A late first-half goal from Jin Oh proved to be the game-winner for Boston University as the Terriers defeated the Fairleigh Dickinson men's soccer team, 1-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, held on the campus of BU on Friday evening in chilly, 30-degree weather. The Knights conclude the season 13-6-2, while the Terriers advance to the second round with a 12-5-3 overall record.
The goal for the Terriers came with only 50 seconds remaining in the first half when Oh took a feed from Matthew Shea and found the back of the net behind diving Knights' goalkeeper Majdi Zaineh (Clifton, NJ/Clifton). Zaineh finished the game with four saves, while Hrafn Davidsson made two stops in between the posts for Boston, which the Knights are now 2-3-0 against all-time.
"It could have been anybody's game," said Boston University Head Coach Neil Roberts. "It just went back and forth."
When asked about guarding leading Knights' scorer Samson Malijani (Lusaka, Zambia, /La Sapienza), BU defender Dan Schultz said, "I was just trying to stay tight with him and not give him any room to turn or run with the ball, but he is very fast."
Entering the game, Malijani, a First Team All-NEC selection, ranked second in the nation in points per game and tied for second in goals per game. The Knights' best chance to get on the board came in the second half when Malijani was charging at the net in the 25th minute,but the ball sailed high, just over the bar.
The Terriers tried to add an insurance goal with 1:59 remaining in the game as Stephen Knox fired, but Zaineh made a diving stop to punch the ball out and keep it a one-goal game. The Terriers out-shot the Knights, 16-8 and held a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks.
"You have two teams that like to play soccer- this game was a really good advertisement for college soccer," said Head Coach Seth Roland, who has 250 career wins under his belt. "Even in these conditions, neither team abandoned trying to attack. BU is a very good team- solid defensively, good mentality and dangerous attack. We did some good things, but we weren't quite sharp enough and didn't make that one or two plays to get the goals we needed."
"I am proud of the effort our guys put forth," said Roland. "It has been four years since we've been to the NCAA Tournament- these guys revitalized the program. They played well all season."
Fairleigh Dickinson reached the NCAA Tournament after earning the second seed in the NEC Tournament and knocking off Quinnipiac and Mount St. Mary's to win a conference-record sixth trophy.
