Boston College Athletics
Men's Soccer Rolls Over #7 Pittsburgh, 1-0
October 15, 2000 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 15, 2000
NEWTON, Mass. - Behind sophomore Casey Schmidt's goal in the 63rd minute and senior Chris Hamblin's five saves, the Boston College men's soccer team defeated seventh-ranked Pittsburgh, 1-0, at the Newton Campus Soccer Field. The win gave the Eagles their third point against a ranked team this week. On Wednesday, Boston College tied top-ranked Connecticut, 1-1.
Pittsburgh controlled play early, posting five shots in the game's first 25 minutes, but the tides turned as Boston College took control of the game midway through the first half. The Eagles put 10 shots on Panther keeper Justin Gaul and outshot the visitors, 10-7, in the opening stanza. Gaul prevented the Eagles from mounting a halftime lead when he stopped junior Chris Cleary's point-blank shot from four yards out on the left post in the half's closing minutes. Hamblin made two saves in the half.
The second half opened the same way the first half closed with Boston College maintaining the edge in play as the Eagles outshot Pittsburgh, 18-3, in the half. Schmidt's goal, from freshman Adam Pfeifer and senior Sjur Gundersen, gave BC a 1-0 lead but the Eagles kept the offensive pressure up for the remainder of the game. In the 79th minute, BC looked poised to add another score when freshman Ramon Smith sent a long crossing pass to the left post to a waiting Pfeifer, but the Panthers' Tim Montgomery slid and kicked the ball over the end line at the last instant. Schmidt also had a second scoring chance from three yards out with an open net, but Gaul made a diving save behind a screen to stop the ball before it crossed the goal line.
The Panthers mounted a strong attack in the closing minutes when they put all three of their second-half shots on net. In the 85th minute, Hamblin made a rolling save on Pittsburgh's Pete Veltri to preserve the win. Hamblin finished the game with five saves and his fifth shutout of the season - all in BIG EAST play. Gaul stopped five shots in the loss.
Boston College moved to 6-5-1 overall and 5-2-1 in BIG EAST play with the win. The Eagles are also undefeated in 2000 when Schmidt nets a goal, going 6-0-1. Pittsburgh suffered only their second loss of the season and moved to 11-2 and 6-2 in league play.
Boston College will play its third-straight game against a top-ten opponent on Friday, Oct. 20, when the Eagles travel to Jamaica, N.Y., to face 10th-ranked St. John's.
Pittsburgh (11-2, 6-2 BIG EAST) 0 0 - 0 Boston College (6-5-1, 5-2-1 BIG EAST) 0 1 - 1Scoring - BC: Casey Schmidt (Adam Pfeifer, Sjur Gundersen) 62:29.
Shots - UP: 10. BC: 28.
Goalkeeper saves - UP: Justin Gaul 5. BC: Chris Hamblin 5.
Corner kicks - UP: 5. BC: 7.
