Men's Soccer to Open Season at Holy Cross Friday Night

Senior team captain Stephen Knox

Senior team captain Stephen Knox

Aug. 25, 2011

2011 Men's Soccer Outlook

BOSTON - Selected to win the America East title by league coaches, the Boston University men's soccer team will open the 2011 season at Holy Cross on Friday (Aug. 26) with action set to begin at 7 p.m.

The contest will mark the first game of head coach Neil Roberts' 27th season at the helm. A six-time conference Coach of the Year, he currently ranks 10th amongst active Division I coaches with 298 victories and will be seeking his 26th winning season and 14th trip to the NCAA tournament.

His sights though are currently focused on snapping that four-game non-winning streak in season openers. The defending America East regular season champion Terriers are 0-2-2 since defeating Boston College in 2006 with the last two games ending in 1-1 draws. They are led this year by three seniors with Ben Berube at the front line after he led BU last season in points with eight goals and five assists. 

Named team captain, Stephen Knox tallied a team-high six assists last year and will look to provide leadership in a midfield that will be without Preseason All-American and senior Michael Bustamante, who suffered a season-ending injury in the spring. 

The 2010 AE Defender of the Year Colin Henry will anchor the backline that will try to duplicate the efforts of last year's team, which shut out eight opponents. He will work with a new face at goal in freshman Nick Thomson, who joins the Terriers after growing up in Cramlington, England.


 

 

Opening the season together for the first time ever, the Terriers and Crusaders are meeting for the second time in three years but only the eighth time overall dating back to 1967. In 2009 at Nickerson Field, a 19th-ranked BU squad out shot Holy Cross, 27-5, and came away with a 2-0 victory. That meeting marked the first between the two schools since 1973.

Picked to finish sixth in the Patriot League, the Crusaders return 16 letterwinners, including seven starters, from last year's squad that went 3-10-5 and welcome seven newcomers.

Following the contest, the Terriers will hit the road and travel to No. 21 Monmouth on Thursday, Sept. 1.