Sept. 8, 2011

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The No. 8 Boston College men's soccer team hits the road for the 2011 ACC opener as it travels to No. 2 Maryland Friday night for a 7:30 p.m. match at Ludwig Field.

Both Boston College and Maryland have started the season 4-0 heading into Friday's clash. The Eagles are looking for their first win in College Park since 2006.

EAGLES-TERPS FACE OFF IN BATTLE OF UNBEATENS
• The No. 8 Boston College men's soccer team opens up ACC play Friday night at No. 2 Maryland in College Park.
• BC is 2-5-1 against the Terrapins since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2005. Its last win came in 2007 in Newton.
• Last year, the Eagles and Maryland played to a 1-1 draw.

POLL VAULTERS
• Boston College rocketed into the top 10 of three different national polls following its 3-0 record last week and 4-0 start overall.
• The NSCAA gave the Eagles the biggest bump, moving them to No. 8 after having been ranked 16th the week before.
• College Soccer News also ranked BC at No. 8 - up five spots from the No. 13 slot it held - while Soccer America moved BC from No. 18 to No. 14.
• Top Drawer Soccer has ranked the Eagles highest at No. 7, improving four spots from the week prior.

LAST TIME OUT
• Senior Amit Aburmad was a part of both Boston College goals with a goal and an assist to lead the Eagles to a 2-0 win at No. 22 Dartmouth Sunday afternoon.
• Aburmad has recorded three goals and two assists in the last two matches.
• Junior Stefan Carter notched the other goal for the Eagles in the 63rd minute. Aburmad and senior Patrick Chin assisted on his score.
• Juniors Kyle Bekker and Charlie Rugg assisted on Aburmad's goal in the 22nd minute of the first half.
• Junior keeper Justin Luthy had four saves for the second match in a row and recorded his first clean sheet of the season.

LAST TIME vs. MARYLAND
• Conor Fitzpatrick connected on a penalty kick in the 19th minute and Maryland's Billy Cortes scored the equalizer in the 60th minute as the fifth-ranked Eagles and the ninth-ranked Terrapins played to a 1-1 draw in the ACC opener before a capacity crowd of 2,000 fans at the Newton Campus Field on September 10, 2010.
• Fitzpatrick lifted the host Eagles to an early one-goal lead following a Maryland hand ball in the 18-yard box at 18:30.
• Cortes netted the tying score with a header off a Doug Rodkey cross at 59:47, before both teams enjoyed numerous scoring opportunities with the game tied at 1-1 in regulation and overtime.

LOOKING IN THE MIRROR
• Boston College and Maryland have very similar numbers entering the battle between two top 10 programs.
• Both teams enter the game at 4-0-0 with two shutouts.
• Each side has scored 12 goals. BC has allowed three scores while Maryland only two.
• Most of the scoring has come from three players on both sides. The Eagles are led by senior Amit Aburmad (4 goals, 3 assists, 11 points) and juniors Kyle Bekker (3, 2, 8) and Charlie Rugg (3, 2, 8).
• The Terrapins' leaders are John Stertzer (3, 3, 9), Casey Townsend (4, 0, 8) and Patrick Mullins (3, 1, 7).

HOT START
• Boston College has started out the season 4-0-0 for just the second time in program history. It also did it in 2004 - its last year playing in the Big East.
• BC beat Brown, Cal State Northridge, Syracuse and Boston University that season. The win against the Orange was the only one on the road.
• The Eagles have never gone undefeated in the first five games of a season.

TEAM STATS
• The Boston College attack has been firing on all cylinders so far.
• The Eagles lead the Atlantic Coast Conference in goals (12) and points (36) and are second in assists (12) and assists per game (3.00).
• On the other side of the pitch, the maroon and white ranks second in goals allowed (3), saves (14) and shutouts (2) and third goals against average (0.75).

ABURMAD-NESS
• Senior Amit Aburmad has gotten off to a torrid start this season. He has four goals and three assists in the first four contests.
• Aburmad leads the ACC in points (11), points per game (3.75) and assists, is second in goals and goals per game (1.00) and third in assists per game (0.75).
• He has scored four times on just eight shots and has five shots on goal.
• In the last two matches, Aburmad has three goals and two assists.
• He scored twice and assisted on another goal - all in the second half - in a 5-0 win against Quinnipiac. Then he had a goal and an assist at No. 22 Dartmouth on September 4.

