BOSTON, Mass. - On Thursday, September 5th, the Saint Mary's men's soccer team took on Boston University for the first time in program history and battled the Terriers to a 1-1 draw to start their east coast road trip. The Gaels found their footing late in the first half and generated several dangerous chances on goal. They would breakthrough in the 41st minute off a cross from outside back
Luke Lawrence who found forward
David Christensen for his first collegiate goal. The Terriers would equalize in the 72nd minute with a strike from distance to eventually end the game in a 1-1 draw.
FIRST HALF SMC 1-0 BU
Boston came out aggressive early on with a pair of chances on goal but Saint Mary's would settle in nicely and generate a pair of shots on goal from
Nick Strangio and
Jude Zamora. Off a free kick from the far side,
Luke Lawrence would swing in a left footed ball and find the head of Strangio on the back post. Strangio connected with a diving header and forced a crucial near post save from the Terriers keeper to keep the game scoreless.
Minutes later Lawrence would get in on the action again and play an early ball in from the left side and find a darting Zamora who got a cheeky flick on the one time attempt but the Boston keeper got down to make another near post save. Lawrence was aggressive all half long getting up the field and serving in dangerous crosses for the Gaels attacking players.
Lawrence would continue the trend and get in behind the Terriers backline on the left side and play a beautiful cut back ball to the top of the box. Freshman forward
David Christensen would step through a Terrier defender and bring the ball down with a solid first touch allowing him to have a shot on frame. The shot seemed bound for the bottom corner but a BU defender would slide and deflect the ball into the roof of the net to give the Gaels a 1-0 lead. Christensen would get credit for the goal for the first of his collegiate career and Lawrence picked up his second assist of the season.
FINAL SMC 1-1 BU
Saint Mary's would go on to outshoot Boston 5-2 in the second half and force three saves from the Terriers keeper but BU needed just one shot to equalize. In the 72nd minute, Daniel Kim would fire a shot from distance that just crept over the outstretched arm of
Sam Bentley to knot the game at one.
The final 15 minutes would get a little dicey for the Gaels as they continued to generate chances but got into foul trouble with a pair of late red cards.
Wade Muttitt and
Cesar Batres would get booked late to put them out of Sunday's match against Dartmouth but the game would end in a 1-1 draw for both squads. Saint Mary's outshot Boston 8-6 in the match and forced a game high five saves from their keeper.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's improves to 1-2-1 overall and will remain on the east coast to take on Dartmouth on Sunday, September 8th at 10:00 AM pacific time. Live stat and ticket links can be found at smcgaels.com and you can watch the game live on ESPN+. Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
#GaelsRise
