NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Unable to bounce back after allowing a pair of goals in the final three minutes of the first half, the Boston University men's soccer team fell at Merrimack, 2-0, on Wednesday night.
The Terriers (3-2) doubled the Warriors (1-3) in shot attempts in the second half, 8-4, on the way to suffering their first shutout loss of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Warriors earned the game's first corner in the second minute and headed the ball too high.
- Nearly giving BU the lead, senior Eitan Rosen blasted a shot that was inches too high and nailed the crossbar.
- Merrimack earned a breakaway and found Carlo Romei, who rushed into the box and drove a low shot that was stopped by senior Andrew Wike.
- After clearing three corners, BU earned one of its own during the 24th minute when a Merrimack defender blocked Rosen's shot out of bounds.
- Graduate student Colin Innes forced Alvaro Rodriguez to make a save at 25:52, and Wike had a kick save of his own on a rebound attempt one minute later.
- In the 42nd minute, the Terriers had a shot blocked that went up the field 30 yards to create another breakaway for the Warriors, who drew a foul in the BU box and converted on a penalty kick.
- Three minutes following Johan Feilscher's score, Michael Koralishn rifled a high-arching shot that went over the outstretched arms of Wike to extend the lead to 2-0.
- Trying to cut the deficit in half, senior Quinn Matulis and Innes were both off the mark during the 55th and 56th minutes, respectively. with Matulis forcing a save from Rodriguez at 59:49.
- Sophomore John Roman hit the far post off a corner kick in the 86th minute and sent a shot wide left a minute later for the shutout loss.
GAME NOTES
- Making his first start of the season, Wike finished with five saves, three shy of his personal best set at Harvard in 2021.
- Both Rosen and Innes tallied a team-high three shot attempts.
- Merrimack edged BU in shots, 13-12, with a 7-3 lead in corner kicks.
- The Warriors moved ahead in the all-time series, 2-1-1, to avenge last year's 1-0 loss at BU.
UP NEXT
- BU will have an extended break and next host Lehigh in the Patriot League opener for both squads on Saturday, Sept. 16, with a 5 p.m. start time.
- The Terriers last season snapped a three-game losing streak in the series with a 2-0 home win against the Mountain Hawks.