Men's Soccer Celebrates Senior Night, Clinches PL Tourney Berth with 2-0 Win over Lehigh

Saturday, October 29

Boston, MA

6 PM

Boston University

6-4-6, 4-1-3PL

Lehigh

3-9-3, 2-4-2PL

Lehigh

Boston University

Photo by: Kyle Prudhomme

Men's Soccer Celebrates Senior Night, Clinches PL Tourney Berth with 2-0 Win over Lehigh

October 29, 2022 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score Highlights Coach Nylen/Matulis Postgame

BOSTON – After honoring three seniors, the Boston University men's soccer team used a strong defensive performance and senior Quinn Matulis' early first-half brace to claim a 2-0 win over Lehigh at Nickerson Field on Saturday night.

With their eighth shutout of the season, the Terriers (6-4-6, 4-1-3 PL) have extended their Patriot League unbeaten streak to seven games and clinched their first conference tournament bid since 2018. They limited the Mountain Hawks (3-9-3, 2-4-2 PL) to just six shot attempts to snap a three-game losing streak in the series and earn their first home win since 2013.

Prior to the game, BU recognized senior Gianluca Arlotti, senior Liam Cullen and graduate student Evan Morrison. All three had their moments to shine with Cullen making his first career appearance at net and tallying two saves to accompany senior Francesco Montali's three stops, including a spectacular save on a 76th-minute penalty kick attempt.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Arlotti sent the first shot wide at 4:04 and helped set up the first goal.
After Arlotti's pass was blocked toward the top of the box, senior Colin Innes headed the ball up to sophomore Daniel Kim, whose deflected pass found the foot of Matulis for a quick shot and 1-0 advantage at 5:04.
In the 11th minute, junior Andrew Rent drove around a defender and found Kim for a hard shot at the post that led to Matulis pouncing on the rebound for the 2-0 lead.
Montali earned a pair of saves at 9:36 and 13:21, respectively, to keep the Mountain Hawks off the scoreboard.
BU earned three corner kicks in the first half with Rent's header going wide at 23:30 and Innes' attempt also going wide at 31:03.
Freshman Diego Rived's header off another corner at 50:37 went wide as well.
The Mountain Hawks earned back-to-back corners in the 75th minute with the second drawing a foul in the box.
Third in the PL in goals at eight, Jack Sarkos tried to make Montali bite before firing his shot up the middle, but Montali used his legs while diving to keep the game scoreless.
Cullen entered the game in the 82nd minute and added two saves in the final five minutes to seal the win.

GAME NOTES

With his second brace against Lehigh, Matulis grabbed the team lead in points at 12 off four goals and four assists. He's tied for the team lead in goals with Innes and team lead in assists with Rent.
Kim has earned all three of his assists over the last three games.
Innes became the third Terrier to earn at least one goal and one assist this season.
The Terriers finished with an 11-6 advantage in shots and 6-5 edge in corners, as Lehigh was shut out in PL play for just the second time.
BU's 15 points in PL play are the most since earning 19 (6-2-1) in 2017.
BU improved to 5-5-0 all-time in the series against Lehigh.

UP NEXT

Looking to claim a first round bye and possibly the top seed with some help, the Terriers will next conclude the regular season at Holy Cross on Wednesday (Nov. 2) at 6 p.m.
BU won last year's meeting at home, 3-1, to improve to 14-4-1 all-time.