CHESSNUT HILL, MA – Jacksonville Men's soccer fell 1-0 in a hard-fought battle against Boston College on Friday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED-
Jacksonville, who's faced one of the toughest early season road trips in the country, continued their tough stretch with a match against ACC foe Boston College.
Tonight's match felt similar to the Dolphins previous two, with both sides waiting out early, and patiently looking for proper opportunities to attack. Boston College, who initially controlled possession, was unable to gain meaningful attacks with said possession. With the Eagles unable to advance, the Dolphins continued to high press and forced the Eagles into some early mistakes. With the intense press, Jacksonville created a few turnovers early; Mason Duval specifically did a great job disrupting the BC backline. As the match wore on, the 7th minute saw a frenzy of shot attempts launched from both contenders. Boston missing close high, and Dolphins unafraid responds back with great looks on net by Olivier Correa, Cole Reasonover, and Jeppe Jordoson
The Eagles then progressively picked up their offense's aggression, with a dangerous moment in the front field, but keeper Christian Sekanina lunges to save a dart of a shot in the high left corner, keeping score 0-0. However shortly after 37' Boston college manages sneak a goal giving Eagles the lead. To throw off the Eagles Coach Simmons tries brilliant tactics through the rest of the first half, giving the Dolphins as much of an advantage as possible. With that, Jacksonville gradually built momentum and broke down Eagle's defense finishing the run with a near goal by David Robinson to finish the half.
Opening the second half, Jacksonville took a more offensive approach. Midfielder Owen Guske got off a smooth shot on goal, truly executing a brilliant acrobatic attack, but the eagle defense withheld the lead. Following that drive, Jacksonville had another opportunity to level the score. Correra attempted a free kick after a handball was called and missed slightly high. Dolphins continued to have many opportunities to tie; it was only a matter of time before the men evened the match. Dolphins exploded with energy in the final minutes, really testing Boston College's defense. The match ended with three consecutive corners for Jacksonville but just could convert in time.
WHAT THEY SAID
"I thought the boys competed against a very well coached team," said head coach Ali Simmons. "Coach Thompson has a young group, and I am sure they will have a bright future together. As a group we need to dust ourselves off and go again, we gave a good account of ourselves in the last three games, but without anything tangible to show for it. Providing we learn the lessons these games taught us we will move forward, and we will keep improving and the results will come".
ADDITIONAL NOTES
UP NEXT
The Dolphins return to the pitch on Tuesday, September 5th against Mercer. The game is scheduled for a 6 PM kickoff and can be watched on ESPN+
