No. 1 Seed Men's Soccer To Open NCAA Tournament Play Wednesday Against Massachusetts
Nov. 26, 2007
Boston College (15-4-1) vs. Massachusetts (14-7-1) National No. 1 Seed
Boston College opens NCAA Tournament play with a record of 15-4-1. The Eagles have won four straight games (and eight of their last nine) and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after capturing the program's first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title with a 2-1 win over Wake Forest in Cary, N.C., on Sunday, Nov. 18. Senior striker Sherron Manswell earned the tournament's Most Valuable Player Award after totaling seven points -- three goals and one assist -- in three matches ... The Eagles won the ACC regular-season championship with a record of 7-1-0 ... Junior midfielder Alejandro Bedoya captured ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors and Ed Kelly earned the conference's Coach of the Year honor.
Tickets
Tickets prices are: $7 for adults and $3 for children. All tickets may be purchased on site.
Gametracker
Live coverage of all NCAA Tournament games will be available online through Gametracker. Click Here
Radio
WZBC, BC's student radio station, will carry the Boston College vs. Massachusetts game. It is available free of charge over the internet at www.bceagles.com or wzbc.org as well as on FM 90.3. Alex Diamond and Stephen DiMarco will have the call.
Number 7
The 2007 NCAA Tournament marks the seventh time the Eagles have earned an NCAA Tournament berth. Boston College has a 3-6 all-time record in tournament play. Ed Kelly has led BC to six (of its seven) NCAA Tournament appearances, making appearances in 1990, 2000, `01, `02, `04 and `07. Ben Brewster led BC to its first tournament appearance in 1982.
The Series - Massachusetts
Boston College and Massachusetts are meeting for the 12th time in the all-time series that dates back to 1978. BC and UMass have split their previous 11 meetings, 5-5-1, and are playing for the first time since 1988, Ed Kelly's first year as head coach of the Eagles. In that game, BC prevailed, 2-1, at home on Oct. 22. The Eagles and Minutemen are meeting for the first time in NCAA postseason competition.
First ACC Champions
With its 3-1 home win over No. 4 Virginia Tech on Friday, Nov. 9, BC men's soccer secured the 2007 ACC regular-season title -- the school's first ACC Championship since Boston College officially became the 12th member of the conference in July of 2005. The Eagles then earned tournament victories over Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest to capture the ACC Tournament title, another first for BC Athletics.
Manswell Earns College Soccer News Player of the Week
Boston College senior striker Sherron Manswell earned College Soccer News National Player of the Week honors after he registered seven points -- three goals and one assists -- in BC's three ACC Tournament victories. A native of Trinidad, Manswell scored two goals in the team's 3-1 victory over Virginia Tech in the semifinals and netted one goal in BC's 2-1 win over No. 1 Wake Forest in the ACC Championship game.
The Coach
Ed Kelly is in his 23rd season as a head coach and his 20th season (1988 - present) at Boston College; he spent three years (1985 - 1987) at Seton Hall. Kelly enters the 2007 NCAA Tournament with a 223-161-41 career record, including a 183-148-35 mark at Boston College. BC's all-time winningest soccer coach and the 2002 Soccer America National Coach of the Year, Kelly has guided the Eagles to six NCAA Tournament appearances (1990, 2000, `01, `02, `04 and `07), highlighted by a berth in the Elite Eight in 2002, and five conference tournament championships. In 2007, BC's third year as a member of the ACC, Kelly guided the Eagles to a 7-0-1 mark in conference play, the league's regular-season title and the conference tournament championship. Kelly has twice earned NSCAA New England Regional Coach of the Year honors (2000 & `02). He has earned Big East Conference Coach of the Year recognition four times (1989, `90, 2000, and `02) and captured the ACC Coach of the Year honor in 2007.
Kelly and Conference Tournaments
With the 2007 ACC Tournament title, head coach Ed Kelly has now led his teams to six conference tournament titles -- five in Big East Tournament play and one in ACC Tournament action. He guided Seton Hall to two Big East Tournament titles (1986 and 1987) in his three years as head coach of the Pirates and led BC to three Big East Tournament crowns (1990, 2000 and 2002).
The Coaching Staff
Asssistant coach Kevin Anderson is in his second season on the BC staff. Anderson is a five-year veteran of Major League Soccer and was named one of College Soccer News' Top 20 Assistant Coaches of the Year last fall. He came to BC after spending two years as an assistant coach at Columbia. As a player, Anderson captured All-America first-team honors while leading Southern Connecticut State University to the 1992 national title and enjoyed a 10-year (1993-2003) professional playing career, including two years with the Colorado Rapids and three years with the Tampa Bay Mutiny of the MLS.
