BU men fall to UMBC

BOSTON - Junior Aaron O'Neal put the Boston University men's soccer team on the board first with his 10th goal of the season at 69:58, but UMBC rallied back with two goals in the following five minutes to pull out the 2-1 victory on Wednesday night at Nickerson Field. With the loss, the Terriers (7-6-2, 1-4 AE) drop to seventh in the standings, while UMBC improves to 11-3 and 2-2 in league play.

The Retrievers' America East Player of the Game Dustin Dzwonkowski assisted on the equalizer at 70:28 and then scored the game winner at 74:40 to hand the Terriers their fourth-straight loss on the season.

Even with the defeat though, the Terriers still control their own destiny in gaining a berth to the six-team America East tournament, having two league games remaining at current No. 6 seed Vermont (1-2-2 AE) and Albany (0-4-1 AE).

The Terriers faced the difficult task of trying to stop the No. 4 scoring offense in the nation and did just that for the first 70 minutes of the game. The Retrievers managed five shots in the first half but only had two of them on goal with neither coming close.

BU had its chances to take the first-half lead with sophomore Stephen Knox having close calls at 11:24 and 13:30. Classmate Michael Bustamante later had an arching shot outside the box off a corner from Ben Berube that just went wide of the right post at 25:46.

Entering the locker room at the half, BU led in shot attempts, 6-5, and in corners, 4-1. The second stanza started out the same with BU being able to push the ball forward, while the Retrievers continued to look to counter attack but without success.

Finally at 69:58, BU's AE Player of the Game O'Neal broke the scoreless tie to become the first Terrier since Joachim Kaland in 2001 to record at least 10 goals in a season. His 23 points are the most since 2004, when Roland Erlichman posted the same amount. The goal resulted from Ade Akinsanya playing the ball from the midfield up to Matthew Shea, who crossed into the box for O'Neal to knock in for the score.

The buzz in the stands died quickly though, as UMBC only needed 30 seconds to tie the game. Levi Houapeu was able to record the equalizer with help from Andrew Bulls and Dzwonkowski. Four minutes later, Dzwonkowski scored the game winner inside the box past a diving Hrafn Davidsson after receiving a pass from Houapeu.

In the final 15 minutes, BU continued to attack, with O'Neal missing a header at 86:33. Bustamante placed a corner kick near the top of the box at 88:52, but Richy Dorman's shot was blocked and O'Neal's attempt off the rebound went wide during the team's final chance to score.

The Terriers finished ahead in shot attempts, 15-8, and in corners, 9-1. Davidsson had two saves, while Phil Saunders finished with four.

Prior to the game, the team honored the five seniors - Samuel Appiah, Davidsson, Dorman, Tom Strackhouse and Shaun Taylor - in their final regular season game at Nickerson.

They will look to keep their postseason hopes alive next Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Vermont. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m.