A few non-hockey notes

Between the women's team's season sweep of Northeastern and the men's team's huge upcoming weekend vs. Lowell and BU, there's a lot of hockey to discuss... but there were some noteworthy events off the ice on Thursday.

Paul Gersterberger of the men's soccer team was selected by the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew in the 2nd round of the MLS SuperDraft; as far as I know, he will be the only BC alum in MLS. He was a great defender and a very good free kick taker during his time at BC and I enjoyed the chances I got to watch him play.

In bad news, the women's basketball team dropped a tough one on the road to a good Wake Forest team, 52-48. It was there for the taking for BC, but 26 (!) turnovers did them in - a bad repeat of some of the team's woes from last year. They also shot just 28.8%. The loss drops BC to 13-4 (2-1 ACC). They return to action on Sunday when they host Clemson at Conte Forum.

MSG tonight!

First thing's first - Last night's scheduled men's soccer NCAA tournament game at Dartmouth was postponed until this afternoon due to inclement weather. Now I'm really glad I didn't try to go.

By the way, to Dartmouth & the NCAA: lame. Soccer is supposed to be played regardless of weather.

So good luck to the soccer Eagles this afternoon.

The basketball Eagles have their MSG matchup with Purdue tonight. I'm taking the Peter Pan, not the Fung Wah, so I might actually make it; I'll be in NYC at around 3:30 and will be sitting up in the nosebleeds.

See you all tonight!

Two 2-0 wins

The men's hockey and soccer teams both won their games tonight - soccer over Colgate 2-0 in the NCAA men's soccer tournament, and hockey over UMass 2-0 in a lazy affair at Conte Forum.

Shawn Chin and Edvin Worley tallied the goals for the soccer team, which advances to the second round of the NCAA tournament on Tuesday night, when they will travel to Hanover, NH to take on Dartmouth for the right to make it to the Sweet 16.

The BC-UMass game was, quite frankly, a very boring affair. Cam Atkinson and Paul Carey scored while Muse posted a 27-save shutout. Atkinson's goal came on a sweet cross-ice pass from Barry Almedia, while Carey scrapped for his during a late BC 5-on-3.

The story of the game was Joe Whitney starting at defense in place of the scratched Anthony Aiello. York did not disturb the offensive combinations, which were really clicking last week - but he shook up the defensive pairings which obviously struggled last week. So far, so good. Whitney has a history playing the point on the power play - we'll see if those skills carry over into 5-on-5 play.

Elsewhere in Hockey East, Northeastern downed UNH 3-2 and Vermont came back to beat BU  4-3 at Agganis Arena. Maine beat Merrimack in the Toilet Bowl, while UMass-Lowell crushed Providence 6-1.

BC finishes off the home-and-home against UMass in Amherst tomorrow night.

Temporary Hockey East power rankings-

MEN: BU BC NU UML UVM UNH UMA UME MC PC

WOMEN: UNH BC BU NU PC UC UME UVM

Men's Soccer hosting first round of NCAAs; MBB crushes Loyola

BC men's soccer will host the first round of the NCAA men's soccer tournament on Friday night, playing Colgate at 7 PM in Newton. (Same time as the hockey game... grr.) A victory there would earn them a date at Dartmouth next Tuesday night, a road trip that I'd probably make. Go Eagles!

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The men's basketball team crushed hapless Loyola tonight, 90-57. Joe Trapani impressed again with 20 points while Tyrese Rice scored 16 in his first game back from suspension. BC plays St. John's tomorrow night with a trip to Madison Square Garden on the line.

Women's soccer gametime announced, conference honors for BC athletes, and new hockey polls

-BC women's soccer will take on Florida State on Saturday at 2 PM in Tallahassee in the NCAA Sweet 16. I re-iterate: please wear black jerseys, FSU.

-The men's soccer team finds out its fate tonight when the NCAA D-1 tournament field is announced at 6 PM on ESPNews. BC is on the bubble to be one of the four teams seeded in its bracket; if they do get a 4 seed, they have a good chance of hosting the first two rounds in Newton this weekend.

-Marcellus Bowman was named ACC defensive back of the week after his pick-6 on Saturday night at FSU. Get on the Brock Bradford for Hobey bandwagon - his 5 goals and assists this weekend earned him men's Hockey East player of the week honors. Kelli Stack joined in the fun, earning women's Hockey East player of the week with 3 goals this weekend.

-The new NCAA hockey rankings are out. In men's hockey, BC moves up a place to #4 thanks to Denver's big drop (4th to 10th). Minnesota unsurprisingly moves into the #1 spot. Air Force remains overlooked at #12 although one voter gave them a first place vote; UMass-Lowell remains inexplicably outside of the top 20 .

