Men's Soccer Drops 2-1 Decision at Holy Cross, Clinches No. 2 Seed for PL Tournament

Wednesday, November 2

Worcester, MA

6 PM

Boston University

6-5-6, 4-2-3

Holy Cross

5-9-4, 1-5-3

Boston University

Holy Cross

Daniel Kim sprints up the field with the soccer ball.

Photo by: Gregory Fisher

Men's Soccer Drops 2-1 Decision at Holy Cross, Clinches No. 2 Seed for PL Tournament

November 2, 2022 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score Coach Nylen/Innes Postgame

WORCESTER, Mass. – Despite sophomore Daniel Kim netting his first goal of the season, the Boston University men's soccer team dropped a 2-1 decision at Holy Cross in the regular season finale for both teams Wednesday night.

With the loss and other Patriot League results, the Terriers (6-4-6, 4-2-3 PL) finish conference play in second place at 15 points to claim a quarterfinal bye and advance to their first semifinal since 2017. Improving their home record to 4-2-2 with two late first-half goals in response to Kim's 24th-minute score, the Crusaders ended their season at 5-9-4 (1-5-3 PL).

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was a tale of two halves with the Crusaders posting an 11-3 advantage in shots in the first and the Terriers attempting 11 of their own against Holy Cross' four shots during the second.
Winner of the last three PL Defender of the Week awards, senior Griffin Roach earned the team save in the 11th minute by swiping away a low shot from Evan Jones, who had drawn senior keeper Francesco Montali off his line during an attempt to clear the ball.
Montali posted two saves over the next 13 minutes to keep the game scoreless.
Roach helped give BU the lead by launching a ball on the defensive side of the field toward the goal line. Junior Andrew Rent out ran the backline and charging keeper to keep the pass in play and then centered it to Kim, who blasted a shot from eight yards out past a defender.
With under eight to play in the half, Holy Cross mounted a rally to grab the lead for good, first going on a counter after winning a midfield battle for the ball and finding a slashing Dylan Scanley for a low shot past Montali at 37:16.
Montali stopped a near point-blank shot from Marcus Williams in the 42nd minute, but Williams quickly pounced on the rebound for the 2-1 advantage.
The Terriers dominated possession in the second half and nailed the crossbar twice, including off a flick from sophomore Brian Hernandez in the 56th minute.
BU earned a pair of corners over the final eight minutes, but Kim's shot was blocked and junior Eitan Rosen sent one wide before time expired.

GAME NOTES

Kim became the eighth Terrier to net a goal this season and joined Roach in increasing BU's total of Terriers with at least one goal and assist to five.
Rent now owns a team-high five assists.
Roach's team save was the first of the season for the Terriers.
Montali's six stops were one shy of the season high set against Boston College.
Holy Cross edged BU in shots, 15-4, while the Terriers finished ahead in corners, 5-4.
The home team has now won each of the last three meetings between the two squads with BU now leading the all-time series, 14-5-1.

UP NEXT

No. 2 BU will host the higher remaining seed in the PL semifinals on Tuesday (Nov. 8) at 6 p.m. with No. 1 Army hosting the lower seeded team at the same time.
On Saturday (Nov. 5), No. 3 Colgate will host No. 6 American, and No. 4 Navy will host No. 5 Lafayette.
The Terriers will be seeking their first PL title game appearance since 2014.