The Boston University men’s soccer team suffered yet another costly injury in its loss to No. 24 Brown University on Thursday night. In the 10th minute of the game, freshman defenseman Jeroen Blugh fell to the ground holding his knee and did not return to the game.
For a team that recently lost its top defenseman, junior Kelvin Madzongwe, in the third game of the season, this injury was not good news. However, in the face of rising adversity, the defense of BU’s men’s soccer team has shown incredible resilience by remaining a stalwart force in the NCAA.
The Terriers were shaken up early in the season by the torn ACL that would end Madzongwe’s season. The incredible defenseman was awarded Rookie of the Year honors in his freshman campaign, followed by defenseman of the year in his sophomore campaign. Madzongwe was poised for a great season, leading the way for a fantastic defensive corps.
The Terriers had their work cut out for them,recovering from such a crucial loss, but the defense responded with fantastic results. Since Madzongwe’s last game, the Terriers have allowed only five goals in four games. Three of those games came against ranked opponents, including No. 1 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and No. 3 Providence College.
The most recent game against Brown, in which the Terriers lost Blugh to injury early on, was arguably the most impressive showing of the season for the defense.
“They fought hard. Losing Jeroen early in the game really made things difficult for us,” said a disappointed BU coach Neil Roberts after the game. “Jeroen settled in, he was replacing Kelvin and he was doing a good job. He was becoming the focal point of the defense.”
Despite the lack of Blugh’s 6-foot-2 physical presence, BU made all of the proper adjustments to keep Brown’s offense at bay. Junior Derek McCaffrey, who has consistently started at midfield all season and was recently moved into more of an attacking role, was moved to defense to replace the injured Blugh.
Coach Roberts also made a formation change, switching from a three-man defense to a four-man defense. The team played well under the new system.
“The guys adjusted well to it— [Brown] didn’t really have any opportunities in the game,” Roberts said.
The Terriers held Brown to no goals and only three shots on goal in regulation as the teams went to overtime tied at zero. Just when it seemed like the defensive corps had approached an obstacle too difficult to overcome, it came through with one of its best performances of the season. It took a free kick from midfield and two bounces off the heads of Brown players for the Bears to finally end the game with the decisive golden goal 40 seconds into overtime.
“We thought the only way they were going to score would be on [a play] like they did,” Roberts said.
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