Rounding up their four-game road trip, the Boston University men’s soccer team will be travelling down to West Hartford, Conn. for its first America East Conference game this season against the University of Hartford on Saturday.
The Terriers (3-5) struggled early in the season, losing four-straight after winning their first match against the College of the Holy Cross. However, since beginning their road trip the team is 2-1 and has found better offense late in games.
BU defeated Harvard University in their last match by a score of 2-1, despite falling behind early in the game. Freshman defender Taylor Washington scored the game-winning goal off a cross from redshirt freshman defender James Holler to seal the victory in the 65th minute.
Senior defender Colin Henry and freshman forward Dominique Badji both did not play in this game due to injury, but will be looking to return to action in Saturday’s contest.
“We figured to be safe with the conference, the conference means so much now that anybody that had any doubt we just didn’t use,” said BU head coach Neil Roberts. “We are thinking everybody, whether it is Colin or Badji, our hope is that everybody plays.”
While the team has suffered from injury woes, the youth of the team has shined over this road trip. All four goals that have been scored in the past three games have been scored by freshmen, with two being scored by freshman midfielder Cameron Souri.
Hartford (3-5-2) is riding a four-game unbeaten streak entering Saturday’s game, and won 3-0 against Sacred Heart University on Tuesday. The Hawks have only let up two goals in the first half all season, but have let up 10 goals to opponents in the second half.
Last season, the Terriers defeated the Hawks by a score of 2-0 in their only game against them. Current-senior forward Ben Berube scored the game-winning goal in that match, and will look to make an impact against Hartford again this time around.
Berube is another that has been bothered by the injury bug this season, and played through a quad injury on Wednesday before being removed from the game.
The Hawks were not projected to perform well in the AE this season. In the preseason polls, Hartford only received 15 points from the coaches’ poll, which ranked them seventh out of eight teams. Comparatively, the Terriers received 47 points, including five out of a possible seven first place votes, and were projected to win the conference.
Senior midfielder Stephen Knox has been the focal point of the offense for the Terriers this season, but as of late has not showed up on the score sheet. With the amount of chances he creates, expect his name to appear in either the goal or the assist column for Saturday’s game.
For Knox to be even more effective another attacker has to step up and force defenses to move their focus to both sides of the field. Some players who could take that role could be Washington or Souri, who each scored goals against Harvard.
On the defensive end, Holler has stepped up as an offensive defender for the Terriers. With Henry out and the forwards hurt, a defender that can move the ball up the field and contribute offensively is crucial to the team’s success.
“James got forward well, and he did a good job,” Roberts said. “He is not the fastest thing in the world, but he is a very smart player.”
While the Terriers face another non-conference opponent after Saturday’s game, six of the remaining eight games in the season will be against fellow AE opponents. Saturday’s game will be their first test of the season.
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