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On Wednesday afternoon, the University of Maine men’s soccer team hosted Boston University in an America East conference battle. Thanks to an early goal, BU was able to slip by the Black Bears with a score of 1-0.
With the loss, UMaine fell to 3-7-2 overall and 0-3-1 in conference play. BU moved to 6-5-2 and 3-1-0 in America East competition.
The Terriers came out explosively from the start with several early opportunities.
Senior back Kyle LeDuc said the tenacity was expected from a team coming off consecutive shutout victories.
“We knew we had a challenge ahead of us,” LeDuc said. “BU is a strong team that can play well, and we knew that in order to be successful, we had to expose them at their weak spots.”
UMaine junior goalkeeper Nemanja Kostic had a big save on a breakaway five minutes into the game. Two minutes later, BU drew first blood. Freshman Stephen Knox sent a long cross to classmate Ben Berube. Berube quickly sent the ball back into the box and junior Shaun Taylor deflected it in for the 1-0 lead.
The rest of the first half passed with a balanced effort from both sides. UMaine remained confident heading into the second half.
“We gave up a soft goal and unfortunately, didn’t turn our game on until they scored,” LeDuc said.
The Black Bears did turn up the heat, with more scoring opportunities dispersed throughout the second half, but they were unable to find the net and the game ended 1-0.
BU ended with the advantage in shots, 20-8. Kostic had a solid day with 11 big saves for the Black Bears and he was named Man of the Match along with BU’s Michael Bustamante.
“We know that we’re a good team, and it’s just a matter of time until things are going our way,” LeDuc said. “We’re in a competitive conference, and hopefully Stony Brook will be a different story.”
UMaine will take on Stony Brook on Sunday in New York.
Bangor Daily News