The Boston University men’s soccer team lost a difficult match against America East opponent University of Maryland–Baltimore County by a score of 5–1 Saturday afternoon in Baltimore.
Boston University (4–6–4, 1–1–2 America East) entered the game on a four-game unbeaten streak, but a strong game from UMBC (6–4–4, 1–2–1 America East), coupled with a variety of mistakes from many BU players resulted in a lopsided victory for the Retrievers.
“It really wasn’t a good performance,” said BU coach Neil Roberts. “We really didn’t play well as a group. We had a couple of mistakes in our defensive third, our penalty box didn’t defend well and [sophomore goalkeeper] Nick [Thomson] didn’t have his best game for sure.”
In the 36th minute, UMBC midfielder Michael Burgos broke the scoreless tie when he received a pass to the left of the BU goal and, with no BU defensive pressure, put one past Thomson. The score was Burgos’ first goal of the season and first goal of his collegiate career.
Thomson bounced back with two more saves late in the first half and the Terriers went into the half down by only one goal.
The second half started with a flurry of corner kicks for UMBC and the team connected on one in the 60th minute.
UMBC midfielder Mamadou Kansaye launched a corner kick in front of the BU net and was caught by Thomson. However, UMBC midfielder Michael DiCesare headed the ball out of Thomson’s hands, allowing forward Paul Caringi finish the job and give UMBC the 2–0 lead.
BU got on the board just over six minutes later on a header from sophomore midfielder Parker Powell. The goal was Powell’s team-leading fourth goal of the season.
The one-goal deficit did not last long and the score quickly became 3–1 off Caringi’s second goal of the game. UMBC continued to pile it on with two more goals, one in the 73rd minute and one in the 74th minute.
Caringi finished the day with a hat trick and two assists, while Burgos scored the fifth and final goal for UMBC.
Thomson was replaced by sophomore goalie Matt Daugherty only a few minutes after the Retrievers’ final goal.
The score would remain 5–1 for the remainder of the game. Caringi’s eight-point game was the first for UMBC since 1995.
The Terriers left Baltimore with heavily depleted chances of making the tournament. However, this does not mean the Terriers will stop fighting.
“We just need to win the next game and play well,” Roberts said. “We know what we are capable of doing and now we just need to be able to do that consistently.”
One obstacle for the Terriers has been the injuries they have encountered this year. Roberts said he understands the pressure it is putting on the team.
“Obviously we are down a lot of numbers — we were down six starters going into the game,” Roberts said. “We needed a big performance and we just didn’t get it. If guys can’t come back physically then the guys we put in will have to do it.”
That being said, Roberts also said he is hopeful that a few guys will be back this week and will be able to start putting pressure on opponents in the midfield.
“Most of the time this year we have been able to not let teams dictate what was going on and that was probably the most disappointing part, we really weren’t tight in the midfield,” Roberts said. “Hopefully we will get a few guys back this week so we can get the numbers to put more pressure on opponents in the midfield.”