The men's soccer team split two games against New England opponents at home, defeating Boston University 2-0 Friday before falling to No. 13 Boston College 2-0 Tuesday.
Brown 2, Boston University 0
With a devastating 5-1 loss to No. 21 Kentucky fresh in their minds, the Bears (5-3-0) looked to redeem themselves against the Terriers (2-5-0). Bruno pulled ahead late in the first half as Alex Markes '15 headed in his first career goal off a free kick from Austin Mandel '12. Sean Rosa '12.5 clinched the victory for the Bears with just over two minutes remaining in the game, scoring his third goal of the year to put Bruno up 2-0.
The win marked the Bears' fourth shutout of the season. With the goalkeeper position still in contention, Sam Kernan-Schloss '13 made his third start of the season and improved his record to 2-1.
Boston College 2, Brown 0
When 13th-ranked Boston College (7-2-0) came to town, the Bears knew they had a game on their hands.
"BC is pretty good," said Head Coach Patrick Laughlin. "The only teams that have beaten them are UConn and Maryland , and that's No. 1 and No. 2. They're the best team we've run into so far."
The Bears appeared to match the Eagles' level of play at the start, and the teams ended the scoreless half with five shots apiece. But in the second half, the Eagles flew past the Bears, scoring one goal in the 58th minute and another at the 76:19 mark to put the game out of reach.
"In the first half, it was a close contest," Rosa said. "We got our chances, and we went into the locker room knowing we could have been up 1-0. In the second half, we came out a bit flat, and they beat us on two balls over the top, which is disappointing because we never get beat like that."
The loss to BC snapped Bruno's 17-game undefeated streak at home. But the Bears will try to put the loss behind them when they travel to Columbia Saturday to open Ivy League play. In both 2009 and 2010, Bruno entered conference play without a loss.
"The Ivy League is important for us," Rosa said. "This team has always gone into Ivy League undefeated, so now we know what it feels like."
But Laughlin said he is confident that the Bears' non-conference schedule, which featured match-ups against South Carolina, Kentucky and BC, has helped prepare the team for what is to come.
"Ivy League is here now, but we've played a lot of challenging teams out of conference," he said. "In league, every game means so much, and the margins are so small. We have to make sure we really bring it Saturday at Columbia, because if we don't come on the right level, we're going to be on the wrong side of the score."
