Men's Soccer Set to Host Harvard Tuesday Night
October 15, 2012 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 15, 2012
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BOSTON - Competing against its last non-conference opponent of the season, the Boston University men's soccer team will kick off a three-game homestand with local rival Harvard on Tuesday night. The contest is set to begin at 7 p.m. at Nickerson Field.
First 20 fans through the gate will receive a pizza from Beantown Pizza, and the BU band will be in attendance to perform at halftime.
The Terriers will be looking to drum up run support for sophomore goalkeeper Nick Thomsonafter scoring one goal in the previous 200 minutes of action last week. They entered last week's slate of games averaging 2.2 goals per game over the previous five contests before recording a 0-0 draw against Vermont and tallying just one goal in the loss at UMBC.
Junior Anthony Ciccone and senior Michael Bustamante will try to reignite the offense after tallying a combined 13 points during that five-game stretch. Ciccone currently leads the team in assists with six, while Bustamante sits atop the points category with nine off three goals and three assists. Sophomore Parker Powell prevented a second consecutive shutout against the Retrievers by scoring his team-high fourth goal of the season and will also try to help get BU's offense back on track.
Defensively, BU has been plagued by injuries with 2011 America East Defender of the Year Kelvin Madzongwe and freshman starter Jeroen Blugh being forced to the sidelines back in September. Starting junior midfielder Fannar Arnarsson missed the last two games, and senior back Max White had to sit out the UMBC game due to him receiving two yellow cards against Vermont.
The Retrievers took advantage by scoring three second-half goals after BU cut a two-goal deficit in half for the 5-1 win. Thomson entered the game having allowed five goals total in the previous seven games. He currently has a 1.36 goals against average and 0.737 save percentage.
Both he and the backline led by 2011 All-Freshman Team honoree Sanford Spivey will try to contain a Harvard squad that currently owns a 1-7-3 record and has lost five games by one goal. The two teams shared three common opponents. BU earned a 1-1 draw against UConn before the Huskies rolled past the Crimson, 6-0.
In the other two games, the Terriers stopped BC, 1-0, and dropped a 1-0 overtime decision to Brown. Coincidentally, Harvard suffered a similar fate to the Bears in overtime (2-1) after recording a 1-1 draw against Boston College. The Crimson's lone win this season came against Michigan State (1-0) at home earlier this year.
Jake Freeman, Kiroki Kobayashi and Oliver White lead Harvard with two goals apiece with three other members having tallied an assist. Netminding duties have been split between two men. Joe Festa has a 0-4-2 record with a 1.50 GAA and 0.714 save percentage, while Evan Mendez is 1-3-1 with a 1.91 GAA and 0.688 save percentage.
BU and Harvard first met in 1951, and the Crimson lead the all-time series, 23-14-6. The Terriers though have won the previous two contests by identical 2-1 scores and four of the last six games. Last year, BU rallied with goals in the 42nd and 65th minutes, respectively, for the win with Thomson posting three saves.
Following the contest, the Terriers will remain at home and host Albany on Saturday (Oct. 20) at 2 p.m.
