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After Friday's win against No.2 Wake Forest and its Oct. 17 win over No. 2 North Carolina, the Boston College men's soccer team is becoming the one that nobody wants to draw as the ACC and NCAA tournaments approach.
Freshman defender Kevin Mejia struck a vicious shot from 23 yards out to give the Eagles a 1-0 win over the Demon Deacons at Newton Soccer Complex.
BC head coach Ed Kelly called the performance one of the best he's seen from the team this year. "This was a good game for the fans to watch," he said of the nervy affair, "but not for the coaches."
Wake Forest (12-3-2) came to town with an ACC regular season championship in its sight. The Demon Deacons, the 2007 national champions, have won three league titles since 2004 and controlled their own destiny heading into the game.
From opening kick, the teams played a physical game. The Eagles created their first opportunity two minutes into the contest when senior captain Mor Avi Hanan sent in a bending ball to freshman striker Charlie Rugg, only to have the forward's shot go wide of the target.
The Demon Deacons bombarded freshman keeper Justin Luthy with shots in response. Wake took 16 shots in total, but Luthy stopped all seven that were on target.
A clear-cut opportunity was in the making for the visitors when central defender Anthony Arena sent a long ball to speedy forward Andy Lubahn, but BC freshman Colin Murphy was there to sternly volley the pass away and stifle the threat.
Luthy made four saves in the first half, the best of which came 12 minutes in when he smothered Justin Litchkiss' attempt from in the box. BC had its own opportunities, as Edvin Worley set up Rugg for another excellent look from right outside the box. It took every inch of Wake keeper Akira Fitzpatrick to get a finger tip on the shot and deflect it out of bounds.
Luthy turned away a few more strong shots before the half finished. When Lubahn was called for offsides deep in BC territory in the 45th minute after receiving an Austin da Luz pass, the Eagles secured the first-half shutout.
The Eagles struck for the only goal of the game 5:15 into the second half. Freshman Stefan Carter, who was knocked out of the game later in the half with an unspecified injury, launched a long throw-in deep into Wake territory. Mejia collected the clearance by the Demon Deacon defender and took a world-class strike at the ball, bending it past Fitzpatrick and tucking it inside the far post.
If the Eagles had finished any of their later opportunities, they could have sealed the game and guaranteed themselves the three points that come with a win. Midfielder Kyle Bekker had a great look at goal but was taken out by Wake back Ike Opara, who received a yellow card for the tackle. Rugg's header in the 59th minute found side netting, while Worley had a short-range breakaway shot saved by Fitzpatrick.
Wake nearly evened the score in the 70th minute, when a Lubahn header clanked off the crossbar. The Demon Deacons upped the pressure in the last 15 minutes, looking for an equalizer. Opara had two close range opportunities, but both were turned away by Luthy. The BC defense withstood each Wake assault to emerge victorious.
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