Eagles Host Big Green

For the third straight season, the Boston College men's soccer team has secured a berth in the NCAA tournament. The Eagles (12-8-0) will play Dartmouth (10-6-1) at Newton Soccer Field at 7 p.m. this evening. In 2008, the Big Green eliminated BC in the first round, sending the Eagles home after coming out on top 4-2 in penalty kicks.

The teams shared two common regular season opponents this year: Yale and Rhode Island. Yale defeated BC 2-1 on Oct. 6, while Dartmouth beat the Bulldogs (5-9-3) four days later, 2-1, in an overtime match. The Big Green also captured a win over Rhode Island (9-9-2), while the Eagles suffered a loss to the Rams in their season opener.

Although the Eagles have suffered losses to mid-level teams, they claim two wins over North Carolina and Wake Forest, two programs that were ranked second nationally at the time of play. BC has also shut out Duke, consistently ranked in the top 25, twice over the season: once on Sept. 25 and again in the first round of the ACC tournament, held this past week. The Eagles reached the semifinals before falling to NC State, the eventual conference champion, 1-0, last Friday.

Seven teams will be representing the Atlantic Coast Conference in the NCAA tournament this year, the most of any conference in the nation. Head coach Ed Kelly said that the high caliber of opposition has helped to prepare the Eagles for the national tournament.

"Coming off the ACC tournament prepares us well for coming in [to the NCAA tournament]. We played against the best teams in the country," Kelly said.

Taking into account BC's numerous wins over highly-ranked programs, there can be little doubt that the Eagles have the raw talent necessary to compete on a national level; however, for the majority of the starters, this will be their first NCAA tournament. The starting roster has heavily favored the freshman class, which has yielded some of the team's biggest playmakers.

The Eagles will look to freshman goalkeeper Justin Luthy to silence the Big Green's offense, which has scored 30 goals this season with a style that Kelly calls "up-front and direct." Two players to watch will be forwards Craig Henderson and Lucky Mkosana; Mkosana is a native Zimbabwean who has scored a team-best eight goals this season.

Luthy has managed to shut out eight teams on 76 saves, accumulating a .854 cumulative save percentage. Forward Charlie Rugg, another member of the class of 2013, leads the team with six goals. Rugg is tied for the most assists with freshman midfielder Kyle Bekker with five. There is obviously no lack of young blood in the starting lineup, which has resulted in great enthusiasm at the cost of experience.

"We're starting six or seven freshmen," Kelly said. The head coach, however, has been careful to stress to the team that despite it being the postseason, their fundamental style of play should remain the same.

If a team puts too much pressure on itself, Kelly said, it can become distracted from playing to its strengths.
"Just keep the focus, keep the attitude, we're at home, everything will take care of itself … If we play well in what we do … it should be a good game."

The winner of the match advances to the second round and will face St. John's, seeded 13th, in New York. Before getting there, the Eagles must avenge last year's tournament loss to the Big Green in its first step toward a potential national championship.