BOSTON - Returning just four starters from last season, the defending Patriot League regular season Boston University men's soccer team will open the 2015 season at defending Atlantic 10 tournament champion Fordham on Friday with action slated to begin at 7 p.m.

2014 Patriot League Coach of the Year Neil Roberts is entering his 31st season at the helm and will try to help his team improve upon last year's 12-4-4 season in which BU claimed the most wins since 2008.

The Terriers were selected to finish second in the PL preseason poll, while the Rams were picked seventh in the Atlantic 10. They will be meeting for the third time since 2007 with BU making its first-ever trip to the Bronx campus. 

TERRIER TIDBITS

• 2014 All-PL Second Team honoree David Amirani was named to the 2015 All-PL Preseason Team ... The sophomore is the top returning points leader with 10 off four goals and two assists.

• BU lost 2014 PL Offensive Player of the Year Dominique Badji (8g,4a) and All-PL honoree Jordan Barker (4g,5a) to graduation ... Senior Lucas McBride (3g) and junior Felix De Bona (4g,1a) will look to be primary contributors this season alongside Amirani. 

• Three-year starting goalkeeper Nick Thomson graduated last December as the PL Scholar-Athlete of the Year ... Redshirt-junior Matt Gilbert started 15 games in 2013 for the injured Thomson and posted a 1.05 goals against average and .807 save percentage while tallying six shutouts.

• BU earned nine shutouts last season ... Besides losing Thomson, the Terriers also lost former conference Defensive Player of the Year Kelvin Madzongwe to graduation ... Senior Jeroen Blugh is healthy after starting 10 games last season while battling injuries and will look to be an anchor defensively ... Junior David Asbjornsson has primarily served as a holding midfielder in the past and will also help the backline.

• Senior midfielder Richie Robinson returns for his second season with the Terriers after tallying four points (1g,2a) in 17 starts ... Adam Sheikali collected nine starts playing in the back. 

• The Terriers welcome two transfers ... Sophomore midfielder Anthony Viteri led the Red Storm with 10 shots on goal and finished with three points off a goal and assist ... Junior midfielder Mark Wadid played 40 games the last two seasons at Penn State, making seven starts ... He contributed three assists last year for the Nittany Lions.

• BU entered preseason training with 13 freshmen ... Forward T.J. Butzke was a 2014 NSCAA All-American and the state of New York's Gatorade Player of the Year for St. Anthony ... Defender David Riccio was also an NSCAA All-American while at Shaker H.S.     

• The Terriers last won a road season opener in 2011 at Holy Cross (2-0) ... They haven't open a season outside the state of Massachusetts since traveling to Indiana in 2004 ... Their last season-opening road win outside MA came at FIU (2-1 OT) in 1999.

SCOUTING FORDHAM

• The Rams won the 2014 Atlantic 10 tournament title despite going 3-3-2 in the conference regular season schedule ... After defeating VCU (PKs), St. Louis and URI, they finished the season at 8-9-4 with a 2-1 loss at then-No. 20 Dartmouth in the NCAA first round.

• Fordham returns eight starters, including 2014 All-Conference First Team member Andres Penfold ... He led the Rams with 16 points off seven goals and two assists ... Jannik Loebe contributed four goals and was named to the A-10's All-Rookie Team ... Ryan Walsh came off the bench to tally seven goals and an assist.

• Goalkeeper Sean Brailey is the biggest loss from last season ... He had a 0.96 GAA and was named the A-10 Championship Most Outstanding Player.

• The Rams went 4-2-1 at home in 2014 with key wins over Lafayette, St. Joseph's and Temple ... The two losses came against UMass and URI.

SERIES HISTORY

• The Terriers lead the all-time series, 2-0, and have yet to give up a goal.

• They first met in 2007 at the Brown Invitational with Daniel Chu recording back-to-back goals for the 4-0 victory ... Hrafn Davidsson made seven saves in 83 minutes to share the shutout.

• Last season at Nickerson Field, BU opened a year with a golden goal for the first time since 2005 off the foot of Lucas McBride ... The Terriers scored with one second remaining in the first OT.

• BU owned a 22-8 advantage in shot attempts with Nick Thomson only requiring one save ... The Terriers ended the game with a slight 6-5 advantage in corner kicks.

UP NEXT

• The Terriers will open the home slate against crosstown rival Boston College on Monday (Aug. 31) at 7 p.m. ... The ninth annual Terrier Tailgate festivities will begin in Braves Plaza at 6 p.m.

• Admission is free for the contest ... First 300 BU students with ID will receive a BU Athletics selfie stick.

• BC escaped in overtime with a 2-1 win in the last meeting at Nickerson Field two years ago ... The Eagles also won the first-ever Terrier Tailgate in 2007 with an 83rd-minute goal.