Nov. 18, 2007

• 2007 ACC Men's Soccer Championship
• Box Score
• Photo Gallery

CARY, N.C. - With a 2-1 victory over No. 1 Wake Forest Sunday evening, the Boston College Eagles men's soccer team clinched the school's first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title at the SAS Soccer Complex in Cary, N.C. Just two years after going winless in the league in its first ACC campaign, Sunday's win marks an astounding turnaround for Boston College head coach Ed Kelly and the sixth-ranked Eagles.

"We went through a lot to get us where we are now," said Kelly. "The kids have matured and they are working very hard and this has been a really great season so far. It was a great victory for Boston College."

Boston College initially jumped ahead in the game's eighth minute with senior Sherron Manswell's 11th goal of the season, and third of the tournament. Streaking down the middle of the field, Manswell, who was voted tournament MVP for his play this week, controlled a perfectly timed pass from Konicoff and beat the defending goalkeeper with a shot just inside the goal's left post.

Throughout the rest of the half, the defenses would dominate, limiting the opportunities of either offense. At the end of the first 45 minutes, Wake Forest led in the shots department, having fired three shots to the Eagles' two, but was down by a score of 1-0.

Boston College came out firing again to start the second half, and would extend the lead to two less than two minutes into the period, when Konicoff made good on a pass from junior Greg O'Neil for his fourth goal of the season. Assisting on the goal was O'Neil and freshman Karl Reddick.

Down two goals, the Deacons offense began to press the BC defense in the game's final 30 minutes, and would put its first goal on the board at 68:24. After forcing a corner, junior defender Evan Brown fed a cross in front of the goal that was headed past Eagles goalkeeper Chris Brown for sophomore Austin da Luz's second goal of the season.

Over the final 20 minutes of the match, the Deacons would continue to press the BC defense, piling up 12 shots in the second half. The Eagles defense would not wilt, however, and the score would hold at 2-1 as the game's final seconds ticked off the clock.

Wake Forest, now 17-2-2 after its second loss to Boston College this season, now will look ahead to the NCAA tournament, and a chance at redemption.

"I'm very happy the way our team ended the game," said Wake Forest head coach Jay Vidovich. "We just dug ourselves too big of a hole to dig ourselves out against a very organized team. As a coach it's very frustrating."

Leading the Deacons in the game was da Luz, who scored the team's only goal. All-tournament selections Cody Arnoux, Marcus Tracy and Sam Cronin each posted two shots in the match.

All Tournament Team:

Michael Callahan, North Carolina
Chris Tierney, Virginia
Ben Nason, Virginia Tech
Patrick Nyarko, Virginia Tech
Cody Arnoux, Wake Forest
Marcus Tracy, Wake Forest
Brian Edwards, Wake Forest
Sam Cronin, Wake Forest
Chris Brown, Boston College
Paul Gerstenberger, Boston College
Alejandro Bedoya, Boston College
Sherron Manswell, Boston College

Most Valuable Player:
Sherron Manswell, Boston College

For complete results on each ACC Tournament game, 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
"It was a great victory for Boston College. This is our third year in the ACC. The first year we were 0-6-2 with had a lot of freshmen and endured some injuries. So, we went through a lot to get us where we are now. The kids have matured and they are working very hard and this has been a really great season so far. Tonight was a really tough game. Wake Forest is a really good team and they had us going, but we didn't break. We got some great individual performances."

Junior Midfielder Mike Konicoff

On Sherron Manswell's goal:
"I got the ball in the middle from Alejandro Bedoya, had a little bit of time to pick my head up and [Sherron] Manswell made a great run through and I slipped the ball to him and he was able to finish it."

On his game-winning goal:
"Greg O'Neil got the ball outside and was able to get around his man. He slipped it across and I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I had a little bit of time and was able to put it in. It gave us a little bit of relief getting the second goal, but after that they were really coming at us."

Wake Forest

Head Coach Jay Vidovich

"I'm very happy the way our team ended the game. We just dug ourselves too big of a whole to dig ourselves out against a very organized team."

"We were productive in the second half but overall we didn't do a great job of getting behind them. As a coach it's very frustrating."

Sophomore Midfielder Austin da Luz

"When you are down 2-0 the biggest thing is to get that goal that can change your momentum. We got the goal and we changed the momentum but we ran out of time. If we had had a few more minute things might have been different."

"We are going to take it and learn from it but we are far from done this season. We are driving back tonight and tomorrow we get back to work on getting our National Championship."