Thriller in Providence: Men's Soccer Ties Bears 3-3

by Lee Feiner

And before the seventh goal the teams had finished the work they had been doing; so before the seventh goal, they rested from all their work.

After jumping out to an early 2-0 lead against 23rd-ranked Brown early, the Bears rallied to equalize before halftime. The Terriers went ahead once again on a Stephen Knox (’12) strike, almost identical to his game-winning goal against St. John's (http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=162747630534&oid=257141910370), but could not hold the lead when Sean Rosa tied the game at three apiece for good. The double-overtime draw at Brown wrapped up a 6-2-2 out-of-conference slate for the Terriers.

The first goal of the night was credited to senior midfielder Samuel Appiah (’10) at 1:59, but was actually an own goal off the head of standout back/midfielder Jon Okafor. It was a fitting start to a night that would feature goals of every variety, and still somehow left the crowd feeling like there could have been more. And there should have been more.

The second goal came by way of a breath-taking corner from the right foot of sophomore midfielder Michael Bustamante (’12), that curled its way over the front line of defenders, to senior midfielder Tom Strackhouse ('10) who played the ball onto the head of sophomore midfielder Colin Henry (’12). Henry’s (’12) first career goal gave the Terriers a commanding 2-0 lead.

Just as quickly as it came to Boston University it all went away. Brown’s Taylor Gorman headed in a deflected ball to cut the Terrier’s lead to 2-1. Minutes later, David Walls put a harmless shot on goal from about 20 yards out. Senior goaltender Hrafn Davidsson (‘10) made the safe play and went down to smother the ball, but it somehow squeaked through his grasp and rolled slowly across the goal line. Davidsson (’10) laid face-down for about 10 seconds as he attempted to digest what had transpired. Brown had equalized as the teams went into halftime.

Terriers Head Coach Neil Roberts summarized his team’s first half performance in layman’s terms, “in the first half even though we played with a lot of energy, we have to make them play chess instead of checkers.”

The frenetic pace to the game gave the Bears a distinct advantage and despite losing a two-goal lead, Coach Roberts felt fortunate to escape the first half all square.

The second frame began the way the first one ended, with no shortage of fireworks. This time, Knox (’12) accepted a long pass from Appiah (’10) in stride and beat Paul Grandstrand to the lower left corner of the goal.

With the Terriers ahead once again, the Bears showed tremendous poise and resilience, equalizing once again on what could be the goal of the year in college soccer. Rosa planted his left foot into the dewy natural grass at Stephenson Field and let loose a hellacious rip from outside of 25-yards. The ball maintained its missle-like trajectory as it sailed over Davidsson’s head, so the BU keeper did not even flinch at the offering. But before Davidsson started his turn to ask a ball boy for assistance, there was an ominous, hollow clank behind him. As he stared dumbfounded at the ball resting in the back of the net, everyone in attendance took notice of what had occurred. The ball that seemed destined for intramural lacrosse field over two fences and a cart path dipped at the last second and ricocheted off the bottom of the crossbar and into the goal. The Bears had equalized once again, leaving the Terriers stunned.

The game would go to overtime, where junior forward Aaron O’Neal (’11) had two chances, the first of the pair being a one-on-one with Grandstrand and his left-footed shot rolled just wide. The Terriers were physically exhausted after the contest, and everybody seemed unable to comprehend the ridiculous nature of the game. Junior midfielder Ben Havey (’11) quipped in a “half dead-pan/half dead-serious” tone that this match “could have been 8-8”

Despite squandering two separate leads against a ranked opponent, Roberts and the rest of the team seemed thankful for the providence they encountered in Providence on a Wednesday night road game, and ran with their hard-earned point.