Box Score
BOSTON - Just two days after a thrilling double overtime victory in its season opener, the Boston University men’s soccer team tied UMass, 1-1, at Nickerson Field on Sunday afternoon. Sophomore Petur Sigurdsson (Hafnarfjordur, Iceland) scored the lone goal for the Terriers in the 78th minute to knot the game at one. Seniors Steven Gahl (Kensington, Md.) and Zach Kirby (Marietta, Ga.) assisted on the goal. The Terriers now stand at 1-0-1 on the young season.
The game-tying goal came one minute after the Minutemen went ahead on a Greg Cirillo goal at 76:12. Kirby crossed the ball to the box, where Gahl directed it to Sigurdsson, who was coming down the middle. Once Sigurdsson controlled the ball he went one-on-one with UMass’ Zach Simmons and slotted the ball past the goalie. It was his second goal of the season. The goal marked the second time in as many games that the Terriers have rallied back from a one-goal deficit.
As the two teams went into overtime the rain-soaked field made it tough to control the ball. Most of the play was battled in the midfield, while Dan Schultz (Cincinnati, Ohio) recorded the only shot in overtime in the 102nd minute.
In the first half both teams had opportunities to get on the board with BU coming close in the 10th minute. Sigurdsson collected a cross from Jon Jonsson (Hafnarfjordur, Iceland) and chipped it over UMass’ Zach Simmons. As the ball headed for the net, defender Stuart Thomson saved the ball off the goal line to keep the game scoreless. Sigurdsson remained an offensive threat up front for the Terriers when his shot to the far post went just wide at the 29:22 mark.
With eight minutes remaining in the first half, Terrier goalkeeper Zach Riffett (Brenham, Texas) made a leaping save to punch Mike DeSantis’ shot over the cross bar.
BU outshot the Minutemen, 9-5, and held an edge in corner kicks, 4-3. Sigurdsson recorded a game-high four shots and put three on frame. Riffett went the full 110 minutes in net for BU and collected four saves.
The Terriers return to action on Thursday, Aug. 31, when they travel to Savannah, Ga., to take on Georgia Southern at 5 p.m.
