Nov. 14, 2007

• 2007 ACC Men's Soccer Championship
• Box Score
• Photo Gallery
• Webcast Archived on ACC Select

CARY, N.C. - The sixth-ranked Boston College Eagles defeated Virginia 1-0 Wednesday in quarterfinal action of the 2007 ACC Men's Soccer Championship at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. Boston College, seeded first in this year's tournament, will face Virginia Tech at 5:30 p.m. on Friday evening for the right to compete in this year's ACC title game on Sunday.

"I think we are playing very well defensively," said Boston College head coach Ed Kelly. "Virginia is a very good team, so we knew that it was going to be a tough one."

In Wednesday's matchup, which pitted the ACC's one and eight seeds, offense was at a premium for both squads. In the first half, Boston College posted four shots to the Cavaliers' two, including two each by juniors Reuben Ayarna and Mike Konicoff. Both teams were unable, however, to convert on any scoring chances, and the game's first stanza ended in a 0-0 tie.

In the second half, the Eagles, who defeated the Cavaliers 2-1 in the two teams' only regular season matchup in Charlottesville, Va., came out very aggressively, and began to wear down the Virginia defense.

On one of five corners forced in the half, the Eagles scored the game's only goal when junior midfielder Jamie Melas punched in a rebound of a Sherron Manswell shot for the first goal of his career in the 64th minute.

Boston College would stave off several Virginia scoring chances over the game's final 25 minutes, including one Cavalier shot that rolled just feet wide of an open goal with less than 10 minutes remaining, to seal the win.

For Boston College, Friday's appearance in the semifinals will be the school's first-ever in the ACC tournament. The matchup between the BC and Virginia Tech will be the squad's second challenge this season. On Nov. 4, Boston College defeated the Hokies, ranked No. 4 in the nation at the time, 3-1 in home game at Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Friday's ACC Championship semifinals will take place at 5:30 and 8:00 p.m. The championship game will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 18. All games are available online through ACCSelect.com, while the championship game will be nationally-televised on Fox Sports Net. The ACC men's soccer awards ceremony will be immediately following the title game.

For complete results, please visit TheACC.com and make sure to check out the 2007 ACC Men's Soccer Championship page.

Quotes

Boston College

Head coach Ed Kelly:
"We're playing pretty well. I think we are playing very well defensively. I'd like to see us get our rhythm going in the passing game more as we didn't get a lot going today because they stopped us pretty well. Virginia is a very good team, so we knew that it was going to be a tough one and tournament games are hard to prepare for."

Alejandro Bedoya:
"In the first half, I don't think we played so well. In the second half, we played to feet a little better, rather than sending long balls in the air to [Sherron] Manswell and we were fortunate to get a goal off a set corner piece. So, overall I think we played well."

Virginia

Virginia Head Coach George Gelnovatch:

On today's game vs. BC:
"First of all, BC is a very good team. I think they're actually better than when we played them the last time. From our end, I thought we played well enough to limit them, but between having played yesterday, and having a number of injuries, just didn't have a lot of firepower. We could keep (possession) at times and did a really good job of containing them. We just couldn't generate a whole lot of dangerous opportunities, due to fatigue and injuries. Our two forwards, one is out for the year and one is out for the game today, so we'll just get rested and healed for the NCAA Tournament, and we'll go from there."