It was Friday the 13th and the spookiest part for the Eagles was that they had to play Louisville away from home. The away curse persisted with BC falling 1-0 to Louisville off a 29th minute Damien Barker John goal. The Eagles remain winless in the ACC and on the road this season.
The 29th minute goal came against the run off play, with the Eagles having two excellent chances in the 26th minute. The play started with a Louisville corner that BC keeper Brennan Klein swatted away to well outside the 18-yard box. David Boccuzzo collected it, sending a cross back into the box that Josh Jones headed towards the far post. Barker John was lurking on the back post, just outside the six-yard box and brought the ball down with his left, took a step, and then rifled off a shot with his right that blew past Klein. The goal was the sixth of Barker John’s season and gave the Cardinals the 1-0 lead.
Just two minutes before, the Eagles appeared on the front foot, forcing Louisville to chase the ball. Marco Dos Santos got the sequence started, knocking the ball up in the air to himself with his back towards the goal and then sending a bicycle attempt towards the net. Alex Svetanoff made the save but 29 seconds later it was Augustine Boadi who ripped a shot from distance that hit the crossbar and bounced back into play. The two chances back to back built on the earlier sequence of a Drew Serafino cross that Xavier O’Neil just missed making dangerous.
As has been the case all season, the defense kept the Eagles in the game. Louisville pressured early, forcing Klein into action in the third minute and then again in the 16th minute where a reaction save to prevent the ball from hitting his face kept the game level. Moritz Gundelach and O’Neil both blocked follow up shots on that sequence, helping out Klein and preventing Louisville from having clean looks at the net. Organized, CJ Williams, Gundelach, and Diego Ochoa mitigated one on one opportunities for Louisville and often had the support of the wingers in an attempt to create turnovers.
Once Louisville scored, the pressure turned up on the Eagles, who attempted to play with more possession. The familiar script dominated the match: BC had 12 shots, only three of which were on target and struggled to sustain pressure in Louisville’s attacking third. Often, without a clean look or an open pass forward, BC would opt to pass the ball back and switch fields, eating time off the clock without testing Louisville or improving their position. With the ball in the Eagles own half, Louisville had time to organize their lines and Cardinals keeper Svetanoff was relatively untested throughout the match.
With the pressure on in the second half, the Eagles managed only one shot on net—a Ted Cargill attempt that was snatched up by Svetanoff. Boadi had a shot blocked, O’Neil and Dos Santos had shots go wide, and Alfie Hughes remained snakebite, having a shot on net but saved. Jack Burkhardt and Cargill remained the central distributors, with Burkhardt especially turning up all over the pitch to connect passes together and give the offense more options. Burkhardt’s quick passing also sped the game up, trying to take advantage of quick movement to catch Louisville disorganized.
And, despite starting the season off looking incredibly disciplined, the Eagles recorded another four yellow cards against Louisville. CJ Williams, picking up a strategic fifth yellow, will miss the Stonehill match on accumulation. Christian Bejar and Burkhardt each received their third and Gundelach his second. Three of the Eagles cards came in the last seven minutes. To BC’s credit, Louisville also picked up four cards in the match.
The cards, the tension on the field, the visible frustration after every opposition goal scored are all manifestations of the frustration the Eagles have with themselves. Going down 1-0 should not be a death sentence, but with four 1-0 losses the Eagles know the second the ball hits the back of the net a win has become almost impossible. Of the 12 goals scored against them this year, eight have come in the first, meaning there should be plenty of time for the Eagles to find that equalizer, only…they haven’t and the strategy has yet to change. Frustrated at the record not matching the quality on the field, the Eagles are running out of runway to break their curse and also find the back of the net.
The Eagles (3-6-4) returned home to take on Stonehill (2-6-4) in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday, October 17th at 5:30 pm.
Making mountains out of molehills and facts out of printers since the turn of the century
