The Boston University men’s soccer team dropped its third game in a row on Friday to Binghamton University, 2-1, in Binghamton, N.Y., each loss coming in America East play.
The loss came on the heels of dropped contests against the University of New Hampshire and the University of Hartford, and marked yet another disappointment for a team that defeated a much superior then-No. 1/4 St. John’s University in dramatic fashion a month ago.
A goal each after nine minutes indicated the Fox Soccer Channel matchup may have been an exciting, high-scoring affair. Fifty-four silent minutes later, it was clear the game would come down to who could strike next.
In the 63rd minute, Binghamton (7-5-1, 2-1 AE) junior Scott Zobre broke a tackle on the far side. With green space in front of him, Zobre dribbled the ball up and crossed to freshman Jake Keegan, who lofted it behind BU’s (7-5-2, 1-3 AE) last man, sophomore Colin Henry.
Henry had limited options. Bicycle kick? Header? He had to do pretty much anything to sustain an emergency clear.
Henry chose header, but no breathing room was gained. The ball bounced around the BU goalie box for an excruciating moment of solitude between just Henry, senior goalkeeper Hrafn Davidsson and three Binghamton forwards.
Finally, sophomore Ryan Walter took advantage of the mismatch and pounded it home, through Davidsson’s legs – a microcosm of the turn the Terriers’ season has taken.
But the play had truly ended when Zobre broke BU’s far side tackle. With the Terrier defense selling out for an offensive attack, no one was back.
‘That’s typical of what’s been going on. You miss a tackle and all of the sudden we’re exposed, and we don’t offer any set pressure, so to speak,’ BU head coach Neil Roberts.
An 18-6 Terrier shot advantage, telling of the team’s offensive ball control, is wasted by fluke plays like the one that left the Terriers dangling down the stretch.
‘We gave up a sloppy goal but played well and controlled the game,’ he said. ‘Second half we made some tactical changes that didn’t really work out, so I can’t really fault the guys for that.’
Roberts implemented more of a speed game at halftime, intended to help his offense get behind the Binghamton defense to open up more shots on goal and break open a stale 1-1 game. The idea was to expose the open spaces near the goalie box. In their attempt, the Terriers were exposed themselves.
The plan also included moving up backline players into the offensive zone to create a stronger attack on net.
‘ ‘We moved some people around, and it just didn’t work out,’ Roberts said. ‘We’re giving up goals that I think we try to force. We’re dominating games and trying to score goals but it’s getting us caught in the back.’
Binghamton freshman Jake Kegan opened up the scoring in the fifth minute, taking advantage of a Davidsson muffed ball to give the Bearcats an early lead. The goal, in addition to his assist, gave Kegan a career-high three points on the evening.
BU junior forward Aaron O’Neal evened the score four minutes later with a shot into the low right corner off a Michael Bustamante feed. His ninth goal of the season added to team-high.
‘I think they’re disappointed,’ Roberts said. ‘It’s not where we wanted to be, but it’s where we are. We have a huge challenge ahead of us and I think they’ll accept that. It will be exciting to see how they respond and I’m optimistic it will be positive.’
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