Men's Soccer Finishes Home Schedule with UMBC Wednesday Night
October 20, 2009 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 20, 2009
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BOSTON - Playing in its final home regular season game of the year, the Boston University men's soccer team (7-5-2, 1-3 AE) hosts UMBC (10-3-0, 1-2 AE) on Wednesday with the start time set for 7 p.m. Prior to the game, the Terriers will honor seniors Samuel Appiah, Hrafn Davidsson, Richy Dorman, Tom Strackhouse and Shaun Taylor.
While the game may not be a must win with two more conference games remaining afterwards, it comes pretty close, as the Terriers are currently in a tie for sixth place with the Retrievers at three points apiece. Only the top six teams in the final standings advance to the conference tournament.
Both of these teams were ranked in the top 25 just two weeks ago but now find themselves battling for a postseason berth. The Terriers have dropped their last three games by a combined score of 7-3 after opening conference play with a 3-0 victory over Stony Brook. The Retrievers are 1-3 in the last four games, having been outscored, 8-3, in the three losses.
Looking to help get the Terriers back on track will be junior Aaron O'Neal. Having scored each of BU's goals in the last two games, the 2007 AE Rookie of the Year is currently ranked third in the league for points (21) and goals (9). Nationally, he ranks 23rd in goals per game (0.64) and 28th in points per game (1.5), while 2008 AE Rookie of the Year Michael Bustamante ranks 15th in assists per game at 0.57. Bustamante tallied his eighth assist of the season on O'Neal's score last Friday at Binghamton.
On the defensive end, the Terriers seek their seventh shutout of the year and first since defeating Stony Brook. Goalie Davidsson, who is eighth all-time in the BU record book with 175 saves, has a 0.98 goals against average and a .759 save percentage. He will face a difficult challenge in his final regular season game at Nickerson Field, with UMBC entering the contest as the No. 4 scoring offense with a 2.46 goals per game average.
Having scored at least two goals in eight games and three in six, the Retrievers feature the nation's top goal scorer in Andrew Bulls, who is averaging 1.15 per game. Levi Houapeu is ninth at 0.77 and is also fourth in assists at 0.69. They lead an offense that has only been shutout once the entire year, a 2-0 defeat at home against AE leader, New Hampshire.
Defensively, UMBC's Phil Saunders ranks 43rd in save percentage at 0.81 and 48th in the goals against average at 0.855. He has shut out six opponents, though has given up five goals in the last two games, including three in a overtime loss against Longwood.
The two teams have only been playing each other since 2003, and BU leads the series, 3-2-1. Last year at UMBC, the Terriers pulled out a 3-0 victory with O'Neal, Taylor and Ben Berube each scoring a goal. Davidsson only needed three saves for the shutout victory. In 2007 at Nickerson, BU jumped out with two goals and held on for a 2-1 victory.
Following the game, the Terriers will return to the road for their final two contests of the regular season, beginning with Vermont next Wednesday, Oct. 28.
