Terriers, New Hampshire Battle to 2-2 Tie
October 12, 2001 | Men's Soccer
The Terrier men's soccer team spotted the University of New Hampshire a 2-0 lead before battling back for a pair of goals but had to settle for a 2-2 double overtime tie in America East action at Nickerson Field on Friday night (October 12th).
One of the highlights of the evening was the formal dedication of the renovated Nickerson Field. The ceremonies, which were held at halftime, were presided over by Boston University provost Dennis Berkey and University Executive Vice President Joe Mercurio.
With the tie, the Terriers are now 6-4-1 overall this year, while they are 2-1-1 in league play. In the meantime, New Hampshire is 4-4-2 overall and 2-1-1 in the conference.
Sophomore Alan McNamara (Woodview Raheen, Ireland) had the first multiple-goal game of his collegiate career to spearhead the comeback.
His first goal came at the 40:19 mark of the game as he took a pass from junior Anthony D'Angelo (Tewksbury, MA) and fired his shot past New Hampshire goalkeeper Shaun O'Neil. The goal, which was the first of the season for McNamara and third of his career, came on a shot just outside the New Hampshire box.
Then, with just 9:41 to play in regulation, McNamara beat O'Neil again. The goal was set up by the outstanding speed of senior captain Joachim Kaland (Fonnes, Norway). Kaland got the ball at midfield and dribbled down the middle of the field past a couple of New Hampshire defenders. He passed the ball to McNamara who beat O'Neil from in close.
The Terriers had two excellent chances in overtime but could not come up with the game-winner.
With 1:30 to play in the first overtime, sophomore Andrew Dorman (Flintshire, Wales) had a direct kick from approximately 35 yards from the goal. His shot was headed to the far right hand side of the goal when O'Neil leaped across to make the save.
Then, with 7:50 to play in the second overtime, junior Mark Lynch (Richmond, VA) had a shot to the right of O'Neil in close. It went wide of the mark, and with it, went the Terriers' last good scoring chance.
"You can't go down 2-0 at home," said a disappointed Terrier head coach Neil Roberts. "It is unacceptable.
"But, at least the kids fought hard and came back for the tie," the coach went on. "The problem was that the players used so much energy to get back to the tie.
"You can't give away points like we did. It will come back and bite you," said Roberts in referring to the battle for a post-season bid to the conference playoffs.
In the battle of the statistics, the Terriers outshot New Hampshire, 18-14, while the Wildcats had the edge in corner kicks, 12-7.
Terrier freshman goalkeeper Zak Thompson (Silver Spring, MD) had five saves, while O'Neil had seven saves for the Wildcats.
