Men’s Soccer: Terriers notch first win of the season after a hearted performance at home

By Finley Rogan

Boston University Men’s Soccer (1-1-4, 1-0 PL) defeated the Army Black Knights (1-5-1, 0-1 PL) 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at Nickerson Field in Boston. It was the opening game of conference play and the Terriers’ first win of the season.

“Remember this feeling,” BU coach Kevin Nylen said after the match. “Hopefully it only helps us continue to have confidence, but today’s a great start to that to get to 1-0 in-conference.”

The Terriers quickly found themselves facing a 1-0 deficit, after a wonderful first touch from Sophomore Army Forward Jubril Bamgbala who found some space where he could play a clean through ball right past the pinching Terrier defense. The pass led to a breakaway for sophomore Army forward Gage Lyons, where he easily capitalized on the opportunity, putting his team in front 1-0.

“Being a goalkeeper, it’s kind of just like having the memory of a goldfish, so short-term memory and so on,” BU Goalie Andrew Wike said.

Following conceding the opening goal, the Terriers played some risky defense, consistently failing to clear the ball from their own half. Finally, around the 10th minute, BU began to play in the opposing half.

Although they maintained consistent possession, the Terriers failed to make the final pass and struggled to cross the ball, while looking uncoordinated from a tactical perspective.

Army had the next quality chance in the game, as sophomore defender Kelly Cooper used his full 6’5 frame to attempt a leaping header off an Army set piece, luckily for the BU this shot was whisked past the outside of the post.

BU closed out the first half maintaining possession in the Black Knights final third, however, BU continued to struggle to find the breakthrough against the Army defense. Although chances to cross arose consistently for the Terrier wing backs, the Black Knight defenders were able to clear any ball headed toward the box.

Things got worse for BU in the final ten minutes of the half, as Terrier senior midfielder Daniel Kim, left the match injured after a collision with an Army defender in the box. Kim had been the most confident and composed player for BU up to that point.

The half ended with Army leading 1-0, with BU looking to find some attacking juice in the second half, as they failed to register a shot on goal in the opening 45 minutes.

“They’re really good in terms of their shape and the ability to counter. We paid the price on the first one,” Nylen said. “I thought we did a good job to control possession, but we weren’t as dangerous the rest of the first half.”

The Terriers began the second half with some nice offensive pressure. BU finally broke through with the first goal, as Terrier Freshman forward Dylan Williams played a wonderful ball across the box, where Sophomore Forward Andre Di Blasio connected with it for an easy one-time touch and finish. It was Di Blasio’s first goal of his career, after transferring from Syracuse this year. The goal came in the seventh minute of the second half, tying the game at 1-1.

Army quickly responded with a chance of their own, after a ball was whipped into the box where the Terrier Goalie Andre Wike made an outstanding save. Wike had to quickly shift his momentum and extend his hand to stop the army attempt.

The second half maintained a quick pace after the first half was slow to break open offensively. Both teams began to play more physically, as each team was awarded a yellow card in the middle of the half.

BU broke through the Army defense again in the 67th minute. Junior Forward Damola Salami made a man miss and proceeded to play a gorgeous looping cross into the box, where junior midfielder Diego Rived managed to get the tip of his boot on the ball. Rived made enough contact with the ball as it rolled into the Army goal, giving BU a crucial 2-1 lead in the second half.

Suddenly falling behind, Army turned up the pressure for the final 20 minutes. However, BU held their defensive shape and was able to make some final substitutions, including the return of Daniel Kim, who had recovered from his first-half injury.

Things got even better for the Terriers, as a gorgeous run into open space from sophomore forward Andrew Rent saw him receive a through ball, and calmly float a pass across the Army box and right onto the head of Di Blasio for an easy finish to make it 3-1. It was De Blasio’s second goal of the game and his career. It was a crucial performance for the transfer from Syracuse.

“The transition is difficult, and it’s it’s not easy. People think it’s easy. It’s not. But the boys around me helped me,” Di Blasio said. “I come out here and try to play for them, so that’s what it is.”

Army had a few desperate attempts in the final ten minutes. A deflected shot led to a corner, where Army found the back of the net after a successful header from Gage Lyons for his second goal of the match to make it 3-2.

BU found themselves on the ropes in the final minutes. Army sustained all-out pressure, forcing Wike to make a final diving save. Finally, the clock ran out and the Terriers were victorious.

Overall, BU stuck to their philosophy and trusted their attack throughout the match. It was an effort fans should be proud of, as the Terriers came back to win their first game of the season and had the perfect result to begin Patriot League play.

“To start conference and be 1-0, I think there’s a lot of value there to get our first win of the season,” Nylen said.

The win comes at a great time for the Terriers, as they will travel to Providence to take on Brown on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. to continue their conference slate.