-In the women's hockey poll, BC drops to #8 after a rough loss to Maine. Wisconsin and Minnesota remain #1 and #2. BU earns its highest ranking ever at #5.

-Boston College has earned an at-large bid to the NCAA women's cross-country tournament.

The magic number is 5 for BC women's soccer...

Big night in BC sports - 5 teams, 3 wins. I was lucky enough to see all 3 of the wins.

Women's Soccer: BC 3, CCSU 0

The women's soccer team is now 5 wins from the national championship after dispatching Central Connecticut State, 3-o, in front of a pretty solid crowd for a 4 PM start in Newton. Caitlin Hiler, Brooke Knowlton, and Stephanie Wirth scored for BC, who outshot CCSU 17-5. BC now faces Northeastern on Sunday after NU downed Harvard on penalty kicks.

Amy Caldwell, as usual, stood out from the pack. She set up BC's first goal by getting fouled in the box; Hiler scored on the ensuing penalty kick. Then, she made a wonderful play on BC's second goal, dashing through the CCSU defense and cutting toward the end line before sliding a great pass to Knowlton who blasted home an easy goal.

Men's Basketball: BC 80, CCSU 65

When I got to the men's basketball game it was 12-8 Central Connecticut, and I was pretty worried right off the bat; it stayed competitive 'til the half, but BC took control in the 2nd and cruised to an 80-65 win. Rakim Sanders and Joe Trapani became the Best BC Players Who Haven't Been Suspended; both played fine games. 

Women's Basketball: BC 99, St. Francis 68

The women's basketball game was a fun start-to-finish romp as BC crushed St. Francis 99-68. Carolyn Swords is completely unstoppable down low. Her 18 points stood out, although her fouling out with around six minuteeft was one of the few disappointing moments in the game.

The best thing about the game was that everyone got involved - aside from Swords, nobody really stood above the rest [har har, it's a pun, get it...?]. 

Murphy had 14 points, but to me the story of the game was Corey Rusin, who scored a career high 13 points and played an outstanding all-around game. She knocked down a three, made a nice move on a layup, and scored a few buckets after cleaning up on the glass. 

She also provided what is sure to be THE highlight of the season late in the second half (if anyone from BC athletics with access to the video is reading, I will pay you for a copy). She recorded an absolute mammoth block of an SFU shot, a block that Sean Williams would be proud of - out of nowhere. Lauren Whitehurst was about as excited as I've ever seen anyone after the play, practically picking up Rusin in excitement. We in the student section + the pep band were suitably awed. Coach Crawley obviously trusts Rusin to be a starter on this team and she has rewarded the trust with two excellent performances thus far. Nice.

Sylvia Crawley's whole deal is about bringing a new, up-tempo offense to BC and having the team work together as a unit. Check, check. I'm pretty sure the BC offense, led by point guard Brittany Johnson, recorded more fast break points in the first ten minutes of the game than we saw all of last season combined. BC also chalked up 22 assists and shot 56.2% from the floor. 

I was initially skeptical when I heard Crawley wanted to go to an 'up-tempo' style; I was not/am not sure BC has the personnel. But I do know that BC's going to have to create more possessions and score more points if they are going to have a chance to beat the Dukes and Marylands of the world. St. Francis is neither, but it was as nice a start to the season as we could have possibly hoped for.

Men's Soccer: Maryland 1, BC 0

Men's Hockey: BC 5, Merrimack 5 (OT)

The news from out of town was not so good: BC men's soccer lost 1-0 to Maryland in the ACC soccer semi-finals on a pretty sad own-goal late in the game, and the men's hockey team continued to struggle, tying Merrimack 5-5 after holding a 5-3 lead through two periods. Brock Bradford scored a hat trick for BC.

Tomorrow's UNH game becomes very important now, methinks; a loss tomorrow and we can call this a bona-fide slump.

The aforementioned Wildcats were embarrassed by UMass-Lowell tonight, 8-3, while BU's reign at #1 could be a short one after a 4-1 loss to UMass. Denver and Colorado College both lost, but Minnesota could be poised for a move into the top slot if they earn at least 3 points at home this weekend against Michigan Tech.

With BC struggling, and BU, UNH, CC and DU all losing, the door is open for #7 Northeastern to make a power-move into the top 5 with a victory over BU at Agganis Sunday night, as NU beat Vermont 5-3 tonight. Well done.

BC 1, Clemson 0

At the 104:02 mark in double overtime, Boston College's Mor Avi Hanan hit a beautiful dipping free kick from just outside the box, near the end line, that dropped into the goal and gave BC a 1-0 win over Clemson in the quarterfinals of the ACC men's soccer tournament.

