Oct. 31, 2014

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BU Today (Video): Coach Roberts - Honoring Decades of Excellence on the Pitch

Barker, Thomson Earn CoSIDA Academic All-District Honors

BOSTON - After honoring eight seniors in a special pregame ceremony, the No. 25 Boston University men's soccer team will face off against American on Saturday with action slated to begin at 1 p.m.

The 2014 class include all three captains - Dominique Badji (Dakar, Senegal), Jordan Barker (Harrogate, England) and Mac McGuire (Southlake, Texas) - along with Kelvin Madzongwe (Magwegwe, Zimbabwe), Parker Powell (Seattle, Wash.), Cameron Souri (Los Angeles, Calif.), Sanford Spivey (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Nick Thomson (Cramlington, England).

They've helped lead the Terriers (11-3-2) to their most regular season wins since 2010 and a 6-0-1 mark in Patriot League action with just two games left in the regular season. They currently own a three-point advantage over Navy (5-1-1 PL) and six-point lead over the Eagles (10-3-2, 4-2-1 PL).

A win on Saturday would give BU the No. 1 seed and regular season title, while a tie would give the Terriers a first round bye in the six-team conference tournament. The contest also carries significance for a potential NCAA at-large bid and/or NCAA seeding, as the Eagles currently own a No. 35 RPI ranking due to an earlier win over current No. 1 UCLA (2-1 ot) and are just one spot ahead of the No. 36 Terriers with Navy sitting at No. 42.

Through seven Patriot League games, the Terriers have tallied 13 goals, tied-for-first with Holy Cross, and allowed just three scores, one fewer than Navy. Reflecting BU's depth, nine men have recorded at least one goal with 12 tallying at least one point.

Overall, Badji leads BU in both points (18) and goals (7). Both he and Barker are one assist shy of tying freshman Bjarki Benediktsson's five helpers. Fellow rookie David Amirani has also made a big impact this year behind four goals and two assists for 10 points. On the defensive end, Thomson ranks 17th nationally in save percentage (0.829) and 24th in goals against average (0.72) while earning seven shutouts.

Following their stunning 2-1 overtime upset victory over No. 1 UCLA back on Sept. 5, the Eagles have only fallen at Navy (2-0) and at Lehigh (2-1). Liam Robley leads the Egales with 12 points, four goals and four assists. Joe Iraola also owns four goals to help the offense. Dylan Hobert has played all 15 games at net and owns a 0.812 save percentage and 0.76 goals against average.

Last season in the first-ever meeting between the two programs in Washington, D.C., American tallied two goals in the first half. The Eagles added an 81st minute score after Badji cut the deficit in half for the 3-1 victory over the Terriers.

Following the game, BU will end the regular season at Bucknell on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 5:30 p.m.