Vermont Battles BU to Draw

Tale of Two Halves Defines Conference Tilt

October 23, 2008

BOSTON – It was the Tale of Two Halves in the 1-1 tie between Boston University and Vermont in the America East men's soccer battle Wednesday night at Nickerson Field.

The Catamounts (6-3-6, 2-1-2 America East) and the first-place Terriers (7-5-3, 4-1-1) each pick up a hard-earned point in the tight conference standings heading into the final two weeks of league play. With 13 points, BU is tied with Albany for first place while Vermont has eight points and is in fifth place just one point out of third.

UVM's TJ Gore scored for the Catamounts. (Brian Jenkins/UVM Athletics)

The Terriers were on the attack early outshooting Vermont, 8-2, in the first 45 minutes. BU struck first on a goal by Tom Strackhouse off a corner kick in the 27th minute. The junior gave BU the 1-0 lead when freshman Michael Bustamante placed a corner kick in the box for the midfielder to rifle in for the score. Strackhouse entered the season with only one goal on his resume but now has five, while Bustamante posted his sixth assist of the season.

At the break, the Catamounts regrouped at the break and came out with more offense. Connor Tobin had a pair of good scoring chances go off target to start the half before Vermont picked up the equalizer in the 62nd minute. After picking up a feed from Drew Smalley, T.J. Gore drove wide of the net and his hard, curling cross from the right side rattled off the post and past BU keeper Hrafn Davidsson for his third goal of the season, all against conference rivals.

"We started the match slow while BU played very well in the first half," said Vermont head coach Jesse Cormier. "We adjusted well at halftime and played with more passion and energy in the second half and overtimes. We worked our way back into the match and could have won it. That hasn't happened for very many Vermont teams down here. We showed that when we are fully committed we can play with any team anywhere. That's our challenge, to be fully committed for the entire match."

The goal energized Vermont as both Smalley and Jordan Crasilneck had shots turned away by Davidsson. In the extra sessions, Crasilneck and Connor O'Brien (Richmond, Vt.) each had good bids for Vermont while Strackhouse had a good chance for BU that was stopped by Vermont goalie Roger Scully.

“I thought the first half was decent,” said BU head coach Neil Roberts. “I thought in the second half we were never able to get control of the game. The second half was all fouls and throw-ins. It was hectic play, and that’s our fault. We need to be responsible for that to be able get it under control.

“You have to give a lot of credit to Vermont,” added Roberts. “They defended hard and pressured us. They kept it hectic, and we weren’t able to break that down and beat it.”

Scully finished with five saves while Davidsson made four stops for the Terriers. For the game, Boston University had a 14-11 edge in shots and an 8-4 advantage in corner kicks.

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS: Blink Del.icio.us Digg
Furl Google Simpy Spurl Technorati Y! MyWeb