Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
Same city. Same Black Bears. Different outcome.
Despite Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat at Harvard, the University of Maine men’s soccer team started America East conference play on a positive note as they tied Boston University 1-1 Saturday night at Nickerson Field.
“We came in thinking we are 0-0-0 and that the season is starting now,” said UMaine co-captain Kevin Forgett. “We came in with confidence to come out and play. It’s good to get a point away on a road game. It was important for us to go back home getting a point against a good team.”
The Black Bears, who now stand at 2-5-1, 0-0-1, did not take long to score. Forgett tallied his team-leading third goal of the season in the 18th minute. Forgett’s goal came off a corner taken by junior midfielder Cooper Friend. Friend, a set piece specialist, found Forgett on the near side of the post.
Once the ball was in the air, Forgett garnered position on the defender and gave the Black Bears a 1-0 lead.
However, it was the Terriers, who stand at 2-4-1, 0-0-1, that found the back of the net in a matter of minutes to tie the game at 1-1.
As BU threatened with possession, the Terriers’ Roland Erlichman played a cross to Neil Hlavaty, whose shot from 18 yards nicked the hand of UMaine keeper Chad Mongeon for the equalizer.
“Hlavaty cut back and hit the shot and it bent into the corner,” Mongeon said. “I got a hand on it but not enough to keep it out. Later in the game he had the exact same shot but this time I got a little bit more. I was bothered; I made it in the second but not the first.”
The second half proved to be a defensive stalemate but when the match moved into overtime, both teams were able to create some chances.
In the first overtime Erlichman had all three of BU’s shots, two of them headers. The first came in the 94th minute as his shot nearly missed the far post. His second came in the final seconds of the period when Mongeon made one of his six stops of the night.
While trying to avoid the Terriers’ barrage of shots, the Black Bears created a chance that nearly won the match.
UMaine’s chance came around the 97th minute when Adam Chenault broke in on net. Even though BU keeper Zach Riffett came out of the goal to stop Chenault, the ball bounced out to the far side as Jimmy Velas picked up the rebound.
Even though Riffett made a diving attempt to save the ball, it was center back Shane Westbrook who prevented Velas from getting the game-winner.
“We possessed well in the midfield and we had quite a few good chances and their keep made some saves for them and kept them in it,” Chenault said. “It feels good to get a point on the road. We are pleased with that. We had some bad luck leading up to conference play and things may look up for us as they start to shift and go in our direction.”
Heading into Saturday’s game, the Terriers, like the Black Bears, faced competition earlier in the week when they battled Rhode Island. Although the teams’ records were similar, the Terriers were favored to win the America East in preseason polls.
Before returning to the conference frame, UMaine will have the week off to rest some players before they face Binghamton on Saturday at noon. As for the Bearcats, they are currently atop the conference table after defeating Vermont 3-2 on Saturday.
“We have a week until we play again and getting everyone at 100 percent will be key,” Mongeon said. “We had a lot of bumps and bruises with people and now we have a little bit of time to get healthy for the rest of the season.”
