BOSTON – Highlighted by senior Ethan Gill’s 73rd-minute goal and senior Sheraz Saadat’s five saves, the Boston University men’s soccer team edged Colgate, 1-0, on Friday night at Nickerson Field.
With their fourth straight victory, the Terriers improve to 8-3 overall and 4-1 in Patriot League play, while the Raiders drop to 5-4-3 (1-2-2 PL) after allowing just their ninth goal of the season.
Both freshman Austin Mobray and sophomore Pharis Petrica earned an assist on Gill’s fourth goal of the season, while the backline added a slash of its own during a frantic second half that saw both teams trying to avoid a scoreless draw.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Recording a game-high five shot attempts with four on goal, Colgate’s Blake Pipkin forced Saadat to make the game’s first slash at 8:34.
- After Gill sent a shot just wide during the 13th minute, junior Andrea Di Blasio put the Raiders on notice, blasting the crossbar at 16:09 and and forcing a slash with a header at 18:34.
- Petrica forced a slash by Eric Widrick as well at 35:21, as the teams ended the half in a scoreless deadlock.
- BU started the second half quickly earning a corner, but Wildrick smothered freshman Sebastian Otero’s shot attempt.
- During the 56th minute, Saadat saved a shot from Charlies Yates and the ensuing rebound attempt from Colin Hughes.
- The Raiders threatened again in the 68th minute with Malik Samms driving the ball toward the left post to draw Saadat off his line.
- Instead of shooting though, Samms centered the ball to Pipkin who quickly attempted a shot from six yards out that was stopped by a sliding senior Quin DeLaMater in front of the empty net.
- Saadat quickly recovered and got in position to stop Pipkin’s rebound shot.
- During the 73rd minute, Petrica helped BU win a battle for the ball near midfield and quickly sent a through ball toward the left side of the box to Mobray, who made a short centering pass to a charging Gill for an eight-yard shot past Widrick for the 1-0 lead.
- The BU defense kept Colgate off the scoreboard by limiting the Raiders to just one shot the rest of the game for the victory.
GAME NOTES
- The Terriers have started a season 4-0-0 at home for the second time in three years under head coach Kevin Nylen with the 2023 squad posting an 8-0-2 record en route to the NCAA tournament.
- Through 11 games, BU has doubled last year’s win total in which the Terriers finished the 2024 campaign at 4-4-10.
- Gill joined Di Blasio for the team lead at four goals while also becoming the sixth Terrier to net a game winner.
- Petrica extended his team lead in points to 12 with his sixth assist of the season, as Mobray became the fifth Terrier to earn at least three assists.
- With his second 5+ slash performance over the last four contests, Saadat joined senior Ben Alexander and junior William Clavier in earning one shutout apiece this fall.
- BU finished with a 13-11 advantage in shots, while the Raiders had a 3-2 lead in corners.
- The Terriers extended their lead in the all-time series against Colgate to 12-5-3 with their fourth shutout in the last five meetings.
UP NEXT
- BU will conclude the three-game homestand with Northeastern on Tuesday (Oct. 14) at 6 p.m.
- The teams have battled to a 1-1 draw in each of the last two seasons.
- In 2024, at NU, DeLaMater struck first in the 30th minute, and the Huskies netted the equalizer at 68:39 before finishing with a 13-11 advantage in shots.
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