Men’s Soccer: Terriers lose first game of season to No. 23-ranked New Hampshire
By Eli Cloutier
Boston University (1-1-0) traveled to Wildcat Stadium Sunday evening and lost 2-1 to No. 23-ranked University of New Hampshire (1-0-1). In their second game of the season, the Terriers faced a familiar foe in the Wildcats, having beaten them 1-0 on the road early last season, which was New Hampshire’s lone home loss.
BU started fast, controlling possession for the first five minutes of action, winning one-on-one battles, and attacking the opposing third, which led to an early corner kick, though nothing materialized.
Momentum shifted quickly as New Hampshire got into a rhythm, spearheaded by high intensity on the defensive end. Sloppy play from BU ensued, as they struggled to get the ball out of their own half.
The first real chance of the game for the Wildcats came off a cross from graduate defender Dominik Kurija who skirted away from the grasp of senior goalkeeper Francesco Montali. However the ball was cleared by the BU defense.
In the 35th minute, sophomore midfielder Taig Healy gave New Hampshire a 1-0 lead with his first career goal after he burned a BU defender around the right wing and tucked a shot near post that beat Montali.
After the Wildcats controlled the majority of the opening half, the Terriers ended the half on the attack, but went into the break down one. BU was outshot 11-2 in the first 45 minutes, conceding five shots on goal to their zero.
“I thought the middle of the half was pretty choppy—a lot of fouls,” BU head coach Kevin Nylen said.
The away side came out of the half hot, looking for an equalizer. BU created several chances from crosses from the outside, including a long-range shot from junior midfielder Kevin Torres that was punched over the crossbar by goalkeeper Joseba Incera.
“I thought it was some really good stuff from the build all the way into our middle third, which created a couple of chances,” Nylen said.
The Terriers upped their fresh legs in the second half after only making one substitution in the first half, and it seemed to make the difference.
“Guys came on and lifted us from some tired legs.” Nylen said. He also added that the substitutions opened the game up for his team by pressing on the gas and playing on the front foot.
The positive Terrier play led to a free kick in the attacking third for BU. Graduate forward and captain Quinn Matulis stepped up and buried the free kick from range into the bottom corner to knot the game at one with his second goal of the year in the 69th minute.
The pace and physicality of the game picked up as both teams were searching for the go-ahead goal. The Wildcats pressed hard but the Terrier defense got in the way of several shots. New Hampshire was knocking on the door when sophomore defender Issac Heffess rang the right post with a header off a corner.
The Wildcats found the back of the net in the 75th minute as graduate defender Liam Bennett crossed the ball into the box, finding graduate forward Georgios Koliniatis’ head to give New Hampshire a 2-1 lead.
BU didn’t go down easy as they got on the front foot looking to equalize. Their best opportunity came when senior midfielder Andrew Rent beat a Wildcat defender around the outside, centering it for freshman defender Luke Dunne whose shot went wide.
“The result tonight doesn’t change anything for us,” Nylen said. “I don’t expect the guys’ level of passion and knowing what they have to do to get results to change.”
The Terriers will look to bounce back Thursday when they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Saint Joseph’s Hawks at 7 p.m.