Balance and depth ready to guide Eagles

While things continue to shuffle out for the men's soccer team, who are 2-3 through their first five matches this season, one area that will begin to show its value more and more as the season wanes, is the depth and balance of the roster.

Even in the face of four departed seniors, including MLS first-round selection (17th overall) and team's leading scorer Zeiko Lewis, the team rolls forward more confident than they have been in the past that there are more capable bodies on hand to fill gaps and provide spells for injuries and those fatigued bodies.

"It just starts to grow a little bit," said head coach Ed Kelly, now in his 30th year at the BC helm. "Everybody is calm, everybody knows their role, everybody joins in and plays to each other's strengths, not getting mad at each other because they won't pass the ball. The ball is moving great, so then everyone becomes unselfish in that sense. We grow as a team. I don't think we've touched our potential yet."

This was all on full display in the team's first two games of the season, back-to-back 4-0 victories over Quinnipiac and Boston University respectively.

In those two wins the Eagles were without some key pieces and managed to see six separate players register tallies, a hopeful sign of things to come with the offense.

"When is the last time that's ever happened," questioned Kelly. "We've never had that kind of situation. So, you can't rely on just one person because that person could be injured or they man-mark them. Now we have multiple weapons. We're getting attacks that don't just go through one guy. Now it's a much more balanced team. That's what you need going into the playoffs."

Through five games, 24 players had seen the pitch for the Eagles, with 16 of those having 100-plus minutes under their belts.

"We can't play all those games with the same starting 11, as we play every three days" noted junior back Joshua Forbes. "Some of our players are going to need a break, I think it's important that we have players on the bench that are able to fill these positions

"Last year we were struggling with this a little bit because a lot of us we had to play a lot of minutes and didn't get that many breaks," he said.

While junior Simon Enstrom has paced the offense with a team-high four goals, matching his total from a year ago, there have been three others – Nikita Bondar, Tomas Gudmundsson and Beto Luna - who have offered up the first strikes of their Eagles careers.

Nine players have assists to their credit as well, with sophomore midfielder Heidar Aegisson and sophomore back Younes Boudadi leading the pack with four helpers apiece.

"We haven't had a center midfielder like Heidar in years," Kelly said. "He controls the game a little bit, like a point guard."

The defense has also done well in proving their versatility while patiently awaiting the return of redshirt junior Len Zeugner, who finally returned to action in the ACC opener versus Notre Dame on Friday after missing the entire 2016 season due to injury.

Though they did drop three straight following their dual clean sheets to open, two of those were to top programs - No. 6 Notre Dame and New Hampshire, who narrowly missed the 2016 NCAA Tournament and who are now a Top 25 team in 2017.

As the new additions to the team gain more experience in these types of games, the Eagles can expect a return on that payout as the season progresses.

With a schedule that includes four ACC matchups versus top ten teams, including current No. 2 Wake Forest and No. 3 Clemson, the depth and balance of the group should start shining through.

"Overall, compared to my freshman and sophomore year, the depth is so much better and there's so much more competitions which drives the quality in practice, too," Zeugner said.

"Things are going well, we just have to keep pushing each other," said Kelly. "The guys on the bench will have to challenge to get their spots and their playing time. One-game-at-a-time kind of gig. Practice has been going well, we have a great staff, the atmosphere's been great on the team. Keep our fingers crossed."

Boston College Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Heidar Aegisson

Nikita Bondar

Younes Boudadi

Simon Enstrom

Joshua Forbes

Tomas Gudmundsson

Zeiko Lewis

Beto Luna

Len Zeugner

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