Whether it was the roaring Senior Night crowd or the energy exuding from the floodlights, something was in the air for Boston College men’s soccer on Saturday.
The Eagles (6–5–2, 2–3–2 Atlantic Coast) pulled away with a 3–2 win over Wake Forest (9–5–1, 3–3–1) on Saturday, upsetting the Demon Deacons in a Senior Night ACC thriller.
The energy was high from the beginning of the match, with BC and Wake Forest each having their fair share of ball control. It wasn’t until the 27th minute, though, that the momentum really began for the Eagles.
A throw-in from Adama Kaba landed at the feet of junior Michael Suski, who took matters into his own hands, pushing past Wake Forest defenders before launching one past the hands of goaltender Trace Alphin and into the top right corner of the net.
Up by one, BC’s momentum continued to grow throughout the remainder of the half. The Eagles displayed a brick-wall defense led by big stops from junior Victor Souza and graduate student Wil Jacques.
Seventeen minutes after Suski’s rocket, the Eagles had another opportunity to get on the board. Junior Stefan Sigurdarson was tripped in the box and stepped up for a penalty kick. Sigurdarson slid his shot into the bottom left corner of the box, setting up BC with a 2–0 lead to enter the second half.
Suski and Sigurdarson’s offensive dominance comes as no surprise, as the two have combined for 12 of BC’s 15 goals on the season—six apiece.
Though BC’s energy was high entering the second half, Wake Forest was out for vengeance.
The Eagles had multiple early chances, including one in just the first 30 seconds of the half, but could not capitalize on them.
With 33:13 left to go in the game, Wake Forest seemed to be presented with the perfect opportunity to get itself on the board. As BC goaltender Brennan Klein scrambled to get back into net after getting involved in some action out of the box, Jahlane Forbes sent a cross right in front of an essentially open net. The Demon Deacons did not get a good touch on it though, as the ball was sent sailing over the crossbar, maintaining BC’s two-goal lead.
Wake Forest eventually capitalized on an opportunity in the 63rd minute. Barely keeping it in bounds, Roald Mitchell snuck the ball across the goal line, as Kyle Holcomb slid in toward the net, knocking Mitchell’s pass right into the goal.
It didn’t take long for BC to answer, though. Just two minutes later, freshman Aidan Farwell carried the ball up the sideline before notching it to Suski. Suski showed off his footwork, dribbling in and releasing the ball at the last second, sliding his second goal of the night into the bottom left corner of the Wake Forest’s net—and bringing BC’s lead back up to two.
From there, it was catchup for the Demon Deacons, who outshot the Eagles 6–2 for the rest of the half. Though both teams took three shots each in the first half, Wake Forest outshot the Eagles for the rest of duration, taking seven shots to BC’s four in the second half.
But it came down to shots scored, not taken, and despite a successful Wake Forest penalty kick with just under four minutes to go, the Eagles defense continued to make clutch stops as time expired and BC was able to hold onto its narrow lead.
BC’s upset over Wake marks its second consecutive ACC win heading into the Eagles’ final regular season game against NC State.
“We had a big win last weekend against Syracuse, and now we have two in a row against Wake Forest as well,” Klein said after the game. “They’re big ACC games so you know, we can only go up from here and we’re excited about it, and everybody’s happy right now, team morale’s up, so we’re looking good.”
Featured Image by Leo Wang / Heights Staff
