Boston College Athletics
Men's Soccer ACC Tournament Semifinal Preview: North Carolina
November 12, 2010 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 12, 2010
No. 5 seed Boston College vs. No. 1 seed North Carolina
2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Soccer Championship - Semifinal Round
Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 - 8 p.m.
WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, N.C.
Team Records: Boston College - 10-3-5, 2-2-4 ACC; North Carolina - 15-2-1, 7-0-1 ACC
Video Coverage: ACC Network via theACC.com
2010 ACC Men's Soccer Championship Central Web Site
BOSTON COLLEGE ADVANCES TO FOURTH STRAIGHT ACC SEMIFINAL: After the Eagles concluded the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference regular season with 10 points and a 2-2-4 league record to earn the conference tournament's No. 5 seed, Boston College defeated Duke 1-0 in the semifinals of the league tournament to advance to the semifinal round for the fourth straight season ... Boston College will play top-seeded North Carolina, which defeated NC State 4-0 in its quarterfinal match, on Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 at 8 p.m. in Cary, N.C. ... Video coverage of Friday's semifinal-round game between the Eagles and Tar Heels is available through the ACC Network at: theACC.com.
THE NORTH CAROLINA SERIES: Boston College and North Carolina have met six times as league opponents. The Eagles are unbeaten in the last four meetings between the teams (3-0-1) and lead the series 3-2-1 with each of the previous meetings coming during ACC regular-season action. The 2010 ACC Championship marks the first time in which Boston College will play North Carolina in the league tournament. After suffering consecutive losses to the Tar Heels in October of 2005 and 2006, BC earned three straight wins - in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The Eagles and Tar Heels played to a 1-1 tie this past October.
THE LAST MEETING: (Oct. 15, 2010 in Newton, Mass.) - Boston College junior Conor Fitzpatrick's first-half score was matched by North Carolina junior Alex Dixon's second-half tally as the 18th-ranked Eagles and third-ranked Tar Heels battled to a 1-1 ACC tie before 538 rain-soaked fans at the Newton Campus Field. Each team registered three saves in the 20 minutes of extra time. BC junior Amit Aburmad accounted for two of the Eagles' chances, including the best scoring bid of the overtimes. Aburmad's solid header off a feed from classmate Patrick Chin was saved by UNC keeper Scott Goodwin at the 105:00 mark. Fitzpatrick's right-footed blast from 30 yards out on the left side sailed across the box and eluded Goodwin and struck the top right corner of the goal. Chin earned the assist as BC claimed the early lead. The Tar Heels, which enjoyed a 4-3 shot advantage in the first half, controlled play for much of the second half and were rewarded in the 69th minute. Dixon received a cross from senior Eddie Ababio and beat BC goalkeeper Justin Luthy from 10 yards out on the left side. After tying the match, UNC continued to press, yet the host Eagles enjoyed the better chances late in the contest. Aburmad's solid shot from the right flank in the 82nd minute was saved by Goodwin. Just seconds later, BC nearly capitalized on a Kyle Bekker corner kick, but sophomore Colin Murphy's header flew over the goal. North Carolina outshot BC, 9-3, in the second half and 16-9 for the game. Senior Michael Farfan led all players with four shots. BC was paced by Aburmad's three shots, all of them on net.
2010 Boston College Men's Soccer Roster
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
By Class:
SENIORS (4): Dave Dale (Eagan, Minn.), Myles Gerraty (Nutley, N.J.), Ayotunde Ogunbiyi (Gwynedd, Md.), Karl Reddick (Pottstown, Pa.)
JUNIORS (4): Edvin Worley (Jensen Beach, Fla.), Conor Fitzpatrick (Coventry, Conn.), Patrick Chin (Arcadia, Calif.), Amit Aburmad (Zofim, Israel)
SOPHOMORES (8): Stefan Carter (Wheatley Heights, N.Y.), Kyle Bekker (Oakville, Ontario), Sacir Hot (Fair Lawn, N.Y.), Justin Luthy (Dublin, Ohio), Kevin Mejia (Pasadena, Calif.), Charlie Rugg (Roslindale, Mass.), Colin Murphy (Onehunga, New Zealand), Isaac Taylor (Ashton, Md.)
