Sept. 23, 2008

Box Score

BROOKLINE, Mass. - The Boston University men's soccer team fell short against neighbor Northeastern, 1-0, on Tuesday afternoon at Parsons Field. The Terriers' three-game unbeaten streak snapped as the team slips to 2-4-2, while the Huskies recorded their third straight shutout to improve to 2-2-3.

In the first half, both defenses stood tall as the teams only combined for a total of six shots, but Northeastern broke through the line less than three minutes into the second half as Mike Kennedy scored inside the box off an assist from Lewis Ehrlich.

The Terriers attempted seven shots following the goal, but the Huskies' keeper Scott Partridge only needed to make two saves in the final stanza to preserve the shutout after earning 0-0 draws against both Maine and Providence during the previous week.

"The effort I thought was disappointing," head coach Neil Roberts said. "You have to give a lot of credit to Northeastern. We knew this was would be a difficult game going over there, and it was a good test for us to see how we would respond to it.

"We didn't respond well," he added. "The energy level was low. The intensity was low, and Northeastern beat us in every aspect of the game. They beat us in mid-field. They beat us upfront. They won second balls. Everything that was winnable was won by Northeastern, so that was disappointing."

The Terriers edged Northeastern in corner kicks, 7-4, but were never able to apply enough pressure on the Huskies as senior Hrafn Davidsson tied a career high in saves with seven to keep BU in the contest. Freshman Michael Bustamante led the team in shots with two.

"The offense isn't the problem," Roberts said. "It's just mentally, the preparation for the game. We knew it was a 2 p.m. game and it wasn't a nationally-ranked team like we've been playing. It had to come from within to be able to be ready to play, and we didn't do a good job of that."

After facing five teams during the past 12 days, the Terriers will now have a week to rest and refocus as they prepare to host Harvard next Tuesday (Sept. 30) at Nickerson Field with the start time set for 7 p.m.

"We're looking forward to the week off," Roberts said. "I think we just maybe took it a day sooner than we had hoped. We need it as we've played a lot of games in a short period of time, and the fatigue is building now. A couple of days off now will be good for us. We'll regroup and reassess where we're at and start it again on Tuesday night."