Departments
Sports
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Week of 21 November 1997 |
Vol. I, No. 13 |
Sports
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Tournament-bound Terriers head north to Big Green countryGame Preview by Brian Fitzgerald The men's soccer Terriers are becoming adept at overcoming adversity. After an embarrassing 5-0 shutout at the hands of Harvard on October 11, BU could have packed it in. The loss to the Crimson was Boston University's third straight and dropped BU's record to 6-5-2. But then the Terriers showed the same brilliance that they exhibited at the beginning of the season, when they won their first four games. BU hasn't lost since it crumbled against the Crimson, winning eight in a row and improving its record to 14-5-2. On November 9, BU won the America East championship for the fourth straight year, despite the fact that it hasn't been the top seed in the tournament since 1994. Against Long Island on November 14, with little chance of receiving a bid to the NCAA Tournament if they lost, the Terriers scored the game's only goal with only 2:08 to play in regulation. Now the Terriers face Dartmouth (9-3-4), a team that BU tied, 1-1, on September 28. "Dartmouth is a good defensive team that allows very few goals," says Coach Neil Roberts. "Like our last game, we're probably not going to have a lot of opportunities to score. They did a good job stopping Sigurd Dalen [SMG'99] and Nick Bone [SMG'98]. So when we do have opportunities, we'll have to make them count." BU, which has been playing its home games at the Middlesex School in Concord, Mass., trotted onto Nickerson Field's artificial turf -- the Terriers' former home field -- for the first time this season against Long Island because sleet and snow had turned all natural grass playing surfaces into mush. They were, in effect, visitors on their own campus. "It was different," laughs Roberts, whose "home" field is 19 miles northwest of Boston. Paradoxically, Dartmouth, which has been playing its home games on campus all season, was forced to play Brown for the Ivy League title in Yale's Soccer-Lacrosse Stadium in New Haven, Conn., on November 15. By the previous morning, nine inches of snow had fallen on Dartmouth's Chase Field. But the Big Green players, determined to enjoy home advantage, helped to clear it. However, two more inches fell on the grass overnight, and the field was deemed unplayable. At Yale, Brown defeated Dartmouth, 1-0, in overtime, but Big Green fans rejoiced during the NCAA Tournament pairings when they found out that the 32-team field would include two Ivy League teams this year: Brown and their beloved Dartmouth. Both BU and Dartmouth are teams that have beaten the odds, but only one will survive to play in the "Sweet 16." Boston University has received 10 invitations to the tournament since 1985, but has never advanced beyond the second round. For information on BU's fan van to Hanover, call 353-GoBU. For those making the two-and-a-half-hour drive themselves, take I-93 north to I-89 north at Concord, N.H. Get off I-89 at exit 18 in Lebanon, N.H., and bear right onto Route 120 north. In Hanover, 4.1 miles from the exit, Route 120 forks at a traffic light. Bear right at the fork, follow Route 120 a half-mile on South Park St. to the first traffic light. Go straight at the light onto North Park St. Chase Field is on the left. |
Athlete of the Week
Chris Drury and Christian Steen
Hockey cocaptain Chris Drury (CAS'98), bent on avenging a 5-0 loss to New Hampshire the prior evening, scored two goals against the same Wildcats on November 15, helping Boston University to a 4-2 victory.
BU enjoyed a 2-0 lead after Drury scored an unassisted goal inside the right post 4:10 into the second period. But New Hampshire tied the game with a pair of goals. Drury answered with the game-winner, his fifth goal of the season. It was the Trumbull, Conn., native's first multiple-goal game of the year -- last season he had eight, including four hat tricks. His 89 career goals put him fifth on BU's all-time list.
In a game with a national tournament invitation at stake, men's soccer midfielder Christian Steen (SMG'99) used his head against Long Island University on November 14. With just 2:08 to play, the America East Conference champion Terriers avoided overtime when midfielder Tony Piperno (SMG'00) forced two LIU defenders to lose the ball out of bounds. A Sigurd Dalen (SMG'99) corner kick set up Steen, who headed the ball past the Blackbirds' Andres Gomez and ensured BU's fifth straight NCAA tournament appearance.
Steen, from Oslo, Norway, scored three game-winning goals last year, including one in the America East championship game. He also received First Team All-Conference honors.
Dalen is also from Oslo, and Steen's goal against Long Island marked the third time this season that the Norwegian connection combined on a goal-scoring corner kick.
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