The Boston University men’s soccer team remained undefeated at home this season, earning a 1-1 tie on Sunday against West Virginia University.
The Terriers (7-3-2, 2-0-0 America East) battled cold and rainy conditions in hopes of tallying a win in their last tough non-conference match this season. West Virginia (3-7-2, 0-4-1 Big East) came into the match having lost, 1-0, to Providence College just 24 hours earlier. BU clearly dominated play but was unable to capitalize on a number of chances in front of the Mountaineer net.
After a week of offensive outbursts, the Terriers looked hungry from the outset, dominating play for most of regulation. However, BU found itself down a goal at the half, as West Virginia tallied a goal on its only shot of the first half.
Mountaineer forward Anthony Perez broke through the Terrier defense, sprinted toward net, and blasted a shot from 15 yards out to put the Mountaineers up, 1-0, in the 27th minute. The shot was the first of only three on the day for West Virginia.
BU had a number of opportunities throughout the game, but could not convert on their chances. Junior midfielder Andrew Dorman fired numerous shots at West Virginia goalkeeper Chris McKinney. Dorman also sent endless crosses into the box, hoping to connect with a Terrier head, but all efforts were futile in the first half.
BU Coach Neil Roberts said he believes the team played a strong game overall, but they will need to try and finish on their chances in the future.
“I am happy with the way we played until the final third of the game,” he said. “We need to anticipate more. We’re going to be looking to be a little more dangerous. We aren’t aggressive enough.”
The Terriers finally capitalized on a chance late in the second half. After a foul directly outside of the Mountaineer box, Dorman sent a sweeping ball into the box and found junior defenseman Karl Ruegemer. Ruegemer deflected the ball off his foot and past McKinney at 84:41 to tie the game at one.
After two overtime periods, neither team came up with the game-winner, but BU remained dominant throughout those 20 minutes. The best chance came from freshman defender Matt Cross during the late minutes in the second overtime. Cross took a blistering shot at a wide open net after McKinney was caught off-guard by a quick restart by Dorman. The ball clanked off the left goalpost and would prove to be the last chance for either squad to clinch the win.
“[West Virginia] is a good defensive team and we kept the pressure on,” Roberts said. “This was a big game for us but we didn’t get it done.”
The Terriers had 16 shots on the day, as opposed to a quiet Mountaineer offense that tallied just three. BU also had 16 corner kicks to West Virginia’s one.
Matt Smith saw little action tallying only two saves on the day, and allowed his first goal in three games, ending a scoreless streak of more than 210 minutes. McKinney was busy in net, but solid for the Mountaineers, posting 15 saves.
West Virginia also continued to show its physical presence on the field, recording 19 fouls to BU’s 10. Sophomore midfielder Federico Bianchi left the game late in the second half after being taken down hard from behind. His status was still unknown after the game, with Roberts only saying that it seemed like a bad sprain.
The Terriers’ final six matches before tournament action are all conference games and Roberts said he believes they are going to have to focus on the next few games and win nearly everything they have left.
BU faces the State University of New York at Stony Brook on Oct. 16 in New York.
“Stony Brook is our next game,” said Roberts. “We’ve got to deal with it. Take one game at a time and win them down the stretch and do a better job finishing.”