Sept. 28, 2012

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BOSTON - Winner of three of the last four America East regular season titles, the Boston University men's soccer team will begin its final year in the league on Saturday at Nickerson Field against Hartford with action set to begin at 7 p.m.

Fans are encouraged to arrive early as the first 200 will receive a free drawstring backpack. As part of Youth Day, fans will be able to meet with the Terriers on the field after the game.

Coming off a hard-fought 2-1 defeat at Hofstra, BU (2-5-2) enters the contest with a 1-1 record at home after claiming a 4-0 victory against Holy Cross and dropping a 1-0 decision to then-No. 24 Brown. During the season-opening six-game road trip, the Terriers earned a 1-0 victory at then-No. 10 Boston College along with 1-1 draws at No. 3 UConn and Providence.

The Terriers are led on the offensive end by sophomore Parker Powell and junior Anthony Ciccone with six points each. Last week, Powell tallied a goal against both the Crusaders and Hofstra to move into the team lead with three scores. Ciccone posted a combined three assists during the two games and now has a team-high four assists along with one goal.

They will try to duplicate the team's offensive success from the game against the Crusaders in which BU earned its largest margin of victory against a non-conference opponent since 2008. On the defensive end, the Terriers' sophomore Nick Thomson only needed one save for his second shutout of the season, as the backline held Holy Cross to just three shot attempts.

Hartford (6-4) is coming off its first shutout defeat of the season after a 1-0 loss at home to Sacred Heart last Saturday. All 10 of the Hawks' games have been decided by one goal with wins coming against Quinnipiac (2-1), UMass (3-2), and Central Connecticut State (2-1 ot).

Javoni Simms has a team-high seven goals, including four game winners, while Anthony Santaga has four goals and two assists. Viltsu Tuumi has started all 10 games at net and has a 1.29 goals against average along with a 0.723 save percentage.

BU owns a 21-10-2 lead in the all-time series and has won three of the last four meetings. Last year, the Terriers earned a 1-0 win at UH before dropping a 1-0 decision at home in the America East semifinals.

Following the game, the Terriers will remain at home and host Adelphi on Tuesday, Oct. 2 with first kick set for 7 p.m.

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