FRESHMEN (8): Chris Ager (Gjettum, Norway), Gregg Bryer (Cape Town, South Africa), Nico Capetola (Manhasset, N.Y.), Henry Bunkall (Pasadena, Calif.), John Bunkall (Pasadena, Calif.), Ryan Dunn (Hampton, N.H.), Jamie Doherty (Mansfield, Mass.), Cameron Stoker (Holden, Mass.)
Hometown in:
United States - 19; California (4), Connecticut (1), Florida (1), Maryland (1), Massachusetts (3), Minnesota (1), New Jersey (2), New Hampshire (1), New York (2), Ohio (10), Pennsylvania (2); Canada - 1; Israel - 1; New Zealand - 1; Norway - 1; South Africa - 1.
QUICK HITS
• With its 1-0 ACC Tournament win over No. 19 Duke, Boston College improved its 2010 record to 10-3-5, capturing a double-digit win total for the eighth time in the last 11 seasons.
• The Eagles scored the game's lone goal in the first half in the quarterfinals against No. 19 Duke, marking the fifth time in nine games against league opponents that the team has scored first and led 1-0 at halftime. BC also scored the game's first goal and led at the half in a 1-1 tie against Maryland (Sept. 10), a 1-1 tie against No. 3 North Carolina (Oct. 15), a 1-1 tie against No. 8 Virginia (Oct. 22) and a 4-3 loss at Wake Forest (Oct. 30).
• Junior Amit Aburmad, who netted his fourth goal of the season in the team's 1-0 win over No. 19 Duke, has three decisive scores this fall. The Zofim, Israel, native also scored game-winning goals in a 2-1 win over Harvard (Oct. 19) and a 2-1 win over Dartmouth (Oct. 27). Aburmad leads all BC players with seven assists.
• Freshman fullback Gregg Bryer started his second match of the season (and played all 90 minutes) in the team's 1-0 ACC quarterfinal victory over No. 19 Duke. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound native of Cape Town, South Africa also started the team's 3-0 non-league win over Holy Cross on Oct. 12. He has played in seven matches.
• Boston College finished the 2010 regular-season with a 9-3-5 record, including a 7-1-1 record against non-conference opponents.
• BC went unbeaten on its home turf - the Newton Campus Field - this fall, notching a 6-0-3 record, including a 5-0-0 record against non-league opponents.
• Boston College played to a draw in four (of eight) ACC games this fall, equaling its five-year combined total of ties since joining the conference in July 2005 in one season.
• The Eagles have outscored their opponents 17-6 in the first half of play and 15-13 in the second half of play.
• The team neither allowed a goal nor scored itself in five games that advanced to overtime (golden goal) play in 2010. That's 100 minutes of sudden-death competition.
• Four players - midfielder Kyle Bekker, midfielder Conor Fitzpatrick, goalkeeper Justin Luthy and forward Charlie Rugg - have started all 18 games this season.
• Junior Conor Fitzpatrick has started 59 of Boston College's 60 games over his three seasons. Sophomore Kyle Bekker has started all 39 games in the Eagle midfield in the last two seasons.
• Boston College is 1-2-3 in six matches against opponents that were ranked among the nation's top 20 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). Most recently, the Eagles earned a 1-0- ACC Tournament win over No. 19 Duke on Wednesday, Nov. 10. In regular-season competition, the Eagles and three league opponents - No. 9 Maryland (Sept. 10), No. 3 North Carolina (Oct. 15) and No. 8 Virginia (Oct. 22) - played to a 1-1 draw. BC suffered road losses at No. 11 Duke (Sept. 24) and No. 3 Connecticut (Sept. 28).
• Head coach Ed Kelly has led his teams to six conference tournament titles - five in Big East Tournament competition and one in ACC Tournament play. He led Seton Hall to back-to-back tournament titles (in 1986 and 1987) in his three years as head coach of the Pirates and led Boston College to three Big East Tournament crowns (1990, 2000 and 2002). Kelly led the Eagles to its first Atlantic Coast Conference championship in Cary, N.C., in November 2007.
