Eagles Host Fordham Thursday Night In NCAA Championship

EAGLES HOST FORDHAM IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST ROUND
• Boston College will host Atlantic 10 champion Fordham on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Championship.
• The Eagles (8-8-3) received an at-large bid to the tournament for the second-straight season after reaching the semifinals of the ACC Championship.
• The Rams (10-6-4) breezed to the A-10 title game with a pair of 4-0 victories and then after a scoreless draw against VCU, earned the automatic bid with a win in the penalty kick shootout.
• This will be the seventh meeting all-time between the two sides but only the second since 1973. The series record is even at 2-2-2. The last time the teams met was back in 2014 and that was a 2-0 win for BC in Newton.

BC IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
• The Eagles are making their 14th appearance in the NCAA Championship. Head coach Ed Kelly has led BC to 13 of those tournament appearances, earning bids in 1990, 2000-02, 2004, 2007-12, 2015 and 2016.
• Boston College has a 7-11-4 all-time record in NCAA Tournament action. It is 2-2 in penalty kick shootouts.
• The Eagles are looking to make their first ever appearance in the College Cup, which will be held at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas.
• BC reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship last season for the second time in program history.
• The Eagles beat Vermont in the first round of the tournament last year in Newton and then traveled to Tampa and beat No. 15 USF, 2-1, in overtime.
• In the Sweet 16, BC went to the nation's capital to face No. 2 Georgetown. The sides played to a 1-1 draw and the Eagles advanced on penalty kicks, 5-4.
• The run came to an end at No. 6 Syracuse as the Orange advanced to the College Cup with a 1-0 victory.
• BC also reached the Elite Eight in 2002.

LEWIS IN THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
• Senior Zeiko Lewis scored all three Boston College goals in three matches of the ACC Championship.
• Both of his goals in the 2-2 tie against #23 Virginia Tech were equalizers as the Eagles played from behind.
• Lewis got his first strike in the 56th minute when senior Isaac Normesinu went on a break from the defensive end. He sent a nice through ball to Lewis who finished it to tie the match.
• A minute after the Hokies took a 2-1 lead in the 85th minute, sophomore Simon Enstrom handled the ball on the right baseline. He found Lewis who was open in the box and he found the left side netting to tie it again.
• Lewis also connected on his penalty kick as the Eagles won the shootout, 4-3.
• The Pembroke, Bermuda product then notched the lone goal at #4 North Carolina in the 58th minute.
• Lewis earned Player of the Week honors from TopDrawerSoccer and was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week.
• Lewis had scored three goals in 16 regular season matches and had not scored a goal since September 30.

LAST TIME vs. FORDHAM
• Isaac Normesinu and Len Zeugner scored goals as Boston College shut out Fordham, 2-0, on August 31, 2014 at Harvard's Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium.
• Ado Kawuba assisted on Normesinu's goal while Cole DeNormandie and Diego Medina-Mendez were credited with assists on the second score.
• Alex Kapp made one save in goal for his first career clean sheet.
• The Eagles dominated possession for the full 90 minutes, holding an 18-4 shot advantage and taking 11 corners to Fordham's zero.
• BC got on the board in the 19th minute as Kawuba handled the ball on the left side. He sent in a cross to the right side of the box to an awaiting Normesinu. He handled it with a defender on him and took a shot on goal, but Fordham keeper Sean Brailey made the initial stop. The rebound fell right back to Normesinu's foot and he put it in the back of the net to put BC ahead, 1-0.
• The Eagles nearly scored again with 1:23 left in the half when Zeiko Lewis stole an errant pass in the midfield. He drove down the middle and sent a pass to Medina-Mendez who was streaking down the left side. Medina-Mendez took aim at the net, but Brailey came off his line and stopped the shot to keep the BC lead at one.
• Midway through the second half, Derrick Boateng made a nifty lob pass to Phil Sandgren who stayed onsides. Sandgren had an open path to the keeper and he tried to lift a shot over Brailey, but he made the save to keep the BC lead at one.
• Fordham's best chance to score came with 21 minutes left in the game. Following a BC foul near the right corner, Andrew Hickey took the free kick and sent a ball into the box. Jon Agostino was able to head it toward goal, but the shot sailed over the crossbar.
• BC put the game away in the 74th minute with Zeugner's goal. DeNormandie and Medina-Mendez shifted the ball from the right side to the left and found Zeugner at the top of the box. He fired from 14 yards out and found the back of the net to double the BC lead.

Eagles Host Fordham Thursday Night In NCAA Championship

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Players Mentioned

Simon Enstrom

Alex Kapp

Ado Kawuba

Zeiko Lewis

Isaac Normesinu

Len Zeugner