young team with athleticism, speed,’ Roberts said. ‘They’re a good attacking team. The two up front are very quick. Twenty [Kyle Bekker], the freshman, is really good.’

Bekker scored a goal and assisted on the other two, both put home by fellow freshman forward Charlie Rugg, in the win. Will the young guns’ inexperience and recent shot of success combine to benefit BC? Can the brash of their youth shield them from the pressure of the rivalry?

Roberts doesn’t buy into the philosophy.

‘I don’t think their youth poses any real threat to us,’ Roberts said. ‘If they’re talented enough to beat us, and they execute, then we’ll have our hands full. I think that’s the only thing that matters.’

Middle-defenseman Colin Henry and the BU backline have had their hands full in the last two weeks with players recognized as national mainstays, not just upstarts with potential.

The last two notches in their belt were St. John’s forwards Nelson Becerra and Sverre Wegge Gundhus. In the 78th minute, Wegge Gundhus found space from the left border of the 18-foot box and fired a shot to the right corner. Henry broke back to the goal, heading the ball away from about six feet over the goal line. Henry is 5-foot-8 inches.

‘A lot of stuff was going through my head,’ Henry said. ‘I don’t want to miss the header. I don’t want to hit it into a bad place.’

The Terriers’ can prevent such close chances by keeping the ball out of the forwards’ possession. This starts with the midfield, namely sophomores Ben Berube and Michael Bustamante, who are the backbone behind BU’s time of possession.

‘When the midfield controls possession, you can control the game,’ Roberts said.

Berube and Bustamante, who are both offensive-minded, usually control the ball on the Terriers’ side of the field, creating more chances on goal in the process.

BU has added territory to its buffer in front of net thanks to the newly-found range of senior goalie Hrafn Davidsson. He has become an aggressor in the penalty area, extinguishing Roberts’ early season fears that he wouldn’t come out on corners.

‘Maybe he won’t have to become an engineer after all. Maybe he can become a professional goalie,’ Roberts said.