Eagles Get Rematch Against Terps In First Round Of ACC Tournament

In early September, the then-No. 8 men's soccer team made the trip down to College Park, Md., to face a Terrapins team that was No. 2 in the nation. Maryland sent the Eagles back to Chestnut Hill with their first loss of the season, by an ugly 4-0 score.

Hoping for an improved result, No. 10 BC (12-5-0, 4-4-0 ACC) will make the same trip tomorrow, when they will take on the No. 4 Terrapins (13-2-3, 4-2-2) at Ludwig Field at 7 p.m.

BC head coach Ed Kelly felt that the 4-0 loss had much more to do with the fact that the match was contested so early in the season and that his team took a lot of positives from the game, despite the unforgiving score.

"It was early in the season and we were testing out a new formation," Kelly said. "Conor [Fitzpatrick] was still out, just the usual early-season stuff each year, like adding freshmen and fitting people in. We got our butts handed to us down there, so we switched things around and that helped us a lot."

That game kicked off the ACC portion of the schedule for the Eagles, who fought their way through the toughest conference in the NCAA to finish 4-4. That record earned them the seventh seed in the upcoming ACC tournament, while Maryland comes in with the second seed.

North Carolina, which defeated BC in Chestnut Hill last Wednesday, will be the top seed. Should the Eagles win over Maryland, they would face a semifinal date with either No. 3 Duke or No. 6 Clemson.

"It's fine, it's a good draw to be quite honest," Kelly said when asked about the ACC bracket. "The worst it can be is a loss. Even with a loss to a team like Maryland, you're at least playing a high seed with a high RPI. It's a win-win. They beat us up before, so I'm interested to see how much we've improved. Yes, we'd like to be home, but it is what it is."

The imposing Terrapins attack is orchestrated by junior attacking midfielder, John Stertzer. Stertzer poured in an impressive 14 goals and three assists in 17 games to lead the team in points. Containing Stertzer could be the difference between a momentum-gaining win going into the NCAA tournament and a deflating loss.

"We have to look after Stertzer," Kelly said of the playmaker. "This kid is playing attacking mid and he's got 14 goals, that's incredible. We have to pay close attention to him and [Maryland's] top two forwards, especially in cutting off service to those two guys. They're a dangerous attack, but the one kid we have to take care of first is Stertzer."

Those two forwards Kelly referenced were senior Casey Townsend (12 goals) and sophomore Patrick Mullins (six goals), who combine with Stertzer to give Maryland three elite attacking options, as BC's defense can attest.

The Eagles' defensive leader, captain Chris Ager, has been battling MCL issues for the past few weeks, but looks likely to play on Tuesday. Kelly called the injury "minor at this stage," and said that Ager "is going to tough it out."

Offensively, BC presents just as many problems as its opponents. Juniors Kyle Bekker and Charlie Rugg, with seven goals apiece, will be called upon for yet more big goals in another big game this Tuesday. Bekker's six assists and Rugg's five demonstrate their ability to play off each other up top, not only scoring but creating goals as well.

Overall, the Eagles' squad appears much more mature than the team that left College Park with a four-goal loss back in September. Obviously, Maryland is not the ideal opponent in the first round of any tournament, but this BC team will be ready for the Terrapins.

"It's a big task," Kelly said of the first-round match-up. "Getting over this first match will be tough and that's a credit to our league. But we're in good spirits and looking forward to the challenge."