Boston College Athletics
Men's Soccer Bows From NCAA Tournament
November 19, 2000 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 19, 2000
The 22nd-ranked Boston College men's soccer team fell to 17th-ranked Rhode Island, 3-0, in the first round of the NCAA tournament in a game played in Kingston, R.I.
Casey Schmidt and Adam Pfeifer tried to mount a 1-0 lead for the Eagles in their first trip into the Rams' end. Bobby Thompson and Chris Cleary brought the ball down the left wing and centered a pass to Schmidt who sent in a ball past the Ram keeper. The shot sailed just wide, but before it went out over the end line, Pfeifer picked up the ball on the right side of the net and shot it, narrowly missing the goal as he shot it just outside the right post.
The Eagles faced a tough Ram offense, ranked 13th in the nation, that was able to control play throughout much of the first half, but the resilient BC defense as able to keep the score to just 1-0 at the half. URI's Sean Barrett put home a ball that was headed out of bounds as he swooped in along the right baseline. Dennis Richards originally sent in the shot that Eagle keeper Chris Hamblin was trying to let it head out of bounds.
Boston College opened the second half strong and penned the Rams in their own end. In a flurry of shots midway through the half, the Eagles put four balls on net, but the play was whistled on as a Ram handball was not seen, and Rhode Island took possession of the play.
Ram Nicholas McCreath added two late goals in the 68th and 70 minutes put the Rams' lead out of reach and advanced the team to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Hamblin ended he game with two saves, including a running stop on McCreath's bid for a hat trick late in the second half.
Mark Bryant and Michael Charles combined for Rhode Island in the shutout of the Eagles.
The Eagles season ended with a 12-7-1 record and a 7-3-1 mark in the BIG EAST standings. They captured the BIG EAST Championship at the annual league tournament after being picked ninth in the preseason coaches' poll.
Boston College (12-7-1) 0 0 - 0 Rhode Island (17-5-1) 1 2 - 3Scoring - URI: Sean Barrett (Dennis Richards) 37:42. URI: Nicholas McCreath (unassisted) 67:53. URI: McCreath (Steven DeMoura) 79:03.
Shots - BC: 12. URI: 19.
Goalkeeper saves - BC: Chris Hamblin 2. URI: Mark Bryant 7, Michael Charles 0.
Corner kicks - BC: 2. URI: 9.
