Leo Guarino stepped up to the penalty spot with a chance to give Boston College men’s soccer the lead over Suffolk on Monday night. Rams (6–5–3, 3–0–1 Conference of New England) goalkeeper Mateu Farre-Torres stared back at him as Guarino picked his spot and fired the ball into the bottom-right corner giving the Eagles (4–4–5, 0–4–2 Atlantic Coast) a 2–1 lead on the way to a 5–1 victory.
BC came out firing to start the game and scored its first goal inside two minutes. The play started with a long throw-in from Marc Boye that Ask Ekeland flicked to Danny Istambouli, who hit it first time into the back of the net.
Despite going down early and coming into the game as heavy underdogs due to their place in Division III, the Rams stayed resilient and managed to keep the Eagles off the score sheet for just long enough to find their equalizer.
Yet again, the goal started with a long throw-in, but this time coming from Suffolk’s Tommy Handelsman. Boye attempted to clear the ball after the throw launched it into BC’s box, but the ball was deflected and landed at the feet of Edward Abouzeid, who took a right-footed shot that put the Rams on the board.
Suffolk went on to keep the Eagles scoreless for the game’s next 18 minutes despite six BC shots, but a Guarino penalty at the 36:18 mark put the Rams behind and began a streak of four unanswered goals for the Eagles.
BC’s next goal came on the brink of halftime as Arsen Melkumyan was fouled in the Suffolk box, resulting in another penalty kick for the Eagles. This time, Ekeland stepped up to take the spot kick, and although Farre-Torres guessed the right way, Ekeland’s shot nestled itself in the back of the net.
Heading into halftime up 3–1 the Eagles looked like the better team in every facet of the game. They led the Rams 17–1 on shots, 3–0 on corners, and had a two-goal lead to show for it.
With the second half underway, BC looked to continue its dominance and scored its fourth goal of the game in the 62nd minute thanks to sophomore Xavier O’Neil. After a loose ball rolled into his path, O’Neil stepped up and curled a right-footed shot into the top-right corner of the net for his first goal of the season.
O’Neil was one of four Eagles to net their first goal of the season in the match. The other players who scored their first goal were Istambouli, Guarino, and Bryan Toro, who scored BC’s fifth and final goal at the 87:07 mark.
Off a set piece, Guarino laid the ball off to Toro, who launched a left-footed missile into the back of the net to cap off a 5–1 BC victory.
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