Men's Soccer Blanks Vermont To Conclude Weekend Sweep
October 28, 2001 | Men's Soccer
Sophomore Andrew Dorman (Flintshire, Wales) and senior captain Joachim Kaland (Fonnes, Norway) scored second-half goals and freshman Zak Thompson (Silver Spring, MD) posted his second shutout of the season as the Terrier men's soccer team blanked host Vermont, 2-0, in America East action on Sunday (October 28th).
The win enabled the Terriers to conclude a big weekend sweep as they defeated Hartford, 2-1, in double overtime on Friday night (October 26th).
The two wins boosted B.U.'s overall record to 11-4-1 overall and 7-1-1 in America East play.
With only two home games left on the regular-season schedule-against Delaware on Friday night (November 2nd) and against Towson on Sunday afternoon (November 4th), the Terriers have a chance to win the regular-season league title and host the conference tournament on November 7th and 11th.
"It was a huge weekend for us," said Terrier head coach Neil Roberts, whose teams have now won 10 or more games in 14 of his 17 years as head coach. What's more, he has never had a losing season.
"The fact that we won back-to-back games on the road in the space of three days and beat two very good teams says a lot about our team," the coach went on. "You have to give our players a lot of credit."
In Sunday's win over Vermont, the two teams battled to a scoreless tie through the first half. However, the Catamounts had the edge in shots, 10-7.
The second half was a different story as B.U. outshot Vermont, 10-7 and scored the game's only two goals.
Dorman scored the first goal at 81:05 when he took a crossing pass from sophomore Alan McNamara (Woodview Raheem, Ireland). It was Dorman's seventh goal of the season and third game-winner.
Kaland provided an insurance goal at 88:17 when he took a throw in from junior David Fahey (Plainfield, NJ). Kaland went around the defender and beat Vermont goalkeeper David Sullivan.
Thompson, who had a season-high 12 saves in the win over Hartford, had six saves against Vermont in picking up his second shutout of the season and improving his overall record to 7-1-1.
"It was a big win for us in Vermont," said Roberts. "They were the defending conference champions, and they had everyone coming back this year. They were picked to win the title again, but they are now in a battle to make the playoffs.
"One of their problems this year has been they have lost a lot of the close games," the coach went on. "They are better than their record showed.
"Plus, it is always a tough place to play," said Roberts. "In the first half, we had to withstand a lot of their pressure, and we kept our composure.
" But, I think we closed them down in the second half," continued the coach. "Then, in the last five minutes, they were putting pressure on us and brought three men up front, and that opened some things for us offensively.
"This was a big growing up weekend for us," said Roberts. "We are a very young team with three freshmen and five sophomores who have been starting."
The three freshmen have been playing key roles.
First, there is Thompson, who took over the starting keeper job from junior Matt Smith (Lanchester, England) nine games ago. Smith suffered a kidney contusion against Boston College on September 29th. Since then, Thompson has posted a 7-1-1 record along with a 1.21 goals against average and an .829 save percentage. His shutout over Vermont was his second of the season.
"He has made some big saves for us," said Roberts. "He is more relaxed out there and playing with more confidence."
Second, there is Federico Bianchi (Pacific Palisades, CA), who scored his team's first goal against Hartford. It was his fourth goal of the season, and, along with five assists, he is third on the team in scoring with 13 points.
"He has excellent technique and vision," Roberts said of Bianchi. "With all the minutes he has had this year, he's not really a freshman anymore."
Finally, there is Erik Evjen (Askim, Norway).
"He has had some big games for us thus far," Roberts said of Evjen. Roberts was also effusive in his praise of junior midfielder Tony D'Angelo (Tewksbury), who has played every minute in each of the team's 16 games. Thus far, he has four assists, but his value goes far beyond goals and assists.
"He has been a steadying force for us this year," said Roberts. "We have played him as a defensive center midfielder, and he just doesn't give the ball away. He is so consistent.
"Now that we are pretty well set with our people in the midfield, we are going to move him up so he can be more offensive," the coach went on. "He had three very good scoring chances against Hartford. He might not have scored any goals yet, but I know they will come.
"He is the type of player who doesn't get any glory," concluded Roberts. "He just does his job and doesn't give the ball away."
