UM offensive woes continue vs. BU

ORONO – Boston University’s Ben Berube was trying to put his shot on net.

He failed.

However, teammate Shaun Taylor was in the path of his errant shot and redirected it into the near side corner 7:19 into the game to give the Terriers a hard-fought 1-0 America East triumph over goal-starved Maine Wednesday afternoon.

It was BU’s third straight shutout win and Maine’s third consecutive shutout loss. The Bears have gone 380 minutes and 13 seconds without a goal encompassing four-plus games.

BU, which is 30-3-4 vs. Maine, scored with a quick buildup.

Stephen Knox capitalized on some open space down the left flank to make a run and cross the ball to the far post to Berube, who volleyed it.

“It wasn’t that great of a shot. Luckily, Shaun Taylor was there and was able to put it in,” said Berube.

“[Berube] whacked it across the goal and I was in the right place and I turned it toward the goal with my left foot,” said Taylor, the conference’s second-leading goal scorer with seven.

Maine goalkeeper Nemanja Kostic said Berube’s shot was going wide of the far post “but [Taylor] put it in.”

The goal was sandwiched by a pair of superb right-arm saves by Kostic on partial breakins by Knox and Berube.

The Terriers attacked relentlessly in the first half, controlling play and keeping the Bears back on their heels.

But Maine played much better in the second half and generated a couple of good chances.

Jake Ostrov found a rare open channel in the BU defense and gathered in a diagonal pass from stellar back Corey Sinclair.

But he rolled his shot wide of the far post.

“I didn’t get much on the shot,” said Ostrov who noted that BU’s defenders didn’t give them much time to shoot.

Maine center back Kyle LeDuc got free in the penalty area and ran on to a Tom McCole corner only to have his header hit a BU defender’s head and deflect over the crossbar.

“I think it would have gone in [if it hadn’t hit the BU defender],” said LeDuc.

Hrafn Davidsson made two saves on nine shots for 6-5-2 BU, which is 3-1 in the conference. Kostic finished with 10 saves on 20 shots for the 3-7-2 Bears (0-3-1 in America East).

“Overall, we played much better in the second half,” said Maine coach Pat Laughlin. “It’s another lesson for a somewhat young and inexperienced team. You can’t come out and just go through the motions. You’ve got to come out and be ready to play mentally.”

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

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