Terriers Bounce Back Against Albany
By: David Souza
BOSTON — Coming off of a 2-0 loss against the Brown Bears, the Boston University Terriers were at a cross road in their season. Would they overcome the adversity of losing to yet another Ivy League opponent, or would they wilt against two formidable Lafayette and Albany squads. After a 1-0 overtime win against the Leopards, BU returned home to take on the Great Danes at Nickerson Field.
While Albany was a much faster team, and even controlled the pace of play during the game’s opening thirty minutes, it was indeed the Terriers that prevailed in their last non-conference matchup of the regular season, defeating Albany 3-0.
BU was without four of its top players in Anthony Viteri, David Amirani, Jeroen Blugh, and Lucas McBride, four attack-minded players.
“They are definitely great players, but we always have guys on the bench that are ready to play. So, you just wait for the opportunity and hopefully get good results,” said sophomore forward Danny Foen.
Foen contributed by scoring his second goal in as many games to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute. The Cartagena, Colombia native drove down the far side of Nickerson Field before firing what looked like a cross to the middle of the pitch. The ball changed course before finding the top right corner of the net just out of Danny Vitiello’s reach. Foen sent the ball from about 25 yards out while also being down near Albany’s touchline. Following the score, the Terriers noticeably became more energized and exemplified that by controlling the play throughout the rest of the first half.
A big contributor for BU’s big non-conference win was redshirt-junior goalkeeper Matt Gilbert. The 6’4” New Jersey native made four saves on the night and stopped numerous corners from reaching the Albany heads in front of the net. The shutout was Gilbert’s sixth on the season, matching his career high.
His best save on the night came at the tail end of the first half as the Great Danes set up for a free kick just outside of the Terrier’s box. The ensuing kick took a difficult bounce just in front of the net-minder before being swallowed up by Gilbert.
Though they were missing key players that have contributed to the team’s overall success this season, they were crucially aided by the play of the underclassmen.
“We had a lot of guys out today, and we had other guys step up, which is great,” said head coach Neil Roberts.
The Terriers continued to show that depth in the 55th minute when sophomore defender Eric Udelson fired a shot from about 25 yards. The ball deflected high and far out of the reach of Vitiello before plopping down in the far right corner of the cage. Udelson and company celebrated accordingly as the marker was the Needham, Massachusetts native’s first collegiate goal.
But, BU was not finished yet. Only three minutes later, midfielder Adam Sheikali also netted his first goal in the scarlet and white. It started with a big time save for Vitiello that popped over to Sheikali near the Terrier bench. The sophomore then drove past his Albany defender before sliding the ball just beyond the fingertips of Vitiello making the score 3-0 BU.
The team erupted in celebration yet again as the goal, noted by Sheikali, was quite unexpected.
“It felt surreal, I never really expect to be close to the goal because [of my position]. I actually kind of miss-hit it, but I got a little fortunate, and I felt incredible,” said Sheikali.
The offensive swarm that the Terriers threw at Vitiello and the rest of his Great Dane teammates spells good things for BU as they enter the final stretch of their regular season, playing Patriot League opponents Lehigh, Holy Cross, Army, and Navy in their last four games.
As Foen described it the Terriers are “looking to keep [up] the momentum going into the playoffs,” and they will look to do just that against a few tough teams coming up on the schedule.