• Freshman center back Chris Ager was named the 27th recipient of the prestigious Thomas McElroy Award, an annual scholarship presented to the Boston College soccer student-athlete who best exemplifies the qualities that made Tom such a special person. Tom McElroy, Jr., a goalkeeper, was diagnosed with cancer in January 1979 and played his senior season through treatments and recuperation, helping to guide Boston College to a 3-1 victory over Bridgeport in ECAC Championship on Nov. 23, 1980. Tom McElroy succumbed to cancer on July 17, 1981 at age 22. He was inducted into the Boston College Varsity Club Hall of Fame on Oct. 23, 1987, the first men's soccer player to earn the distinction.
• Freshman center back Chris Ager, a second-semester freshman from Gjettum, Norway, is fluent in four languages - Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and English. Sophomore Sacir Hot, also a center back, speaks three languages - English, Spanish and Serbian.
• Two-time Boston College All-America midfielder Alejandro Bedoya, who graduated in December 2008 and currently plays for Orebro in Sweden, is one of 18 players who will compete for the U.S. national team in the 2010 Nelson Mandela Challenge against South Africa on Nov. 17 in Cape Town.
RUGG, BEKKER, AGER EARN ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS: Three players - forward Charlie Rugg, midfielder Kyle Bekker and defender Chris Ager - have each earned 2010 All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors. Rugg captured all-conference first-team recognition, Bekker earned all-league second-team honors and Ager garnered All-Freshmen Team accolades. A Roslindale, Mass., resident, Rugg played in and started all 17 regular-season games as a sophomore in 2010. For the second straight season, the 6-foot, 175-pound forward led the team in scoring with 18 points - a team-high eight goals and two assists. An Oakville, Ontario, resident, Bekker started all 17 regular-season games as a sophomore in 2010 and has started all 38 games in the Eagle midfield in his two seasons. The 5-foot-9, 160-pound Bekker tallied 10 points - three goals and four assists this fall. A Gjettum, Norway, resident, Ager has started each of the last 12 games as a central defender. He missed the first five games of his freshman campaign and has started each game since.
BC IN THE ACC: Boston College has a 22-18-8 record in six years of regular-season competition in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Eagles have finished among the league's top five teams in each of the last five seasons, producing a combined record of 22-12-6 (.625 win percentage) in regular-season competition during that span. The 2007 Boston College entry captured the league regular-season crown with a 7-1-0 record.
BC IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT: Boston College has a 6-4-0 record in six league tournaments. After suffering first-round defeats in 2005 and 2006, the Eagles went 3-0 en route to the 2007 ACC Men's Soccer Championship title. In each of the last four tournaments, BC has advanced past its quarterfinal-round opponent.
THE KELLY FILE
Years as a head coach: 26
Record: 257-182-49
Years at Boston College: 23
Record: 217-169-43
ACC Record: 22-18-8
ACC Record By Year ...
2005: 0-6-2
2006: 3-3-2
2007: 7-1-0*
2008: 5-3-0
2009: 5-3-0
2010: 2-2-4
* - Regular-season champions
BC IN THE RPI: Boston College is ranked 38th in the latest NCAA Ratings Percentage Index poll released on Nov. 1. The Eagles are one of six Atlantic Coast Conference teams ranked in the RPI's top 40 along with No. 3 North Carolina, No. 5 Maryland, No. 23 Wake Forest, No. 24 Duke and No. 29 Virginia.
SUSTAINED SUCCESS: Boston College has won 10 or more games 12 times in its 23 years of soccer under head coach Ed Kelly. Boston College has won at least 10 games eight times in the last 11 seasons. The Eagles captured a school-record 18 wins during the 2002 season.
TWITTER UPDATES: Live in-game news updates, in short form, on Boston College men's soccer are available through Twitter at: http://twitter.com/BCSportsNews
