Freshman midfielder Cameron Souri was visibly upset with himself midway through the second half when his backheel pass didn’t connect with a teammate who was left uncovered on the near side of the field.
The frustration had started to mount for the Boston University men’s soccer team Tuesday against Providence College at Nickerson Field.
Early on in the first half, the Terriers looked out of sync offensively. Teammates were colliding with each other, passes were being led too far away from players and BU’s forwards and midfielders had a tough time controlling the ball on the wet and slick artificial turf.
The Terriers’ sloppy and shaky display on offense, especially in that first half, explained why both squads entered the locker room deadlocked at 0-0. BU dominated most of the possession in the first 45 minutes of play, though, and had taken three shots on goal, compared to Providence’s zero.
“I thought that we were so close, but we don’t like to pull the trigger,” said BU head coach Neil Roberts. “When we get these types of chances, we need to take them. That’s a little disappointing. We created a lot of good opportunities when we had numbers up a number of times against a good defensive team. We just didn’t take care of business.
“This is something that we really need to concentrate on going into conference play because some of these teams in our conference, we’re not going to get a lot of these opportunities, so we need to take those half-chances.”
In the 63rd minute, freshman forward Dominique Badji used a burst of speed to blow past his defender, and as he approached the goalie box, blasted a right-footed shot that ricocheted off the left post.
Then in the 88th minute, senior forward Stephen Knox provided the heroics with his third goal of the season, redeeming a BU offense that had failed to convert on its opportunities throughout the course of the game.
“We had some choices but we didn’t capitalize on them,” Knox said, “but we finally got it and went with our game plan.”
Knox celebrated his goal in fashion, running all the way to the wall behind the opposing goalie with a trail of his teammates right behind him. But Knox was more concerned with helping his team pick up a crucial win and get back to the .500 mark; the goal was just an added bonus.
“It meant a lot for me that personally I scored,” Knox said, “but just winning the game was even better. I just play for the team.”
Freshman defender Taylor Washington received a pass from sophomore midfielder Anthony Ciccone down the left sideline and lifted a bending cross into the box. Knox was able to control the ball out of the air and unleashed a shot that beat Friars goalie Jhojan Obando.
Roberts said that he has preached all season long during practice that his defenders get more involved in the attack on offense. Tuesday night, Washington took his coach’s advice and found himself playing more in the offensive side of the field. His ability to get open led Ciccone to pass him the ball, where Washington assisted on Knox’s game-winning goal.
His speed also helps him out a little bit, a point Roberts was quickly able to point out.
“Taylor’s got some pace,” Roberts said.
When Roberts left his interview session with the media, he referred to Knox as the superstar on his Terrier squad.
On this one evening, the BU co-captain bailed out a team that just couldn’t find the back of the net when it generated three more shots than the Friars.
All Knox could do was smile as his coach gave him a pat on the back.
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