Leading up to its match with American International, a total of 272 minutes and 15 seconds of play had passed without Boston College men’s soccer scoring a goal.
On Tuesday evening, it took 44 seconds to stop that clock.
After Ask Ekeland’s opening goal, it seemed like the Eagles had another Dean College game on its hands.
Although the Eagles did not approach 14 goals, those initial 44 seconds set BC (6–6–1, 1–4–1 Atlantic Coast) up for a dominant 5–0 non-conference victory over AIC (1–5–4, 0–3–1 NE10).
“Our offense has looked better,” BC head coach Bob Thompson said. “Hopefully the offense these last couple games will step up a little bit.”
The sequence BC put together for its first-minute goal made it seem like it’s been an offensive powerhouse all season. Nikolai Rojel perfectly redirected a ball through the middle to Erick Almendares, who crossed it to Ekeland for the easy finish.
It was BC’s first opening-half goal in a month, as the last came when the Eagles scored 38:30 into their game versus then-No. 14 Virginia Tech.
Neither team scored for the rest of the first half. BC remained relentless, though, leading in shots 10–2 after 45 minutes.
AIC saw its one chance slip away faster than it appeared. Pietro Botasso had a lane on the left side and struck one into BC goalkeeper Patrick Donovan’s lap—a better-placed shot could’ve tied the game and been a momentum-shifter.
Instead, BC went into intermission with the lead and got comfortable by quickly extending it coming out of the gate.
“The way their formation was set up, there was space for us to play into the nine,” Thompson said.
Rojel found himself in the right place at the right time as Aidan Farwell’s corner kick ended up right next to the post, which he finished off with a header for a 2–0 BC lead at 52:11.
Exactly eight minutes later, Dylan Mafong notched his second goal of the season with a bending shot that was just out of reach for Yellow Jackets goaltender Javier Sola Martinez. Rojel added another two minutes later on his second header of the night, this time finding top left for a 4–0 lead.
The UCLA transfer from Denmark entered Tuesday with zero points. His five points versus AIC were the most by an Eagle all season.
“He was ideal for this game,” Thompson said. “He’s been playing better and better as the year goes, so he deserved it.”
Donovan’s second start of the season wasn’t very exciting, similar to his other start versus Dean. Nonetheless, the senior goalkeeper posted his second shutout of the season behind one save.
“I thought he managed the game really well,” Thompson said. “It’s tough not getting as much time on the field, but Patrick’s a great goalkeeper.”
Johannes Hanken Tjostheim got in on the scoring with 6:34 left in the game. Sitting at the top of the box, he finished off an assist from Patrick Reddy and struck bottom right for the 5–0 lead.
“A couple of our talented goalscorers putting one in is always nice,” Thompson said.
