Men’s Soccer: Terriers Bounce Back, Win Last Regular Season Game Against Holy Cross

Featured Image by Jenny Chen 

By Adrianna Uykan

Boston University Men’s Soccer (9-7-0, 5-4-0 PL) notched an important 2-1 win against the Holy Cross Crusaders (4-8-6, 1-5-3 PL) Tuesday night at Nickerson Field, breaking a four-game losing streak in the Terriers’ last regular-season match. 

Both teams started out strong from the first whistle, battling back and forth possession in a frenzy that looked closer to ping pong than soccer. The Terriers put up three corner kicks in the first 25 minutes, the last of which did not fare as they hoped.

The Crusaders cleared the third BU corner down the opposite end of the field, where forward Liam Heneghan fed a pass to set up a smooth one-timer goal from midfielder Jack Fiedler.

Looking to even the score, the Terriers applied pressure throughout the rest of the first half, maintaining possession and putting up a total of six shots — double the shots Holy Cross had. 

The equalizer came late in the 43rd minute, with junior forward Andrea Di Blasio netting the Terriers’ first penalty kick goal of the year. Di Blasio, shooting inside the box, nailed the ball into the right side of the goal, faking Crusader goalkeeper John Smith.

“He earned the PK,” BU Head Coach Kevin Nylen said of Di Blasio. “You always want a guy who is confident and wants to take it. He stepped up and took it well.”

BU nearly took the lead a minute later, but sophomore forward Dylan Williams’ shot was deflected by the Crusader defense — despite Smith being off his goal line.

Though BU trailed most of the first half, the score was not reflective of either team’s performance.

Heading into the second half, the Terriers looked to keep up their dominant showing against Holy Cross. 

“We didn’t really need to do anything different for the game,” Nylen said. “It’s just now being a little smarter in terms of our numbers forward to limit the counter, and I thought the guys did a really good job.”

This simple strategy paid off for BU — the team handled the ball well in the second half, shutting down the Crusader offense almost completely. Holy Cross only squeezed by two shots in the second half, compared to the Terriers’ seven.

These only two shots came in the 59th minute, where senior goalkeeper Sheraz Saadat put up an impressive defensive performance, diving and rebounding to block two attempts by Heneghan.

The Terriers were able to take the lead in the 67th minute, thanks to a perfectly timed chip from senior midfielder Ethan Gill. The BU leading goal-scorer took advantage of a rebounded ball — Smith blocked a shot by sophomore midfielder Jack Grossman, but could not get his hands on the ball to shut down further scoring chances.

“We knew at halftime we were going to have to come out with some energy and get it done,” Gill said. “I feel like it was just a really good overall response from the boys, front to back.” 

Gill’s goal sealed the deal for the game — Holy Cross put up a corner kick just a minute later, but were not able to capitalize on the set piece. Both teams played clean, back-and-forth soccer for the final 23 minutes, though ultimately not being able to find another chance to break through. 

Nylen said he was proud of the Terriers’ performance. 

“[It was] a big collective effort from our group, when it’s been against us for the last couple weeks to bounce back and get an important confidence booster in terms of a win,” he said. 

Tuesday’s win was vastly important for the Terriers’ Patriot League playoffs implications — BU’s four-game losing streak dropped the team down to sixth place in the division, but the win against Holy Cross, coupled with a 1-1 Lafayette tie with Lehigh, pulled the Terriers up two spots.

In fourth place, BU now gets home field advantage in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament on Saturday against No. 5 seed Bucknell.

“We knew we had to get three points to even talk about having a home game,” said Nylen. “Big to come and play home tonight and now to give ourselves an opportunity to play at home on Saturday.”

Saturday’s match against the Bucknell Bison will kick off at 1 p.m. on Nickerson Field, with streaming available on ESPN+.