Varied attacks key in breaking Crusader’s conservative 4-5-1 formation

The Boston University men’s soccer team varied its means of attack Wednesday night, adapting to a College of the Holy Cross defensive scheme that sought to keep the ball off the feet of BU’s midfield and away from the Terriers’ speedy forwards in the offensive corners.

Holy Cross began the game in a 4-5-1 formation, packing the box to blockade BU’s attacks ‘-‘ essentially playing for the tie from the get-go. But the Terriers knew better. After seeing similar game plans stymie its offense against Boston College and Columbia University, the third time was the charm for BU.

‘Teams are learning to stop us right now,’ senior midfielder Richy Dorman said. ‘They play three defenseman up top to play the ball out and keep it away from me, [sophomore Michael Bustamente] and [senior Samuel Appiah] in the midfield.’

Teams are able to play more defensemen near the top of the attack because they have a larger supply to draw from. With just junior Kyle Miller on the attack for the Crusaders, the Terriers had to penetrate a stone wall to get behind the defense.

So instead of trying to drive through the wall, they passed around it.

‘ In the 13th minute, Bustamente opted to outlet a corner kick to Appiah about five feet outside the penalty box, rather than targeting the cluster in front of the net.

When four Crusaders crept forward to adjust, Appiah fired a cross to the left porch, narrowly avoiding the backs of the Holy Cross defenders. Junior forward Aaron O’Neal was there waiting. And after his first try struck senior goalie Thomas Booth in the chest, Dorman picked up the rebound and pounded it in.

‘We played quick, made them chase and opened up lanes,’ BU coach Neil Roberts said. ‘When they sit back like that you have to play quick because there are just so many bodies back there.’

Freshman midfielder Ade Akinsanya was able to handle the pressure at the top of the defensive box with savvy ball-handling in the 16th minute. His encore performance showed BU could beat both facets of Holy Cross’s scheme, on back-to-back plays.

After threading three defenders with his feet, he threaded three more with a dart to the top of the goalie box, where O’Neal’s head was waiting to redirect it on net. Booth had no chance.

‘I was chilling out wide and was able to beat a couple guys to find Aaron,’ Akinsanya said. ‘We had rested legs and helped us stay quicker.’

O’Neal’s fifth goal and 12th point on the season made one thing quite clear: his presence is needed in the middle to break through bulky backlines.

At six feet, O’Neal is BU’s tallest player on a team that lacks size. He uses this size at the top of the penalty box to operate in the way a basketball center operates on the high post.

The forward camps up top receiving and feeding out balls in the triangle passing scheme the Terriers like to run. He throws his weight around to provide dominant ball control but is always alert to make rushes on net.

But Roberts wasn’t happy with the pace of the players swarming the O’Neal epicenter in the second half.

‘We didn’t keep up the quickness that got us two goals in the first half,’ he said. ‘If we keep it up, we score a third goal, and you know how a third easily turns into a fourth, fifth.’