Men’s Soccer: Terriers complete late comeback against Albany with two goals in final five minutes
By Charlie DeMatteo
Boston University (1-0-0) started off their 2023 season in dramatic fashion with a comeback 2-1 win over the University of Albany (0-0-1) at home on Nickerson Field Thursday night.
Trailing 1-0 with just five minutes left on the clock, the Terriers scored twice in a span of three minutes to flip the game on its head and earn a crucial victory to start the season. After 2022 saw BU plagued with a lack of quality up front, the 2023 opener looked like more of the same before a final push from the home team launched them in front of their New York opposition.
“To find two goals in the final 10 or so minutes is a great way to cap off the season opener,” BU head coach Kevin Nylen said postgame. “I’m pumped for the guys.”
BU started off on the front foot, with graduate midfielder Colin Innes capping off a stellar offensive move with a shot going just wide from the edge of the box.
The Terriers continued their quick start after junior forward Eitan Rosen danced past his defender on the byline and picked out senior midfielder Andrew Rent in the box. Rent deftly controlled the pass and fired a shot towards goal but saw his effort halted by Albany keeper Shafique Wilson.
The Terriers and the Great Danes went into the break tied at 0-0.
“We had a good first half performance, but we could have taken some chances better,” Nylen said. “You go into the half and there wasn’t much we needed to look at.”
While BU kept all 11 starters on the field for the duration of the first half, Albany played 19 different players in the first half in hopes of maintaining fresh legs across the field.
“Every coach is different and I have a lot of respect for [Albany head coach Trevor Gorman],” Nylen said. “We look at continuity and we didn’t feel that we needed to make changes.”
The Great Danes started the second half on the front foot; with junior forward Mohamed Soumah poking an effort just wide of the goal.
However, Soumah made no mistake seven minutes later in the 62nd minute when a turnover in possession by the Terriers saw Soumah through on goal where he slotted the ball into the bottom left corner of the BU net, giving the visitors a 1-0 advantage.
“It was an unfortunate goal to give away,” Nylen said. “We’ve talked about how to continue to play and not deviate from our game [despite going behind].”
BU responded well to the goal by the Great Danes. Chances came through Rosen who curled an effort just over the Albany bar and from senior forward Aidan Bone whose header from a corner just missed the frame.
The turning point in the game came in the 86th minute when freshman midfielder Jason Zacarias glided his way through multiple Great Dane defenders and won a free kick right on the edge of the penalty box. Graduate forward and captain Quinn Matulis stepped up and took the shot. Matulis’ bending effort evaded the Albany wall and slotted into the bottom right corner past Wilson to get the Terriers back on level terms.
“We felt it was a good time for [Zacarias] to come in and get some minutes with 25 or 30 minutes left to go and find some pockets,” Nylen said. “I’ve seen that before out of him and we hope we can see it some more while he is wearing the BU jersey.”
While the Terriers could have sat back and taken the draw, their work rate and endeavor saw them capitalize on a huge Great Dane error at the back and go on to win the game in the 89th minute.
A miscommunication between Wilson and his two center backs saw a back pass intercepted by Bone who was able to slot home into an empty net before being engulfed by his elated teammates. Bone recently returned to playing action after being injured for the better part of a year.
“You saw our guys work tonight, part of the game is the physical side, you have to run,” Nylen said. “Aiden is a workhorse and the rest was done by him.”
The Terriers will look to continue their strong start to the season when they travel to Durham to face the University of New Hampshire at 5 p.m. on Sunday.