They represent the brick wall. The locked door. The sting of rejection.
They are the Binghamton University Bearcats, a team that has doused the Boston University men’s soccer team’s NCAA Tournament hopes the last two Novembers.
Both of the America East Tournament contests needed penalty kicks to decide the victor, with the Bearcats prevailing by a 6-5 margin in last year’s semifinal and a 4-3 edge in the 2005 quarterfinal tilt.
And while the winner of Saturday’s matchup at the Bears Sports Complex in Vestal, N.Y. won’t gain more than a regular season victory, you can bet the Bearcats (7-2-0) and Terriers (5-4-0) will use the game to see how they measure up against each other in an early-season meeting between the conference’s top two clubs.
“They know that they have to go through us and we know that we have to go through them,” said BU coach Neil Roberts. “I think every game recently has ended up in a tie or overtime. They’ve been close, competitive games and I don’t think [Saturday] will be any different. Whenever you play them it’s gonna be close.”
Binghamton will entertain a much different Terrier team than the one it disposed of last November. For starters, BU’s offense is much improved from last fall’s goal-starved unit. Led by four multi-goal scorers in Aaron O’Neal (3), Petur Sigurdsson (3), Daniel Chu (2) and Neil Hlavaty (2), the Terriers have produced a 1.56 goals-per-game average through eight contests.
The maturity of O’Neal, a freshman from Virginia, was on full display Tuesday night in Providence, R.I., where the forward netted the lone goal in the Terriers’ 1-0 upset over No. 15 Brown University.
“I’m impressed with the tactical decisions he makes,” Roberts said. “He makes good runs and he’s good on the ball. He’s got a long way to go, but he’s getting there. He listens well and because he’s a smart player, he’s playing and doing a pretty good job.”
The defensive-minded Bearcats will counter with a stifling group of backs and midfielders supported by sophomore goalkeeper Jason Stenta, whose 0.55 goals-against average ranks 16th nationally. The Binghamton native also has six shutouts to his credit through nine appearances.
“They wait for you to make a mistake,” Roberts said. “You have to be very disciplined when you play them.”
The Bearcats, who edged the Terriers by one vote for first place in this summer’s America East Preseason Poll, are worthy of the accolade, Roberts said, but preseason expectations don’t necessarily translate to victories.
“They deserve to be picked to win it,” he said. “But winning it and being picked are two different things.”
During a non-conference stretch of games marred by alternating stretches of wins and losses, BU demonstrated the ability to score on a consistent basis, while still committing careless fouls in dangerous areas that led to set piece goals.
Judging by their mediocre record, the Terriers’ season-long flaws can be consolidated into one word: inconsistency. Right?
Roberts isn’t buying into that line of thinking.
“I think we’ve been pretty consistent,” he said. “We’ve just been consistent in making certain mistakes and consistent in doing certain things well. I think it’s more maturity than inconsistency.
“We need to forget about the unrealistic view that we’re gonna go out and dominate every team we play for 90 minutes, because it just doesn’t happen. You’ve got to be able to have your back to the wall at times and take it to other teams at times.”
Despite BU’s shortcomings, Roberts sees Saturday night as a new beginning to a season he hopes will last until mid-November. Thanks to a budding superstar in sophomore goalkeeper Hrafn Davidsson and a talented group of young forwards and midfielders, it’s hard not to be excited about the Terriers as they enter conference play brimming with confidence and promise.
“We had a lot of questions answered, both positively and negatively, during the first half of the season,” Roberts said. “I think we’re coming along pretty much where I’d thought we’d be. Now, it’s a matter of getting more consistent with the good things that we do and keeping the mistakes out of our game. If we do that, we have the potential to be a pretty good team.”
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