Boston College Athletics
Men's Soccer Hosts Providence Saturday In BIG EAST Quarterfinals
November 07, 2002 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 7, 2002
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The top-seeded men's soccer team begins its pursuit of its third BIG EAST Tournament championship when it clashes with Providence, the No. 8 seed, in a quarterfinal match at Newton Campus Soccer Field on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m.
On the strength of their 8-2-0 conference record, the Eagles (12-4-0) earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament. They clinched the top spot with a 3-2 regular season-ending win over Rutgers on Monday, Nov. 4 in Piscataway, N.J. Freshman John Krause (Rivers/Holliston, Mass.), sophomore Pat Haggerty (Lawrenceville/Lawrenceville, N.J.) and sophomore Oktay Kilic (University of Heidelberg/Heidelberg, Germany) all scored in the first 54 minutes to give Boston College a 3-0 lead. The Scarlet Knights added two late goals, and put a flurry of shots on the Eagle net in the final minutes, but the Boston College defense held strong to lock up the victory.
The Friars (7-10-0, 5-5-0 BE) faced even more pressure in their last match, having to win to qualify for the tournament. They did that by getting goals from Eoin Lynch and Ian Wexler, as well as a four-save performance by goalkeeper Jeff Newman, in a 2-0 victory over Villanova on Monday.
For Lynch, it was team-leading eighth goal of the season. He paces Providence with 16 points. Mauricio Solano is next with 11 points (four goals, three assists), while Wexler (four goals, one assist) and Anthony Petrarca (three goals, three assists) each have amassed nine points. Goalkeeper Jeff Newman brings a 1.34 goals against average and a .754 save percentage into the game.
This was the first year since 1969 that the two teams did not meet in the regular season. They have never faced each in the BIG EAST Tournament. Boston College leads the all-time series 15-13-6. The Eagles are 8-10 all-time in the conference tournament, having won it in 1990 and 2000, while the Friars hold a 1-4 mark.
