What can Brown do for you?
If you are the Boston University men’s soccer team, not much.
The Terriers (2-5) fell 2-0 to No. 22 Brown University (5-2) Friday evening in Providence, R.I., getting shut out for the fourth time this season in the process.
Facing its third nationally-ranked opponent in just seven games, BU held its own for most of the first half and kept the Bears scoreless until the 34th minute.
That’s when BU committed one of its eight first-half fouls – and one of its 18 on the night – and Brown forward Austin Mandel placed a free kick in the 18-yard box, right to defender Alex Markes. Freshman goalkeeper Nick Thomson and his four-save night couldn’t stop Markes’ header and Brown took a 1-0 lead.
The first half wound down, and neither of the Terriers’ two shots – both of them from sophomore midfielder Anthony Ciccone – in the last 10 minutes resulted in a goal. Ciccone’s second shot came in the final minute of the half, and was turned away by Brown goalkeeper Sam Kernan-Schloss.
Kernan-Schloss also put up a four-save game as the Bears collected their fourth shutout of the season.
The second half was a similar story: the teams traded yellow cards, shots on goal and possession for a vast majority of the half, all with the score remaining 1-0.
Two of the few Terrier highlights came in the last 10 minutes, when Thomson stopped a Brown penalty kick to give BU a bit of momentum.
The team could not capitalize, though, and its last shot of the night – from senior forward Stephen Knox, his third of the game – went wide right. It was the last chance the Terriers would have.
Moments later, in the 88th minute, Brown forward Sean Rosa put the game — and the ball — away in the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
Head coach Neil Roberts said the second goal was a result of BU’s late-game attempt to score.
“We were pushing up, we were trying to get the [tying] goal, so we left ourselves exposed [on defense],” Roberts said.
Noticeably missing from the Terrier lineup was senior defender Colin Henry. Henry, who is consistently the defense’s anchor, left the team’s game against University of Massachusetts last Wednesday early with a bad hamstring.
Roberts was mum on Henry’s situation, saying only that 2010 America East Defender of the Year was “probably doubtful” for the Terriers’ game versus Harvard University this Wednesday.
Also missing a significant amount of time was freshman forward Dominique Badji, who, according to Roberts, hurt his arm in the first half. Badji only got 45 minutes of game time.
Roberts was coy on Badji’s status, and as of Sunday afternoon did not know about the speedy striker’s availability for Wednesday.
Loss aside, this game, along matchups with then-No. 17 Monmouth University and then-No. 1 University of Connecticut, all have had a positive effect on the team.
“It matures the kids,” Roberts said. “You want to see where you are. We’re making mistakes and we have to clean it up.”
It’s also part of the team’s bigger, long-term goal of being able to hang around with the best teams in the country, a process that, Roberts says, starts with simply playing them.
“We want to be a national-caliber team, and the only way to do that is to play against them and eventually beat them,” Roberts said. “Be it in the beginning of the year, middle of the year, and hopefully in the [NCAA] tournament, you have to face these teams and you have to be able to compete.
“I think we’re competing with them, but you have to be able to beat them, and that we’re not doing yet.”
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