Boston University (3-1-0, 0-0 PL) at Army West Point (2-1-2, 0-0 PL)
Date & Time: Saturday, Sept. 13 | 6 p.m.
Venue: Malek Stadium at Clinton Field | West Point, N.Y.
Twitter: @BUGameDay | @TerrierMSOC

BOSTON – Seeking its third straight win, the two-time defending Patriot League regular season champion Boston University men's soccer team will open the title defense at Army West Point Saturday night with the conference opener set for a 6 p.m. start time.

The Terriers' offense is riding high following 5-1 road victory at Charleston and most recently a 3-1 home win over Brown. After opening their season with a 2-1 loss to Fairfield, the Black Knights have claimed victories against Penn State (2-1) and Villanova (2-0) along with ties against Temple (1-1) and Marist (0-0). 

TERRIER TIDBITS

• Over the last two years, BU has posted a combined 11-2-5 record in conference play to earn back-to-back regular season titles for the first time since accomplishing the feat in 2010-11 as a member of the America East.
• The Terriers' eight combined goals over the last two contests mark the most since BU claimed identical 4-0 victories vs. Binghamton and UAlbany in 2010.
• Junior and PL Midfielder of the Week Lapo Romieri leads BU with two goals and an assist for five points with three coming from the win against Brown.
• PL Rookie of the Week Austin Mobray and sophomore Pharis Petrica are tied for second on the team at four points with both men owning a goal and team-high two assists.
• Senior Aidan Kieffer earned his second career PL Defensive Player of the Week nod on Monday by playing all 90 minutes in backline after accomplishing the feat in 2023 for Bucknell.
• Senior Ben Alexander has played all 360 minutes at net, posting a .727 save percentage and 1.50 goals against average.
• Opponents are averaging 3.8 more shots per game (12.8-9.0) with a 25-14 advantage in corner kicks, though BU owns a .639 shots on goal percentage while limiting teams to .431.

SCOUTING ARMY

• The 2022 PL regular season champion Black Knights last year failed to reach the PL tournament with a 1-7-1 conference mark and 4-11-2 overall record.
• Through five contests, Jubril Bamgbala leads Army with two goals, including the game winner against Penn State.
• Ronald Zhal is the only Black Knight to have earned at least one goal and assist so far, helping set up Bamgbala's score against the Nittany Lions and then finding the back of the net against Temple.
• Three goalkeepers have seen action with Michael Gulry starting three of the contests and appearing in four games to post a .867 save percentage and 0.82 goals against average.
• Overall, opponents are averaging 4.4 more shots per game with a 28-25 edge in corner kicks.

SERIES HISTORY

• BU owns a 10-4-4 all-time record against Army in a series dating back to 1978.
• The Terriers are 2-0-1 over the last three meetings after junior Andrea Di Blasio earned a brace in the second half last year as part of a 3-2 come-from-behind win. Rived added the other goal.
• In BU's last visit to Malek Stadium, the Terriers posted a 2-0 victory with Andrew Rent ('23) delivering the game winner in the 16th minute and assisting on senior Alex Bonnington's 68th-minute goal.
• Overall, BU is 3-4-1 all-time on the road against the Black Knights with a 2-0 loss in 2021 and 2-1 (OT) defeat in 2021.

LOOKING AHEAD

• BU will return to Nickerson Field next Saturday (Sept. 20) to host Navy at 1 p.m.
• The Terriers are riding a six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2) in the series and are 6-0-1 all-time at home.
• Last year, senior Quin DeLaMater scored in the 47th minute to lift BU to a 1-0 win at Navy.