While the Boston University men’s soccer team lost the three games it played against teams from the Big East Conference earlier in the season, senior midfielder Stephen Knox and the Terriers finally defeated a Big East opponent by toppling No. 22 Providence College by a final score of 1-0 at Nickerson Field.
Knox carried the team offensively, scoring the game-winning goal in the 88th minute off a cross from freshman defender Taylor Washington. Sophomore midfielder Anthony Ciccone was also credited with a secondary assist on the score. The goal came in a game in which Knox, who was also named America East Conference Player of the game, led the team with five shots.
Consistently the most active offensive player for the Terriers (5-5, 1-0 America East) this season, Knox has a team-leading 23 shots on goal. However, since his two goals in the season opener against the College of the Holy Cross he has not been able to convert his chances into goals.
“Knox has to impose himself on these games and with a lot of freshmen on the team, we need him to take over,” said BU coach Neil Roberts.
Providence (6-2-1) is the first ranked team that BU has beaten since 2010, when they were able to top then-No. 20 Harvard University. BU fell to two other ranked Big East teams earlier this season, when they lost to No. 1 UConn and No. 8 St. John’s in separate 1-0 decisions.
“Providence is a good team and we needed to get a win against a good team,” Roberts said. “We played well against some of these other good teams, so we needed to get the win tonight.”
The Terriers have had close finishes in the past two games, winning back-to-back match-ups on goals in the final 15 minutes of regulation. This late-game poise is something unexpected from a team that starts six freshmen in their starting 11.
Washington has been a spark offensively for the Terriers as of late as well, despite being listed on the roster as a defender. In the past three games, Washington has produced a game-winning goal against Harvard as well as a clutch late-game assist against Providence on Tuesday.
This win also marks back-to-back shutouts for freshman goalkeeper Nick Thomson. The reigning America East Rookie of the Week only had to make one save in the game, but Thomson continues to show why he was chosen for the starting goalkeeper position as a freshman.
A big part of the reason Thomson had so few saves was the strong play of the BU defense. Despite being without senior defender Colin Henry, the Terrier back line stepped up again with strong performances from sophomore defender Kelvin Madzongwe and freshman Sanford Spivey.
“They had some good crosses that they missed on,” Roberts said. “We played really well on defense.”
Henry was once again absent from the lineup, as he is still nursing his hamstring injury back to health. The Terriers are being very careful with the reigning America East Defender of the Year’s return, as they want him healthy for all of the America East games approaching.
Joining him on the sideline was senior forward Ben Berube, who is recovering from a quad injury. Berube last played against Harvard, when he was subbed out after 36 minutes of trying to play through the pain.
This was the second-to-last non-conference game for the Terriers, who will be wrapping up their non-conference play against Boston College on Oct. 18 at Nickerson Field.
BU will get back to its America East schedule next game with a matchup against the reigning America East champions University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Saturday, Oct. 8. The Retrievers were projected as the second-best team in the league this season and figure to be the toughest test for BU in the conference.
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