BOX SCORE

BOSTON – The Boston University men’s soccer team (2-4-1 overall, 0-0-1 America East) returned home after a four-game road stint and opened America East play with a 1-1 tie versus Maine (2-5-1 overall, 0-0-1 America East) on Saturday (Sept. 24) at Nickerson Field. Freshman Neil Hlavaty (Lombard, Ill.) netted the equalizer midway through the first half for the Terriers’ first tie of the season.

Falling behind 1-0 in the 18th minute off a Black Bear corner-kick goal, the Terriers bounced back just over eight minutes later with a goal of their own to knot the game at 1-1. The tie remained through the second half and two overtime periods, despite a 7-2 BU shot advantage in the final 65 minutes.

“Our possession was good and the chances we created were good,” said BU Head Coach Neil Roberts. “We just didn’t finish on those chances and our defense needed to be cleaner.”

The Black Bears capitalized on a corner-kick opportunity early in the game to get on the scoreboard first. Cooper Friend took the kick and a well-placed Kevin Forgett got the header goal at 17:08. It was his third tally of the season.

The Maine lead lasted exactly 8:30, as sophomore Roland Erlichman (Paradise Valley, Calif.) sent the ball across the field to Hlavaty, who hit the far side of the net at 25:38 with a powerful kick from 18 yards. It was Erlichman’s first point of the season after leading the Terriers with 23 points (9 goals, 5 assists) as a rookie last year. Hlavaty is now tied with senior captain Jamie Johnson (Brisbane, Australia) for the team lead in points with five, as he scored the overtime game-winner in BU’s home opener versus the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and had an assist on the game-winner in Tuesday’s (Sept. 20) match at Rhode Island.

Erlichman had all three of BU’s shots in the first overtime, and nearly broke the tie at the 94’ mark when his header just missed the far post. He also had an opportunity in the final seconds of the period with another header that was saved by Black Bear goalkeeper Chad Mongeon, who had six stops on the night.

Maine had a prime opportunity around the 97’ mark when BU goalkeeper Zach Riffett (Brenham, Texas) came out of the goal to stop an Adam Chenault breakaway. Riffett stopped Chenault, but the ball bounced out to the far side and connected with Maine’s Jimmy Velas. With Riffett attempting a dive for the save, Terrier sophomore back Shane Westbrook (St. Louis, Mo.) made the defensive save and preserved the game for BU.

Riffett made three saves for the Terriers and now holds a 2-1-1 record on the season.

BU out shot Maine 15-9 and held a 10-4 edge in corner kicks.

The Terriers return to action on Wednesday at UMass at 3:00 p.m.