ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Despite another impressive performance in net from senior Pierce Holbrook, the Navy men's soccer team (4-7-4, 3-4-1 PL) was unable to rally late in a 1-0 loss to Boston University (4-3-9, 4-1-3 PL), spoiling the Senior Night festivities on Friday evening at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
 
A 47th-minute goal from the Terriers' Quin DeLaMater proved to be the lone goal of the penultimate regular-season contest and propelled Boston into a tie for first place in the Patriot League standings at 15 points, while Holbrook's eight saves were not enough as the Midshipmen fell to eighth in the league table and one point back of a postseason berth going into Tuesday's home finale.
 
With Boston controlling the play out the gate, the Terriers nearly got the opening goal but a handball on Andrea Di Blasio in the eighth minute negated the score. Holbrook found himself defending the Navy end at 16' when he stopped Aidan Bone while Andrew Wike matched Holbrook when he denied junior Andrew Shug at 21'.
 
Holbrook continued to keep the game scoreless as the first half wore on, making saves on Jason Zacarias (24') and Diego Rived (33') before jumping to knock Rived's top-shelf shot over the crossbar in the 35th minute. The Navy goalkeeper was not done, stonewalling Dylan Williams in the box at 37' and cleaning up Damola Salami's chance in the 42nd minute to get the Mids to halftime.
 
Coming out of the break, an early corner kick for the Terriers set up Ryan Lau to lift a loose ball into the box, with DeLaMater burying the chance at 47' to put BU in front. Looking to equalize quickly, a header from junior Jalen Grant missed wide after a 48th-minute Navy corner kick, while senior captain Charlie Kriel had a chance sail high at 52'. Holbrook was needed again to keep the deficit at one when he stopped Rived again in the 55th minute, while Schug's back-to-back chances in the 59th minute saw the first blocked and the second get deflected over the cage.
 
Wike made his presence felt at 66' by collecting junior Tommy Lockhart's shot as Navy started to generate more offensive pressure. A Bryce Robisch header off a throw-in at 75' also went just wide of the post, while Holbrook denied Zacarias once again in the 85th minute to keep the Mids' hope alive. Getting possession off a Boston yellow card with just under a minute left, Navy's last chance came when the free kick from junior A.J. Schuetz went over the crossbar.
 
Wike ended with the two-save shutout, while Holbrook made eight stops on the other end as the Terriers outshot the Mids, 17-10.
 
Head Coach Tim O'Donohue Comments
"The team battled through adversity for 90 minutes and just happened to lose to a very good Boston team. We now have a win-to-get-in scenario on Tuesday, making it a playoff game for us."
 
Match Notes
• Navy is now 2-8-2 in the all-time series with Boston.
• Holbrook has now recorded eight-or-more saves in three of his last four contests.
• Holbrook's 72 saves on the season are the most by a Navy keeper since Mac Burke's 92 stops in 2017.
• Navy honored its seven seniors prior to the game: Holbrook, Kriel, Rowan Browne, Wasswa Robbins, Jackson Simons, Connor Walcott and Noah Ward.
 
Up Next
Navy welcomes regional rival and third-place American University to town on Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. contest to close out the regular season.