Nov. 16, 2007

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

CARY, N.C. - Boston College, the league's top-seed, advanced to the title game of the 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Soccer Tournament with a 3-1 defeat of No. 4 seed Virginia Tech Friday night at the SAS Soccer Complex in Cary, N.C. The Eagles, who were paced by junior Paul Gerstenberger in the matchup, will face either Wake Forest or North Carolina in Sunday's championship game.

"We lost our way a little bit as far as the passing game goes, but [Gerstenberger] was fantastic," said Boston College head coach Ed Kelly. "We just didn't quit. We're a strong unit together and did really well."

In Friday night's contest, the Hokies were the aggressor in the game's early stages, and jumped ahead in the 26th minute with a goal by sophomore midfielder Charles Campbell. Campbell's second goal of the season, a low-driven shot to the goal's right corner, was assisted by senior Scott Spangler and junior Alexander Baden.

Boston College would jump back in the game just three minutes later on a score by Gerstenberger. After breaking away from the defense and streaking down the field's left side, a pass by Gerstenberger deflected off a Hokie defender and by the Virginia Tech goalkeeper for the Schenectady, N.Y. native's fourth goal of the season.

The Eagles would take their first lead later in the half with a header by senior Sherron Manswell at 31:46. Manswell's goal was his ninth of the season and was assisted by Gerstenberger and freshman Karl Reddick.

After the game's first 45 minutes, Boston College led 2-1 and had recorded seven shots to the Hokies' four.

In the second half, Boston College continued to press the Hokie defense, and would score its third goal of the night in the game's 71st minute. After a corner kick to the goal's near post, the Eagles' Manswell footed the ball far post for his tenth goal of the season, and second of the night.

Boston College, now 14-4-1 in 2007, will await the winner of Friday's second semifinal between No. 2 seed Wake Forest and sixth-seeded North Carolina. During the regular season, the Eagles defeated the Tar Heels 2-1 in overtime and downed the top-ranked Demon Deacons 1-0 in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Sunday's championship game will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally 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 were down 1-0 and came back very strong. We lost our way a little bit as far as the passing game goes, but our left fullback [Paul Gerstenberger] was fantastic. As a left fullback, he was the best player on the field. He scored a goal and got an assist and just missed another. We just didn't quit. We're a strong unit together and did really well.

Boston College junior midfielder Mike Konicoff
I was pleased with our whole mentality to come back from being down 1-0 to tie it up a few minutes after and then get the lead right away. In the second half, I thought we maintained the lead really well and we were able to get a third goal to take some pressure off us and were able to hold Virginia Tech in the game's final minutes.

Virginia Tech sophomore midfielder Charlie Campbell:

"[Scoring a goal] was exciting, but I wish we could have earned the win. It was a good experience, but it would have been much better if we would have won. I just wish my goal would have come later in the game."

"After the goal, I started to pick up my play a little bit. I was disappointed with how they came back with two goals. We just kept on fighting in the second half, so we got a lot more chances. But when BC got the third goal that kind of put the match out of reach for us."

Virginia Tech head coach Oliver Weiss:

"[Alexander Baden and Scott Spangler] launched a cross to [Charlie] Campbell, and [Campbell] slotted over to get the chance. It was a great goal. After that, something went wrong and we have to hold people responsible. We didn't mark up. We didn't attack."

"Those are the things you have to do to win a championship. It's very disappointing. The better team won tonight. They took their chances, and that is that." "[Boston College] scored some very good goals. They got very good rolls, especially with the own goal, but the build up was awesome. We tried to put some offense together [in the second half], but they broke our backs. We had a chance early in the half, but we shot too early. We just were not [playing with enough] quality to win the game tonight. If you want to win against top-ranked teams, then you have to play well and we did not do that tonight."