Picking up the strands of a dominant performance that garnered him an assist on his team’s game-winning goal last Saturday, Derrick Ladeairous scored a game winner of his own today. The senior defender fired a hard shot into the back of the net with 6:02 remaining in regulation, securing the Binghamton men’s soccer team (4-8-0, 2-0-0 America East) its second-consecutive conference victory this season. This time, the win was a 1-0 shutout of New Hampshire at the Bearcats Sports Complex.
Whereas the first half – and most of the second – of Saturday afternoon’s matchup was characterized by generally equal scoring opportunities, stout defensive lines and unyielding goalkeepers for both UNH (4-6-1, 0-2-0 AE) and BU, the last six minutes belonged to the hosts. Inciting an electricity that stifled the Wildcats’ last desperate attempts of the game, Ladeairous charged up the field and blasted a shot from just outside the box, sending the ball whizzing to the right of New Hampshire senior keeper Travis Worra in the 84th minute.
“Alex [Varkatzas] was pulling back and it was a two vs. one, I feel, and I had space, so I just chucked the ball as best as I could,” Ladeairous said of his first goal this season.
Ladeairous, who played exclusively at right back last year, has adapted well to the adjustments required of him. With sophomore back Charlie Novoth now filling his old position, the 5-foot-11 versatile defender has spent more time playing up top in training. And having been a defenseman, he holds a unique advantage playing at that position.
“I know how defenders don’t like to be played against, since I was a defender, and I try to play against them like that,” Ladeairous explained.
Above all, the Smithtown native displayed his flexibility and willingness to fill whatever role is required of him.
“[Ladeairous has] always been very quick and deliberate when he attacks, even from the right back position,” BU head coach Paul Marco said. “So now we can play him at right back, we can play him at right mid, we can play him at attacking mid – he can even play as a holding midfielder. So he’s certainly a guy who we’re going to have to rely on a little bit to provide some of the stuff that he did today.”
The 1-0 triumph was not only notable for Ladeairous, but for sophomore keeper Robert Moewes as well. The shutout marks his second of the season and featured a particularly impressive save at the end of the first 45. With seven minutes to go in the half, Wildcats junior midfielder A.J. Albers sent a quick, airborne pass to classmate Jesus Tudela, who got his head under the ball to threaten a ruptured tie. But the 6-foot-3 goalie extended his arms just in time, deflecting the shot over the bar to preserve his shutout.
Some new offensive strategies seemed to bear in the Bearcats’ favor, or at least to show promise for a team that suffered from a scoring drought for three weeks this season. Moewes exhibited his speed in turning the ball nearly instantaneously to the forwards up front, granting them an opportunity to create odd-man rushes with the Wildcats still crowded around the Bearcats goal.
The accelerated play seemed a bit over the Bearcats’ heads, however – more frequently than not, they ended up losing control of the ball and forcing it out of bounds in Wildcats territory.
“It’s certainly part of Robert’s game, where he can counterattack quickly to when he catches the ball or the ball is in his possession,” Marco explained. “I don’t think we did it terribly great today. I think that that’s an area we need to improve on, and it’s something we’ll take a look at.”
Next up on the Bearcats’ schedule is a midweek contest against UMBC. In the two programs’ last meeting, BU and the Retrievers (5-4-2, 1-0-0 AE) posted a two-way shutout as former BU keeper Stefano Frantellizzi and his defense quelled the nation’s No. 7 team, who outshot the Bearcats, 16-6. This year, UMBC does not hold a top-10 ranking, in part because the team lost three of its potent strikers to graduation.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Retriever Soccer Park in Baltimore, Md.