The Boston University men’s soccer team will be looking for its fifth straight win when it travels to Hanover, New Hampshire to take on Ivy League opponent Dartmouth College on Tuesday.
Both the Terriers (8-2-1, 4-0 Patriot League) and the Big Green (7-2-1) come into this game in the middle of impressive unbeaten streaks. Dartmouth has won its past five games and has not lost in eight games.
The Terriers have also had an impressive performance so far this season. With a win Saturday against Lehigh University, they extended their unbeaten streak to seven games — the longest streak in the program’s history since 2008.
“Give credit to this group that they’ve been ready for every game so far this year,” said BU coach Neil Roberts. “Usually, you have a let down here or a let down there, but these guys respond to challenges, and they’re always ready. They’re competing all the time, they listen, and they’re getting better every week.”
During this stretch, the Terriers have played to the top of the pack in the Patriot League. BU is a perfect 4-0 in conference play and is the only unbeaten team left in the league.
It has been BU’s defense that has carried them thus far. The team last allowed a goal on Sept. 27 in a 2-1 win against the United States Naval Academy.
“Anytime that happens, it’s a bunch of things,” Roberts said. “[Senior goalkeeper] Nick [Thomson] is playing well. The guys in front of him are playing well. [Sophomore midfielder] David Asbjornsson is playing his role as kind of a holding midfielder, which is really key for us. It’s everyone playing their role and a little bit of luck.”
The team boasts six shutouts on the year and can point to the dominant play of Thomson as one of the keys to its success. Thomson leads the Patriot League in save percentage (.867), collecting 39 saves while only allowing six goals.
In terms of offense, the Terriers rank near the middle of the pack in the Patriot League (1.36 goals per game). Behind the excellent play of Thomson and the defense, BU can afford to rely on a few key players to score goals.
Other than BU’s three midfielders — freshman David Amirani, senior Jordan Barker and Asbjornsson, who have six, five and five points respectively — the bulk of the scoring has come from senior forward Dominique Badji. Badji leads the team in points with 14 and ranks second in the Patriot League in shots with 47.
“Dom’s a goal scorer, he’s a good player and he’s been playing extremely well,” Roberts said. “Now, he’s a marked man, so it’s more difficult for him to score, but he’s dealing with it, getting his opportunities and getting his goals.”
The Terriers are coming on the heels of a 2-0 win at Lehigh (6-5, 2-2 Patriot League) Saturday.
Both Terrier goals came in the first 45 minutes of play, and Thomson recorded five saves in the second half to secure the victory. Amirani connected in the ninth minute for his second goal of the year, while Badji scored 30 minutes later for his team-leading sixth goal.
Dartmouth comes into this game after a convincing 4-1 win at home against conference foe Yale University on Saturday. Freshman Jonathan Nierenberg scored a pair of second-half goals to lead the Big Green.
Offensively, Dartmouth is led by senior Alex Adelabu. The Houston native has tallied 13 points and five goals on the season. The Big Green have used two goalkeepers so far this season, sophomore James Hickok and junior Stefan Cleveland, although Cleveland has played the majority of the minutes.
“Dartmouth is probably, without any disrespect to anybody else we’ve played, the best team we’ve played this year,” Roberts said. “They’re legitimately a top 20 team, they’re very athletic, they’re well-organized and so they’re very difficult to break down.
“It’ll be a difficult game up there for sure, and we’ll have to deal with things we haven’t dealt with all year. For us to be successful, we’ll have to play better than we’ve played in the previous games.”