It was a fantastic game, with both teams coming close to scoring on numerous occasions.  BC generally carried play, outshooting the Tigers 19-7 and controlling the ball for most of regulation, but Clemson dominated the first overtime period, including having one shot ring off the crossbar.

#3 seed BC moves on to face #2 seed Maryland in Friday's ACC semifinal.

Friday is shaping up to be an epic day in BC sports:

-4 PM: women's soccer vs. CCSU, NCAA tournament round of 64

-5:30 PM: men's soccer vs. Maryland, ACC tournament semifinal

-6:00 PM: men's basketball vs. CCSU

-7:00 PM: men's hockey @ Merrimack

-8:30 PM: women's basketball vs. St. Francis (PA)

Friday roundup

Men's Soccer:

BC 2, Clemson 0

BC picks up a nice win on senior night.  Still, the Eagles are mired in 6th in the ACC and will need to have a nice, strong finish in order to solidify a spot in the NCAAs. They have one regular season game left, next Friday against V. Tech.

Men's Hockey

BC 4, Merrimack 3 (OT)

Umm... wtf? Props to Merrimack for taking us to overtime, I guess, but thank God the Eagles pulled it out in the end. Brock Bradford potted the winner - his sixth goal of the year. His nine points put him second in Hockey East, behind only Brian Gibbons.

Colorado College 2, Denver 2 (OT)

Why are they playing such a major rivalry series so early in the season? CC jumped out to a 2-0 lead five minutes into the second period, but Rhett Rakshani and Luke Salazar (hooray, he's on my fantasy team) scored a goal each for the homestanding Pioneers to earn the tie. Richard Bachman made 44 saves to keep his team in the game.

New Hampshire 4, Northeastern 2

There goes Northeastern's perfect start to the season. UNH carried play on home ice, outshooting NU 37-29, but the couldn't shake the Huskies until 17:05 in the 3rd, when Phil DiSemone scored to put UNH on top 3-2. Mike Sislo added an empty-netter.

Notre Dame 3, Northern Michigan 2

Notre Dame cashes in three times in ten power play attempts to get a big CCHA win.

Alaska 2, Miami 1

My irrational dislike for Miami (OH) made me very pleased to see this result. Dion Knelsen scored a pair for UA (nee Fairbanks).

Massachusetts 9, Providence 4

Providence sucks.

Minnesota 3, Minnesota State 3 (ot)

These two teams will go at it again tonight in the inaugural "State of Hockey Showcase" at the XCel Center in St. Paul. Jordan Schroeder assisted on all 3 Gopher goals, and the red hot Ryan Stoa scored a go-ahead goal with 12 minutes to go. Cameron Cooper equalized less than two minutes later, and the teams remained deadlocked.

North Dakota 3, Wisconsin 2

North Dakota roars back with two goals in the third to beat hapless Wisconsin.

Women's Hockey

Boston College 4, Vermont 1

Shea (x2), Taverna, and Welch score the goals for the #4 Eagles, who take on NU today at 2.

Minnesota 2, St. Cloud State 1

The Gophers are hoping for a Wisco trip-up this weekend to take over the #1 spot. Gigi Marvin scores the game winner for Minnesota.

Wisconsin 2, Minnesota-Duluth 1

No trip-up from the perfect Badgers yet. Erika Lawler and Brooke Ammerman score unanswered goals in the second to knock off the defending champion Bulldogs.

Colgate 4, Mercyhurst 3

But I am soooo wrong when I call Mercyhurst overrated.

Syracuse 10, Sacred Heart 0

This score is only important for one reason: Maine LOST to Sacred Heart.

Wow

Men's soccer lost to Holy Cross, 1-0.

Remember when BC was pre-season #2?

Good news

Per Saturday's Raycom football broadcast, ACC Select will provide free streaming coverage of the ACC field hockey & soccer tournaments.

The field hockey team's Senior Day is on Saturday afternoon against Wake Forest. The #20 men's soccer team takes on Holy Cross tomorrow and Clemson on Friday night in their final two home games. And the #15 women's team [they will probably move up a few spots in today's poll after a 2-0 week] will conclude their home slate on Sunday afternoon against Clemson.

Stop the presses: Men's soccer wins a game

As you can see by the headlines in the blogroll I added on the right-hand side of the page, the men's soccer team beat Yale last night, 2-1 in New Haven. The Eagles are now 6-4-2 with 5 games left in the regular season, and are going to have to go on a pretty impressive run if they are to even come close to living up to their preseason expectations.

