Men's Soccer Shut Out by Boston University, Extends Goalless Streak

­BOSTON—After falling behind on a goal late in the first half, the Harvard men’s soccer team came out of the break with a new sense of urgency. They strung together more meaningful passes in the midfield. They pressed farther into the final third. And as they earned a corner after a deflected cross in the 54th minute, the equalizing goal seemed only moments away.

Just a few seconds later, however, the Crimson players found themselves scratching their heads. “2-0,” the scoreboard read here at Boston University’s Nickerson Field.

The hill that they needed to climb was now a mountain.

Anthony Viteri, the Terriers’ star sophomore midfielder, had just scored his second goal of the game. Harvard was caught out on the counterattack after committing too many players to their corner kick, and paid dearly when Viteri calmly slotted home a 1-on-0 with Crimson co-captain and goalkeeper Evan Mendez.

The sequence leading to this second goal basically summed up the game as Harvard (1-4-2) went on to lose 3-0 to BU (4-2-0). The Crimson created multiple scoring opportunities, especially in the second half, but failed to capitalize on any of them.

Its opposition, on the other hand, saw less of the ball but scored on two picture-perfect counterattacks.

“[Counterattacks are] something we haven’t really given up,” Harvard coach Pieter Lehrer said. “We’ll look at that and sort that through.”

On the defensive side of the ball for BU, junior goalkeeper Matt Gilbert, a second-year starter, played the leading role in the shutout. In one of the highlights of the game, he tipped a blazing shot over the bar with one hand in the 85th minute. At that point, Harvard was still clawing to get back in the game.

After the save, however, the wheels fell off the bus for the Crimson.

In one last counterattack, BU’s senior forward Lucas McBride finished a breakaway with a simple flick over Mendez. One Harvard defender pedaled back to oppose McBride on the play, but a precise pass from midfield, coupled with McBride’s speed, rendered him helpless.

The Crimson’s poor finishing was also at fault for its blowout loss. Several players, including senior midfielder Tim Schmoll, had great opportunities to get Harvard on the scoreboard, but could not find the back of the net.

Senior forward Michael Innocenzi saw a good chance go to waste in the 80th minute when he couldn’t quite handle a pass just outside of the box and a BU defender recovered to kick the ball away.

Throughout the game, Lehrer used most of his substitutions to try to find the right combination of players to spear his offense. Yet no combination broke through as the Crimson failed to score for a third game in a row.

“It’s frustrating for everybody,” Lehrer said. “It’s a very good group, but we just haven’t gotten it right yet.”

Harvard’s last goal came on September 13 in the 81st minute of a 2-1 win at Stony Brook. Not counting stoppage time, Harvard’s scoreless streak now extends 298 minutes.

Watching from the sideline, injured Crimson co-captain Mark Ashby appreciated his team’s effort and was impressed by BU’s bruising style.

“I thought we competed really well. They were really physical, but our players put it all out there on the field. We’ll be ready [for next week],” Ashby said.

After being sidelined with a quad injury for the entire start of the season, Ashby also expressed optimism that he will return to the lineup soon. Gaining back the reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year will serve as a confidence boost for a Crimson defense that has struggled to shut down the opposing attack.

While Harvard was unable to come out with the victory, the team now turns its attention to Ancient Eight play. With its opening matchup against Yale looming in the distance, the ultimate goal remains the same for the Crimson.

“We have a great core of guys,” Ashby said. “So far the results haven’t shown that, but our goal is still to win the Ivy League. “