Men's Soccer Faces Must-Win Situation at Vermont Wednesday
October 27, 2009 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 27, 2009
BOSTON - Facing the reality that a loss would eliminate the Boston University men's soccer team from advancing to the America East tournament, the Terriers (7-6-2, 1-4-0 AE) travel to Vermont (1-9-5, 1-3-2 AE) on Wednesday at 2 p.m. needing a victory to clinch the last berth. A draw would put them in the position of advancing if they are able to win at Albany on Saturday due to having the tiebreaker over the Catamounts.
In their last game a week ago against UMBC, the Terriers pulled out to a 1-0 lead at 69:58 off junior Aaron O'Neals 10th goal of the season. With the score off Matthew Shea's first point of the year, he became the first Terrier since Joachim Kaland in 2001 to record at least 10 goals in a season. However, the lead was short lived, as the Retrievers; No. 4 scoring offense tallied a goal 30 seconds later and then recorded what proved to be the game winner at 74:40.
The contest marked the fourth straight one that BU either led or was in a tie before losing. The Terriers have only been shut out twice this season, but have only managed one goal in each of the last four games. O'Neal leads them in points recorded at 23 with senior Samuel Appiah in second at 11 off four goals and three assists. Sophomore Michael Bustamante has eight assists to sit atop the team's leaderboard.
On the defensive end, the Terriers are looking to get back on track after allowing nine goals in the last four games. They started the season with just seven in the first 11 games. Senior keeper Hrafn Davidsson has a 1.05 goals against average and a .742 save percentage. He has five solo shutouts on the year and last earned one against Stony Brook to kick off the conference slate of games.
The Catamounts dropped both of its games last week at Stony Brook and at home against Binghamton. Both games were 2-1 decisions with a late-goal being scored both times. Matt Hennessey and D.J. Edler both have a team-leading three goals, while T.J. Gore has four assists on the team.
Keeper Tom Critz has played every second on the pitch and has a 1.30 goals against average and a .774 save percentage. His lone win came on Oct. 3 with a 3-1 upset victory then-No. 18 UMBC.
Vermont and the Terriers have been playing each other on an annual basis since 1972. in a series that BU leads 21-11-7. The program has only lost once to Vermont in the last 19 matches. The Terriers had a 17-game unbeaten streak snapped in 2007 when the Catamounts won, 1-0, in overtime at home.
Last year during the regular season, the teams battled to a 1-1 draw at Nickerson Field and would meet again during the semifinals of the America East tournament. Richy Dorman scored the game-winning goal at 81:45 off an assist from Shaun Taylor to propel BU to the title game.
No matter the outcome of Wednesday's game, the Terriers will conclude the regular season on Saturday at Albany with the start time set for 2 p.m.