Fri 10/17 vs. Virginia

Sat 10/25 @ Wake Forest

Tue 10/28 vs. Holy Cross

Fri 10/31 vs. Clemson

Fri 11/7 @ Virginia Tech

State of BC soccer

Here's a quick overview of the current status of BC's soccer teams as the season reaches the halfway point:

WOMEN

The women are more well-positioned than the men at the moment. At 8-2-2, they sit in 13th place in the latest SoccerTimes.com poll and are on an impressive 2-0-1 streak against ACC foes. They face their toughest test tomorrow night, traveling to Chapel Hill to take on UNC. If they can win that game, we can start talking national championship; otherwise, for now, let's just hope they hang in there against the #3 team in the country.

After that, they head over to Raleigh for a matchup with NC State on Sunday. 

MEN

The men have been snakebit this season and need to start finishing their chances. 

They've fallen out of the top 25 with a 4-4-1 start but have two winnable non-conference games this week - a game at Fairfield tonight and a matchup with Iona on Saturday afternoon. BC has outshot their opponent in almost every game this year, but finishing has been a major problem. If they are to live up to their lofty pre-season expectations, the turnaround is going to have to begin tonight.

What?

Since last I blogged, the men's soccer team followed up a thrilling win over UNC with a head-scratching loss to Brown. Then, the women's soccer team followed up their tie against mediocre Harvard with another 0-0 draw, this one on the road against #10 Duke.

It's hard to get a gauge on either soccer team right now. They're both clearly very good, but time will tell if they are national title contenders. The great thing about the ACC is that you play national title contenders week in and week out, so we should get a clearer view before too long.

The field hockey team has its ACC home opener this evening at 4 against UVA, as BC looks to bounce back from a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Maryland on Saturday. It should be a soggy affair, as it is absolutely pouring right now in Chestnut Hill.

Women's hockey hits the ice for the first time tomorrow, facing Canadian professional team Brampton in an exhibition in Durham, NH. I'm very excited about this team, as they should be unpredictable and very fun to watch. If the freshmen live up to the hype, this could be another Frozen Four team. If not... look out below?

Making a statement

The defending ACC men's soccer champions showed UNC why on Friday night. The Eagles jumped on the #5 Tar Heels early and often in a huge 4-1 win in front of a packed house in Newton. After a slow start to the season, this win shows that the Eagles (3-2-1) are very much a force to be reckoned with this year.

Alejandro Bedoya scored two absolutely beautiful goals, bolstering his status as one of the best goalscorers in the ACC. He broke the ice in the first half with a blast from way outside the box into the top left corner, then extended the lead to 2-0 with a sweet headed goal right in front of the net on a cross from the right hand side.

After BC went up 3-0, they sat back in a shell for about ten minutes, giving UNC their only real period of continued possession; they cashed in with a goal and just barely missed another over the crossbar.  But BC grabbed them by the throat, extended the lead to 4-1, and effectively ended it there.

The women's team tied Harvard 1-1 earlier in the night; I was going to go to both, but I needed a nap. I worked at the dining hall 'til 3 AM last night, had my internship this morning at 7 AM, had class at 1 + 2, the men's soccer game at 7, and a party in about fifteen minutes. Something had to give. No disrespect intended to the women's soccer team, but they were it. I'll be at their next home game against Miami in a few weeks.

Congratulations are in order.

First, to the BC volleyball team for topping Harvard, 3-1, in their home opener tonight at Power Gym. I would have been at the match if I didn't have to work.

Also winning big tonight: the field hockey team, who trounced BU 4-2 in Newton. This continues the ladies' undefeated start to the season [5-0], a record sure to be put to the test on Saturday when BC travels to Maryland to take on the Terps.

Finally, congrats to sports marketing, for putting together an incredibly badass ad for BC hockey season tickets. Matt's beloved BC hockey banner - passed on to me - makes an appearance late in the video.

I'm incredibly excited for this weekend. Friday night's BC-UNC men's soccer game is gigantic - BC's ACC home opener may well be the best home game of the year. Let's hope BC can get on track with a big win over the 'Heels.

Then, of course, there is football... raise your hand if you know what to expect. Didn't think so.

Weekend Predictions:

Friday>
BC women's soccer 3, Harvard 0
BC men's soccer 1, UNC 1

Saturday>
BC football 17, UCF 13
BC field hockey 0, Maryland 2
BC volleyball 3, Northeastern 2
BC volleyball 1, Holy Cross 3
LSU 28, Auburn 21
Wake 24, FSU 14
UNC 21, VTech 17

Sunday>
BC field hockey 3, Towson 1
Patriots 20, Dolphins 10

Maryland 1, BC 0

The BC men's soccer team fell to Maryland tonight, 1-0, in College PArk - a disappointing start to the ACC season. The Eagles are now 2-2-1.

