Striker Ben Maurey '15 notched a flawless goal in the final minutes of the men's soccer match at Boston College Tuesday to lift the Bears to a 1-0 victory over the Eagles. Maurey's goal broke the Eagles' (7-4-3) impressive seven-game unbeaten streak and gave the No. 18 Bears (10-1-2, 2-0-1 Ivy) their eighth shutout of the season.
On a counterattack in the 87th minute, Thomas McNamara '12.5 passed the ball to Maurey, who shot in toward the back post and past Eagles goalkeeper Justin Luthey.
"We knew (the game) was very important, and that we were going to be playing one of the best teams so far all year since they play in the (Atlantic Coast Conference)," Maurey said, adding that the ACC is "by far the toughest division in college soccer." "We went in knowing that even though they had all that talent, we could keep up with them and could possibly get a result."
The match started off in favor of the Eagles, who dominated Bruno in shots, 8-2, in the first half. But the Bears warded away the attacks and the game remained scoreless after the first 45 minutes.
The Bears then found their rhythm and reversed the attacking momentum in the second half. They outshot the Eagles 7-3 in the second half and were rewarded with Maurey's game-winning goal.
"We moved the ball well against an athletic, skilled team, and Ben did well to finish off a beautiful ball from Tom," said goalie Sam Kernan-Schloss '13, who recorded four saves for the Bears.
Maurey led Bruno's offense with six shots, three on goal, and rookie Tariq Abu-Akeel '16 also recorded a dangerous shot.
"We proved in this game that we have a solid team from top to bottom and that our whole team can compete at the top level,"said Dylan Remick '13. "Midweek games are always tough because you come off a very emotional weekend game and people are tired and banged up,"
Midfielder Bobby Belair '13 credited the performance of each team's defense.
Both defenses were very organized and did not make mistakes, making it tough to create chances," he said.
"We are constantly having different players step up for us, and Tuesday it was Ben Maurey," Belair added. "The game was a big non-conference win for us and will help build towards a good performance Saturday."
The Bears will return to conference play at Stevenson Field Saturday with a key match-up against No.10 Cornell. The Big Red will bring a perfect 12-0 record into the game and are the lone team currently above Bruno in the Ivy rankings.
"This week we got a great result against a great team, and it really has us ready to go against Cornell," Maurey said.
