O'Neal paces Terriers to Second Straight Victory

by Lee Feiner

As the team bus rolled out of Storrs, Connecticut on Saturday night, Head Coach Neil Roberts made one request of his players. "We have to put this behind us," Roberts said. "If we go out on Monday and slip up, this [win] means nothing." The Terriers took the pitch on Labor Day with all interested parties wondering if they would take the day off. It took about 10 minutes to see that the Boston University mens’ soccer team would be collecting double time for doing work on a holiday. The payout was a second consecutive 3-0 shutout, with junior forward Aaron O’Neal (’11) scoring two goals for the second consecutive game.

"I wasn’t really worried about a let down" Roberts explained after the game. "It’s tough playing on Saturday and then again Monday so you don’t have time to properly recover, so I was a little concerned about that." The Terriers certainly showed no signs of fatigue in their home opener.

O’Neal (’11) took a blind pass from sophomore midfielder Michael Bustamante ('12) inside the 18 yard box and found himself one-on-one with Providence keeper Timothy Murray. O’Neal, coming off of a two goal outburst against the Huskies on Saturday night, took one touch to his right foot and buried a 16 yard strike right where mom keeps the peanut butter on the top shelf.

Providence’s back line, despite being tucked into a defensive shell seeking any kind of result on the road, was porous and gave BU several scoring chances. These chances turned into another goal for the Terriers when senior midfielder Samuel Appiah (’10) accepted a pass from sophomore midfielder Ben Berube (’12) a few feet outside the box. Appiah (’10) proceeded to dance through the Friars’ defense, undressing 3 defenders on his way to the net. He tapped in for the terrier’s second goal of the first half.

Providence settled in a bit during the second half allowing fewer easy opportunities but relapsed to first half form with 12:33 remaining in the game. Bustamante (’12), who played brilliantly all game long, got a bit of free space and a smile spread across his face. "You can’t really explain what he does," Roberts said in reference to his star midfielder, "you just have to come see it." He did a little 2-step about 5 yards outside of the box, beat the first man to his left side, and played the ball through the legs of the second defender with the outside of his right foot. As the crowd voiced its approval Bustamante fired off a cross that just sailed over the head of Appiah, but found the foot of O’Neal who registered his second tally of the game, and fourth of the long weekend. "Aaron’s not forcing anything," Roberts said, "he’s taking what they give him and he’s taking advantage of his chances."

Taking advantage of chances has been a theme in the early going for the Terriers. Attempts that rattled the cross-bar and filled opposing goalies’ stat sheets a season ago are now goals. This team is operating on all cylinders and destroying all obstacles that enter its path. With Harvard coming up this Friday, the Terriers will try not to look ahead to the grudge match against national powerhouse St. John’s.