Men’s Soccer: Terriers Secure Victory with 1-0 Win Over Navy

By Samantha Genzer

Boston University Men’s Soccer (4-3-9, 4-1-3 PL) earned a 1-0 win against Patriot League opponent Naval Academy (4-7-4, 3-4-1 PL) on Friday night at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility in Annapolis, Md.

The Terriers started the match with a strong offensive push, looking to take an early lead. BU graduate forward Aidan Bone took aim in the 16th minute with a shot directed towards the bottom center of the net but was saved by Navy goalkeeper Pierce Holbrook.

The Navy Midshipmen responded in the 20th minute when Andrew Schug unleashed a shot that tested BU graduate goalkeeper Andrew Wike, who managed to make the save on Schug’s attempt aimed at the top right corner.

“That’s a testament to Andrew as a person and his mentality and continuing to push the group,” Associate Head Coach Patrick Lopez said. “When the group has complete confidence in your goalkeeper … it helps everybody, and he’s been massive in that.”

BU continued to apply pressure, with BU sophomore midfielder Jason Zacarias trying to find the back of the net in the 23rd minute, only to have his shot saved by Holbrook, again placed toward the bottom center of the goal.

BU junior midfielder Diego Rived then made two attempts to score for the Terriers. In the 32nd minute, his shot was saved by Holbrook in the bottom center of the net, followed by another shot in the 34th minute that went for the top left corner but was again stopped by Navy’s goalkeeper.

The Terriers had one more opportunity before halftime when junior forward Damola Salami fired a shot toward the bottom right of the net in the 41st minute, but Holbrook’s goalkeeping kept them tied 0-0 going into halftime.

Going into the second half, the strategy was to avoid coming out flat-footed and to stay on the front foot with a strong offensive push, Lopez said.

“All we were missing was a goal to put a full first-half performance together,” Lopez said.

The Terriers broke through just after the break. In the 46th minute, BU junior defender Quin DeLaMater scored off his left foot with a well-placed shot to the top left corner, assisted by junior defender Ryan Lau, putting BU up 1-0.

“It was nice to finally get one off of a set piece … as the guys have worked at it endlessly for the entire season,” Lopez said. “Coming out and scoring that goal was a nice touch for the boys.”

Navy’s Jalen Grant attempted an immediate response in the 47th minute, but his shot went wide.

BU and Navy traded off-target shots for the next several minutes, with attempts from BU junior forward Alex Bonnington in the 49th and Lau in the 55th, as well as missed shots from Navy’s Charlie Kriel in the 51st and Tommy Lockhart in the 59th.

The Terriers maintained their 1-0 lead through the final whistle, securing a valuable win in Patriot League play and holding Navy scoreless in a defensive battle.

“Overall, really gritty performance,” Lopez said. “Our second win away from home [is] something that we’ve been preaching about all week, and having the ability to now come on the road and in a very big game for our season and momentum moving forward into the final weekend … is massive.”

The Terriers look to build on this momentum, as they head to Worcester for a match against Holy Cross on Nov. 5 with kickoff set for 6 p.m.