In brighter news, two weeks 'til women's hockey and 27 days 'til men's hockey. :)

Focusing on The Other Football

With the football team off this weekend, my focus turns to BC's soccer teams. I'll be at the women's game vs. Stony Brook tomorrow night at 7. After that, I'll try to catch the end of the BC @ Maryland men's game (start time: 8 PM) on ACC Select.

The Maryland game is an intriguing one - it's BC's first ACC matchup of the year after an up-and-down start to the non-conference slate. Maryland, coming off a 5th place finish in the ACC a year ago, is currently 3-1. BC is 2-1-1 after a tie against St. John's on Sunday.

The women finish the weekend with a Sunday afternoon tilt against Central Connecticut State at 1 PM in Newton.

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Meanwhile, my colleague and confidante Grant Salzano, a native of the New Haven area, will be at tomorrow night's BC @ Yale women's volleyball game and will report back with pictures. Thanks Grant!

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On the gridiron, there are a few interesting games to keep an eye on. The first one took place tonight ,as UNC dropped a bomb on hapless Rutgers, bringing me much delight. The only thing that could make me happier is if UVA somehow gets it together and beats UConn in Storrs on Saturday. You never know...

Maryland hosts a ranked opponent, #23 Cal, Saturday at noon. We'll have to hold our nose and root for TOBy as NC State travels to Clemson, while Georgia Tech heads to Lane Stadium to battle Virginia Tech in a game that will tell us a lot about the status of both teams. If GT entertains any ideas of making a run to Tampa, they need to make a statement in this game.

Toilet Bowl game of the week: Duke vs. Navy!


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Non-sports news: '08 BC grad Mark Desrosiers and his outstanding band, This Blue Heaven (official website), took part in this week's Boston Music Festival and hope to get enough votes to advance to the final performance at City Hall Plaza. Head over to ourstage.com and sign up for an account [it takes five seconds]. Then, go to http://www.ourstage.com/fanclub/thisblueheaven and click 'Become a fan' to vote for them to advance.

Eagles take action... :)

-JG

Photo Gallery: BC men's soccer vs. BU

Good luck to all BC teams competing today! I'll be at the women's soccer game vs. Brown at 5 PM.

Really?

The BC men's soccer team lost to Providence yesterday, 1-0. This is quite a surprise. Hopefully they bounce back this weekend, as they take on Villanova and St. John's at the Adidas-Brown Classic in Providence.

The women's basketball team announced their schedule for 2008-2009.

On tap this weekend:

The men's soccer and women's volleyball teams both will participate in tournaments in Rhode Island this weekend, with the volleyballers in Kingston and the men's soccer team in Providence.

Women's soccer has two home games: Friday night at 5 PM vs. Brown, and Sunday afternoon at 1 vs. Toledo.

Field hockey has a pair of road games - at Quinnipiac Friday at 4, and at Holy Cross Sunday at 12.

Also, there's a football game. :)

A fine start

Tonight's football game didn't have me pounding my chest and belting out "For Boston," but it got the job done. You can never complain when you a) start the season with a win and b) pitch a shutout on defense.

Chris Crane looked to be servicable under center, and he had his moments of excellence. With the exception of one awful forced pass in the red zone that was nearly picked off, Crane made excellent decisions all day. His legs accounted for two of our scores, and he demonstrated some serious arm strength. His accuracy is questionable, but hey - it's game one. In Matt Ryan's first game, BC got thumped by Syracuse in the Worst BC Loss Ever (TM).

Four names that make me smile, which need no further explanation:
-Jeff Smith
-Mark Herzlich
-Ryan Quigley
-Billy Bennett

Seriously, if we can get kicking like that, it will make a huge difference. Our defense was outstanding last year and it had to stop opponents that consistently started at or near the 40 yard line. Giving them an extra 20 yards can only be helpful.

For all of the defense's flaws (missed tackles, a lack of speed, letting the QB get away from near-sacks one too many times), they shut out Kent State and held Eugene Jarvis to a mere 55 yards. Can't complain.

The win capped off an outstanding first week for BC's fall sports teams.

The BC women's soccer team started it off right last Friday night, downing BU 1-0 at Nickerson Field. The men's soccer team equaled their accomplishment, beating the Terriers 2-1 in Newton in my very first attended sporting event of the year.(Photos coming later.) The field hockey team started with a win over UMass, and the women's soccer team went to 2-0 with a win at Oregon State.

Not bad, eh?

On to week two!