BOX SCORE
NEWTON, Mass. – Two late goals by Boston College’s Simon Enstrom propelled the Eagles past the Clemson men’s soccer team, 3-2, on Friday night at Newton Campus Fields. With the loss in the opening match of ACC play, Clemson slid to 3-2-0 overall and 0-1-0 in the ACC, while Boston College moved to 2-0-2 overall and 1-0-0 in conference play.
The Eagles took the initial lead in the 20th minute on Callum Johnson’s first goal of the season, a shot from the left post off a feed from Enstrom. The Tigers had a few opportunities to tie late in the half, with one coming in the 41st minute, when Chris Matlashewski crossed the ball in to Grayson Barber at the left post, but Eagle keeper Antonio Chavez Borrelli was there to make the save. Clemson also got a good look three minutes later on a Sindri Björnsson header from close range that went just over the crossbar.
After going into halftime facing the one-goal deficit, the Tigers tied it up in the 59th minute on a penalty kick goal scored by Malick Mbaye, good for his first score of the season. Clemson then broke through for a lead in the 65th minute when Björnsson directed the Tigers’ ninth corner kick of the night into the box and found Patrick Bunk-Andersen, who drilled a shot into the upper right corner for yet another first goal of the year.
However, the Eagles were not done, as Boston College netted the equalizer in the 71st minute when Enstrom scored on a header following the Eagles’ first corner kick of the matchup. Enstrom went on to net the game-winner in the 89th minute, marking his second goal of the evening and fifth of the season.
“This was a very disappointing loss,” said head coach Mike Noonan. “We did not compete well enough in the first half, but our response in the second was outstanding, as we took the lead. In the final analysis, Boston College deserves credit for converting on three errors that we need to learn from. I have an incredible amount of belief in our team that they will do just that. We will regroup and get ready for Sunday.”
The Tigers remain in Massachusetts for their next match, a Sunday matinee meeting with the UMass Minutemen. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. at Rudd Field.