Assistant coach Robbie Mustoe, a longtime English soccer star who spent the 2006 season as an assistant at Bentley College, is in his first season as a member of the BC coaching staff. Mustoe enjoyed a stellar 18-year professional career in England. He spent 12 seasons (1990-2001) with Middlesbrough in the English Premier League. He played in all three of the club's Webley finals.
Bedoya, Kelly Earn Individual Conference Awards; Eagles Place Six Players On All-ACC Teams
Boston College head coach Ed Kelly earned Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors while junior midfielder Alejandro Bedoya captured the league's Offensive Player of the Year accolade and the Eagles' soccer team placed a total of six players on the All-ACC first-, second- and Freshman teams. Bedoya posted 74 shots, seven goals, including four game-winning scores, in 17 regular-season games this fall, while junior midfielder Reuben Ayarna joined Bedoya on the All-ACC First Team after recording 13 points -- two goals and a team-high nine assists. Junior goalkeeper Chris Brown and senior striker Sherron Manswell earned All-Conference Second-Team recognition. In addition, freshmen Shawn Chin and Karl Reddick captured All-ACC Freshman Team honors.
In Goal
Six-foot-five-inch junior Chris Brown has played all but 18 minutes in goal for the Eagles this season. Brown has recorded eight shutouts, including two in conference regular-season play and one in ACC Tournament action. He owns a record of 15-4-1, a 0.69 goals against average and a .803 save percentage. He has allowed more than one goal in a game just twice -- in a 2-1 home loss to Quinnipiac and a 4-2 victory at Duke -- this season.
Brown, Manswell Earns Spots On Soccer America's Team of the Week
Boston College junior goalkeeper Chris Brown and senior forward Sherron Manswell each earned a spot on Soccer America's 11-member National Team of the Week. Brown started all three ACC Tournament wins last week and recorded a 0.67 goals against average and a .818 save percentage. He allowed just two goals in three tournament games. Manswell is a two-time Soccer America Player of the Week honoree who captures team-of-the-week laurels after totaling seven points -- three goals and one assist -- en route to ACC Tournament MVP honors. A native of Trinidad, Manswell has recorded team highs in goals (11) and points (28) through 20 games this fall. Brown and Manswell each earned All-ACC second-team honors in leading the Eagles to the 2007 ACC regular season and tournament title.
BC Against Ranked Opponents
Boston College has a record of 9-1-0 against ranked opponents this season, having defeated No. 14 Fairfield (2-0), No. 6 Maryland (2-0), No. 4 Duke (4-2), No. 8 Virginia (2-1), No. 1 Wake Forest (1-0), No. 8 Virginia Tech (3-1), No. 25 Virginia (1-0), No. 8 Virginia Tech (3-1) and No. 1 Wake Forest (2-1). The team's lone loss was against No. 14 Brown (1-0) on Oct. 10 in overtime.
On Defense
The Eagles' defense has allowed 13 goals in 20 games, an average of 0.69 goals per game. Boston College has held its opponents to one goal or fewer in 18 of its 20 games this season, including eight shutouts -- Boston University (Sept. 1), No. 17 Fairfield (Sept. 7), No. 8 Maryland (Sept. 15), Maine (Sept. 18), Yale (Sept. 26), Dartmouth (Oct. 24), Wake Forest (Oct. 27) and No. 25 Virginia (Nov. 14).
Last Time Out
Junior midfielder Mike Konicoff assisted on Sherron Manswell's first-half goal and then netted the gamewinner just after halftime to lead Boston College to the 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title with a 2-1 victory over Wake Forest in the championship game at the SAS Soccer Complex in Cary, N.C., on Sunday, Nov. 19. BC, the conference's regular-season champion, defeated Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest in tournament play en route to the championship. Manswell, who earned the tournament's Most Valuable Player honor, got the top-seeded Eagles on the scoreboard just eight minutes into the game. Konicoff later doubled the BC margin at 46:49, one-timing a cross from Greg O'Neil for his fourth goal of the season. Wake Forest halved the BC lead off a corner kick in the 68th minute. BC junior goalkeeper Chris Brown totaled four saves, including three in the game's final 45 minutes.
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