LUTHY ANCHORS THE DEFENSE
• Junior Justin Luthy has been a mainstay in goal since his arrival on campus three years ago.
• He has started all 45 matches in goal the last three seasons and was an All-ACC second-team and Freshman Team honoree in 2009.
• Through four games this season, he has allowed just three goals in 353 minutes of action. He was replaced with seven minutes to go in a 5-0 win against Quinnipiac.
• The Dublin, Ohio product has a 0.76 goals against average and has been credited with 14 saves - an .824 save percentage.
• He has helped pitch two consecutive shutouts entering this weekend.
• Luthy ranks second in the ACC in saves and save percentage and third in goals against average.

BEND IT LIKE BEKKER
• Junior Kyle Bekker had to sit out the season opener due to a red card he received in the NCAA Tournament game at Brown last season, but he has made an impact since.
• Bekker has recorded a point in each of the last three outings.
• In his first game of the season against Fairfield, the Oakville, Ontario product provided both goals in a 2-1 triumph.
• His first goal came in the 68th minute to break a scoreless tie and his other was on a free kick from 19 yards out in the 87th minute to win the game.
• In the 5-0 win vs. Quinnipiac, he tallied a goal and an assist and then he also provided a helper last Sunday at No. 22 Dartmouth.
• Bekker has been an offensive force and leads the ACC in shots per game (5.33) while also ranking second in total shots (16).
• He ranks second in the conference in points per game (2.67) behind Aburmad, second in goals per game (1.00) and game-winning goals (2), fourth in points (8) and fifth in goals (3), assists (2) and assists per game (0.67).

RUGG BURN
• Junior Charlie Rugg has also done his part being a spark for the attack.
• The forward has put up the same numbers as classmate Kyle Bekker with three goals and two assists.
• Rugg has tallied a point in all four matches to date.
• He scored twice in a 3-2 season-opening win against George Mason and earned ACC Player of the Week honors for his performance.
• He recorded an assist against Fairfield and then found the back of the net again vs. Quinnipiac.
• Rugg added another assist in the 2-0 win at No. 22 Dartmouth.

RUGG NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Junior Charlie Rugg was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Soccer Player of the Week, the first such honor given out this year.
• Rugg paced the Boston College offense with a pair of goals in a 3-2 win against George Mason August 26.
• His first score came in the 44th minute to give the Eagles a 2-0 edge.
• After Mason made it a 2-1 game with a tally in the 79th minute, Rugg beat a couple of defenders by himself in the left side of the box and then beat the keeper for the game-winning goal in the 89th minute.
• It was the third time in his career that he scored a pair of goals in a match, and the first since 2009.
• In addition to the conference honor, Rugg was also recognized by regional and national outlets. College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer both named him to their respective National Teams of the Week.
• He was also named the SoccerSavings.com/New England Soccer News College Player of the Week.

GOALS COME IN PAIRS
• Goal scoring came in bunches in the first two matches of the season.
• In the season opener against George Mason, junior Charlie Rugg recorded two goals to lead the Eagles to a 3-2 victory.
• Rugg had a goal in each half, including what proved to be the game-winner in the 89th minute.
• It was the third time in his career that he scored twice, the last coming in 2009.
• In the next contest against Fairfield, junior Kyle Bekker made his first appearance of the season with a bang.
• He scored both BC goals in a 2-1 win against Fairfield.
• It was the first multi-goal game of Bekker's career, who peppered the net with a game-high eight shots.
• His first goal came in the 68th minute to break a scoreless tie and his other was on a free kick from 19 yards out in the 87th minute to win the game.

HURRICANE IRENE
• Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc up and down the east coast on the first weekend of the season.
• The storm forced BC to postpone its match against Fairfield on Sunday, August 28.
• The game was played the next day and the Eagles won, 2-1.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
• Boston College scored five goals in a 5-0 shutout victory against Quinnipiac September 1.
• Senior Amit Aburmad scored two second half goals and assisted on another to lead the squad.
• It was the most goals scored by the Eagles since an 8-0 win against Maine on September 18, 2007.
• Aburmad established a career high with five points in the match. It was also the first time he scored two goals in his career.
• Junior Kyle Bekker recorded a goal and an assist.
• Junior Charlie Rugg scored a goal while freshman Diego Medina-Mendez found the back of the net for the first time in his BC career.
• Junior Stefan Carter and sophomore Ryan Dunn were both credited with assists. It was the first of Carter's career.

TOUGH AT HOME
• BC has been hard to beat at the Newton Campus Field over the last two seasons.
• The Eagles went 6-0-3 at home in 2010 and are off to a 3-0-0 start this year.
• Boston College is 13-0-3 in its last 16 regular season home games dating back to 2009 and is 18-4-3 overall in Newton since 2009.
• BC's last home loss came at the hands of Drake on November, 29, 2009 in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles lost 6-4 that day.