Sept. 2, 2012

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Boston University men's soccer team gave No. 1 North Carolina all it could handle but came up just short due to seven saves and a penalty kick in a 2-1 defeat on Sunday night at Fetzer Field. Despite allowing their first goal of the season, the Tar Heels remain undefeated at 3-0-0, while the Terriers drop to 1-3-0 after facing their fourth straight top-20 ranked team of the season.

After UNC scored in the 20th and 68th minutes, respectively, senior Michael Bustamante assisted on 2011 America East Rookie of the Year Dominique Badji's header in the 84th minute to move into tied-for-10th place all-time at BU with 24 career assists. He also led the Terriers with four shot attempts, including two on goal.

Winner of last year's NCAA championship and participant in the last four College Cups, UNC entered the game having allowed a combined six shot attempts in victories over Gardner Webb (4-0) and West Virginia (1-0). Goalkeeper Scott Goodwin just needed two saves against the Mountaineers for the two shutouts.

Facing the Terriers, he recorded six with the backline adding another, as the Tar Heels finished ahead in both shot attempts, 19-13, and in corner kicks, 7-5. BU's goal snapped a scoreless streak of 390 minutes dating back to a second half effort against UCLA in the 2011 NCAA semifinal.

Andy Raven put UNC on the board first at 19:53 when he chipped the ball over a charging Nick Thomson. The Tar Heels added a second in the 68th minute off a penalty kick by Martin Murphy after a BU defender was issued a yellow card for tackling from behind.

Besides Badji's goal, the Terriers had several other opportunities to find the net. Freshman Jeroen Blugh connected on a header in the 29th minute that was cleared away by Jordan Gafa for the team save. Sophomore Sanford Spivey put another header on target less than two minutes later that was saved. BU added header shots in the 46th and 71st minutes, respectively, for UNC to defend.

BU continued to apply pressure in the final six minutes of the contest following Badji's goal but was unable to get a shot off. Playing without America East Defender of the Year Kelvin Madzongwe, Thomson posted five saves in the loss.

Having already met one Big East squad in then-No. 13 St. John's, the Terriers will conclude their six-game road trip next weekend at Providence (Friday, Sept. 7) and No. 4 Connecticut (Sunday, Sept. 9).