Irish can't stay with Eagles in conference opener
By NOAH AMSTADTER
Sports Writer
For the second game in a row, the Irish men's soccer team showed flashes of brilliant play, but was unable to come up with a victory as the team dropped its Big East season opener 2-0 to the Eagles of Boston College.
The Irish entered the game with confidence, having defeated the Eagles 1-0 in their only meeting last season. The team also welcomed sophomore Erich Braun – last season's Big East Rookie of the Year and the leading Irish scorer in 1999 – back to the lineup. Braun scored the lone goal against the Eagles last season.
The Irish controlled the game early, creating many good scoring chances. However, they were unable to convert any of these opportunities into goals.
"We created a bunch of really good chances early," said Irish head coach Chris Apple. "Had we converted those, it would have been a totally different game."
The Eagles took an early lead in the game's 18th minute. Senior midfielder Jorgen Lie headed the ball into the penalty box, where sophomore Casey Schmidt touched it to freshman Kenny Adams, who promptly placed the ball in the back of the net.
The game continued to be played very closely and aggressively. After falling behind early, the Irish offense began to press a bit.
The Irish looked ready to tie the game in the 85th minute. They had a free kick in the Eagle half of the field. They completed one pass off of the kick before turning the ball over to Schmidt, who streaked down the field to score the Eagles' final goal of the game unassisted.
After giving up another breakaway goal – the Irish also gave one up in last Wednesday's 3-1 loss to Bradley – the Irish are focusing on controlling the ball while on offense.
"If you're a little bit more experienced on the attack, you might not try to force things that much," said Apple. "You might be a little bit more patient. If you're a little bit more patient, then you don't give the ball away in dangerous situations."
Braun, who had not played yet this season, returned to play the game's final 15 minutes. Apple feels that adding last season's leading scorer to the offense will help the team follow through on the chances they are already creating.
"When you've got young players who haven't played together for more than a couple of weeks now, there's going to be some confusion. There's no one like Erich who is kind of the go-to guy that people can always count on to finish chances," said Apple.
Braun is also excited about his return.
"It felt good," he said. "It was good to be a part of the team again. I'm lacking a little bit in playing with the team, but I'll get that with a good week of practice."
After two consecutive losses, the team has a week of practice before heading back east to take on conference rival Syracuse, who finished sixth in the Big East last season. The team will try to work on the finer points of its game in hopes of coming out on top.
"We're very confident we have a team that will make the adjustments that need to be made," said senior Reggie McKnight. "When we need to be, we'll be peaking at the right time."
The team's defense has proved the ability to hold two talented teams in check during its last two games, and Apple feels that the Irish are only a consistent offense away from being a dangerous team.
"The last step always to come with a young team is scoring," said Apple. " I'm not concerned, I know we'll get that last step."
All Sports Stories for Monday, September 11, 2000
