Leaning against a wall in a narrow corridor of the Case Athletic Center, Boston University’s men’s soccer head coach Neil Roberts was forced to come to terms with a problem that has been plaguing his team throughout the season – offensive production.
Even on an unusually warm 85 degree October afternoon at Nickerson Field, the Terriers’ offense was decidedly cold.
In a 1-0 loss to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Saturday, the BU offense was never able to break through or gain momentum, an occurrence that is emblematic of a greater trend for the Terriers.
And while Roberts may not be Albert Einstein or John Nash, he can interpret the numbers well enough to understand why his team is struggling.
“I’m not a math major, but when you have 11 games and nine goals, that’s obviously an issue and you’re not going to have a winning record [with that],” he said after the game.
While the lack of scoring has undoubtedly been a source of problems and frustration for the Terriers, it is not a problem of an anemic offense. Rather, as was the case against the Retrievers, it was simply a matter of not capitalizing on goal-scoring opportunities.
Despite putting up 12 shots, three of which were on goal, the Terriers were never able to get on the board and ultimately fell to a UMBC team that the BU defense held firmly in check for most of the game. Even with a strong defensive effort, Roberts said that the Terrier offense cannot rely on the team’s defensive strength to keep it in games.
“It’s obviously been an issue and a theme for most of the season – you’ve got to score goals,” he said. “You can say, ‘Yeah, we made a mistake to go down 1-0 and gave them a goal,’ but we’re not scoring goals.”
For Roberts and the Terriers, the struggles on offense have been well-documented, but the team entered the game against UMBC – the Terriers’ second game in America East Conference play – having scored six goals in its past five games.
Early on, it appeared as though the tone would be set for a breakout offensive performance. In the game’s first minute, senior midfielder Stephen Knox received a long pass from sophomore defender Kelvin Madzongwe along the near sideline of the field, a ball that sent Knox on a run past the UMBC defense. Knox took a shot from just inside the 18-yard box, but with his outstretched right hand, UMBC goalkeeper Dan Louisignau made a diving save on a ball headed for the far side of the goal.
Roughly 15 minutes later, Knox again found himself on the precipice of finding the back of the net, as he received a through-ball from freshman forward Dominique Badji, but Knox was met near the top of the box by a charging Louisignau who stopped the shot.
The Terriers’ chances on offense did not begin and end with Knox, as right before halftime, BU got perhaps its best look of the game when Louisignau was pulled out of position on a cross and sophomore midfielder Derek McCaffrey had the ball about 10 yards away from the goal.
However, McCaffrey mishit his shot and the ball sailed well past the near post of the goal.
With the offense being given numerous opportunities to convert, Roberts found a simple culprit for BU’s inability to score.
“It’s just the finishing part, it’s just finishing,” Roberts said. “I think we’re creating enough chances to get some goals, but we’re not getting them. We’ve got to find a way to create them.”
Goal-scoring opportunities continued for the Terriers in the second half as BU tallied four shots in that span, with many of the opportunities coming in the final 15 minutes of the match.
The best of these looks came with 11 minutes remaining when senior midfielder Ben Berube, who scored a team-high eight goals in 2010, received a pass from Knox that left him with an unobstructed chance at the goal from about 10 yards out.
However, Berube failed to convert on the opportunity as he hit a ball that sailed well over the crossbar.
While the Terriers managed to elevate their offensive pressure after giving up a second half goal to UMBC, they ultimately could not catch a decisive break.
“They had a lot of numbers in [the box] and we had a lot of numbers in and it’s just kind of chaotic play – you just hope for something to bounce your way,” Roberts said. “I thought we created some things and had some good looks, so that was pretty good. But it just didn’t go.”
And for BU hopes to accomplish anything of note this season, Roberts knows that his team has to start putting balls in the back of the net.
“We had more chances until they scored, we created more, we had better possession,” he said. “We can play with them and we should be able to win that game if you put away some of your chances. It’s there, but the whole total package isn’t there obviously until you can start getting some goals.”’
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