On a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon, the play of both the No. 25 Boston University men’s soccer team and American University seemed to reflect the weather.
The inclement weather caused trouble for both teams, which resulted in neither team reaching twine, ending the game in a 0-0 draw on the Terriers’ (11-3-3, 6-0-2 Patriot League) Senior Day.
With the draw, the Terriers clinched a first-round bye and the top seed in the Patriot League Tournament, but BU coach Neil Roberts still appeared flustered after the game.
“It was an interesting game, I guess,” he said. “I don’t think anyone really had control of it. They had their moments of attacking. I thought we had our moments of attacking.”
In the first half, neither team could conjure up any sort of consistent pressure. The game lived at midfield, where errant passes were caused by the slick-playing surface, skied balls were misplayed and possession changed constantly.
Early on, BU freshman midfielder David Amirani registered the best scoring chance of the day on the Eagles (10-3-3, 4-2-2 Patriot League) when he smacked the post in the ninth minute, missing the net by inches.
Despite the rough nature of the weather, Roberts said it did not have too much of an impact on the game.
“Both teams handled it pretty well,” he said. “Obviously when you’re watching and coaching and playing in it, you don’t really worry about it that much. You just deal with it, and both teams dealt with it pretty well. The wind didn’t really pick up too much, but the rain was pretty heavy and cold.”
That cold definitely may have played a part in injuries that changed the complexion of the game. In the 26th minute, an American attack led by forward Joe Iraola ended in a hard collision between him and BU senior goalkeeper Nick Thomson. Thomson was down for a few minutes, but eventually elected to stay in the game after a discussion with the training staff. He ended up recording his eighth shutout of the season.
Six minutes later, senior forward Dominique Badji was removed from the game after he came up lame while running down a lead pass. He did not return. Without Badji, the offense stagnated. Nothing was able to materialize on American’s side of the field.
“Defensively, I was happy with what we did,” Roberts said. “But we need to be more dangerous without Dom. That needs to be the key.”
A few paltry attempts from both sides came after, none of which came on net, yet the half ended with excitement. After a screaming match between senior defender Kelvin Madzongwe and American forward Michael Cherry in the 45th minute, midfielder Chris Fanet got possession in the six-yard box and put the ball just over both Thomson and the crossbar, sending the Terriers into the half holding their breath.
As the second half got underway, it was more of the same – misplayed long balls, sloppy passes and turnovers aplenty. In the 52nd minute, junior forward Lucas McBride misplayed a cross right outside the six-yard box, sending it way over the net for the Terrier’s first good chance of the second half. In the 54th minute, Thomson made the first save of the match, a liner from Iraola that he was able to handle despite the slippery conditions.
Just a few minutes later, the injury bug struck the Eagles. In the 58th minute, American’s goalkeeper, Dylan Hobert, went down hard, but requested to stay in the game. A minute later, after limping when a ball was sent to him, Hobert came out and the Eagles brought in backup Lucas Belanger.
In the 71st minute, Belanger stopped a shot from senior midfielder Jordan Barker while he was a step into his own net. In the 73rd minute, he was once again out of position while McBride headed a ball to the right of the net.
In the 86th minute, after a Barker corner kick, junior defender Jeroen Blugh nearly came away with his second game-winner in a row as his header went just to the left of the frame.
In both overtime periods, fatigue set in as both teams vied for possession, but to no avail.
After walking away with the draw and the first-round tournament bye intact, Roberts said his focus is on securing home-field advantage with a win against Bucknell University on Saturday.
“The big thing is we need to win there to clinch home field,” he said. “The big thing is ‘Can we get first place?’ We got a week off which is great, so we can rest and get some guys healthy. We’ll figure out a way to score some goals and beat Bucknell.”
