Energetic Eagles Excited for the 2018 Season

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Boston College men's soccer team will open its 2018 regular season on Friday against Quinnipiac, just like it has the previous three.

But the 2018 version of the Eagles will have a new look – with 13 new players, including 10 freshmen joining the roster. The group will be looking to get Boston College back to the NCAA Tournament after missing it for the first time in three years in 2017. It should come as no surprise that a team of 30 players – 30 percent of which are rookies – will be looking to its upperclassmen for leadership in bringing this squad together to forge ahead.

"It's a very young, energetic team," said head coach Ed Kelly. "The seniors that are here now are all about changing."

It starts with the tri-captains Joshua Forbes, Heidar Aegisson and Simon Enstrom, and it continues with student-athletes like Callum Johnson, Trevor Davock and Abe Bibas.

"Everybody is buying in," Kelly said.

If any evidence is needed that the seniors are intent upon fomenting change, a short interaction between Forbes and some visitors at a recent practice that shows the attitude the Eagles have entering 2018. When one of the guests commented that the Eagles had a bit of a down season in 2017 at 6-10-1, the tri-captain was quick to smile and say, "But that was last year. We're going to be better."

Offensively, the Eagles will once again look to Enstrom to produce. As a junior, he started all 17 matches as the team's center forward as a junior in 2017 and led the squad with 22 points on a team-high nine goals and four assists. His heralded work rate is reflected in the 3.76 shots per game last season, a number that ranked 11th in the nation and third in the conference. He enters the season tied for ninth overall in BC history with 56 points (having surpassed his new associate head coach, Bob Thompson, last season).

"The work rate is just off the charts, game in and game out. He's all about the team," said Kelly.

And the Eagles will not only benefit from the return of four of the top five scorers from 2017 but also the return of a healthy Davock. Last year, the Medway, Mass. native played in just three matches before missing the remainder of the season due to injury, but he has proven to be a reliable and vaunted attacking threat during his time at Boston College. In his first two seasons in Maroon and Gold, he made 30 starts and appeared in all 42 matches that the Eagles played, contributing nine goals and seven assists in those contests.

The midfield returns a strong core that has seen its playing time grow over the past few seasons at the Heights. Transfer Joe Kellett – who is already familiar with Thompson from his two seasons under him at UMass Lowell – is primed to jump into the 3-5-2 formation with juniors Johnson and Lasse Lehmann. And while Aegisson is currently injured, his return to the pitch is imminent and will be impactful in a deeper-lying central midfield role. Several of the newcomers saw significant time during the preseason tests with Colgate and the University of Massachusetts, with Tyshawn Rose and Kristofer Konradsson drawing some big minutes.

On the backline, another transfer in David Longo along with rookies Tyler Stott and Ivan Postolka all showed a willingness to step right in and communicate with the senior Bibas in preseason training and exhibition matches. Bibas saw time in 15 games last season, making seven starts along the backline and occasionally seeing time in a defensive central midfield spot. His leadership and experiences as a rookie - he was one of eight players to appear in all 21 matches during his freshman season - will help bring along the newcomers. Longo already has collegiate experience at Florida International University, where he was named to the Conference-USA All-Freshman Team in his year as a Panther.

There are four goalkeepers on the roster this year, including Antonio Chavez Borrelli who was tasked with coming in and getting right to work in the toughest conference in the country as a freshman. He played in all 17 games, making 14 starts – including all eight ACC contests. Two rookies, Christian Garner and Joe Fryatt, will help keep the keeper competition a constant.

And on the sideline, Thompson brings a unique perspective. His track record as a coach is proven – he was named one of the top 12 Assistant Coaches in the country by College Soccer News in 2016 and he helped turn the River Hawks into one of the top teams in nation. But the former BC star and assistant coach also understands Kelly, the program, the school and what it takes to win here (he was a member of three NCAA tournament teams as a student-athlete).

Overall, there are a lot of new pieces to the Eagles in 2018 but Kelly knows that the quality and desire is there. There will be competition all over the field. BC is set to play six games against teams ranked in the United Soccer Coaches' Preseason Poll, all of which will come in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play.

The league is filled with great coaches and great players, with whom the Eagles know they can compete.

"Everybody is excited to get back to where we should be," said Kelly.

Energetic Eagles Excited for the 2018 Season

Players Mentioned

Heidar Aegisson

Abe Bibas

Antonio Chavez Borrelli

Trevor Davock

Simon Enstrom

Joshua Forbes

Joe Fryatt

Christian Garner

Callum Johnson

Joe Kellett

Kristofer Konradsson

Lasse Lehmann

David Longo

Ivan Postolka

Tyshawn Rose

Tyler Stott

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