Brown 1, #5 BC 0 (OT)

It seems you don’t want to be ranked #5 in the country when you play Brown. For the second time this season, Brown knocked off the #5 ranked team, beating Boston College on Wednesday night at Stevenson Field. Boston College entered the match with a 7-1-1 record, 4-0-0 in the ACC, with recent victories over Maryland, Duke, and North Carolina. Needless to say, it was a victory that should bring even more respect to Brown and the Ivy League. Or, as Coach Noonan put it, “it should make us stop picking up other conferences’ poop.” That’s verbatim.

Senior Laurent Manuel was the hero of the game, notching his first career goal with a superb strike from 30 yards. Freshman Paul Grandstrand earned the shutout in goal, his third of the season.

Now, here is your post-game report:

1st minute – Brown comes out looking a bit tentative, playing most of their passes backward and sitting deep in their own end.

15th minute – Brown emerges from its shell and applies steady pressure to the BC backline.

16th minute –Darren Howerton ’09 whips in a corner and Rhett Bernstein ’09 heads it just over the bar. Bernstein, who scored seven goals on headers last season, continues to be just off the mark this year.

33rd minute – Columbia transfer Will Lee ’09 plays a delicate ball from central midfield to Jon Okafor ’11. The uncatchable Okafor pulls away from his defender and moves toward goal on a breakaway, but his blast from fifteen yards is saved by BC’s monstrous goalkeeper.

Halftime – Coach Noonan points out that the boys have been in this position before—tied at halftime against a highly ranked team, having outplayed them for the first 45 minutes.

46th minute – Off the kickoff, BC looks hungry. They pick off an errant pass and immediately create a good scoring chance. Don’t play square balls off the kickoff, boys!

53rd minute – A BC player clears the ball high and into the stands. A cheer swells up from the targeted section as the ball approaches. Perhaps intending to prove that he is in fact the aerially dominant Rhett Bernstein’s father, or perhaps to show his son proper technique (in an attempt to jumpstart his son’s scoring streak), Rhett Bernstein’s father rises to his feet, removes his hat and, with perfect form, heads the ball back onto the field. The crowd erupts in joyful praise. He acknowledges his cheers with a brief wave of the hat to fans on both sides, then puts it on and takes a seat.


The guy who gave Rhett his aerial dominance.

58th minute – Freshman David Walls, whose play as a right back has been simply exemplary all season, goes in on a hard slide tackle and takes a finger to the eye. He jogs off the field, saying he has lost a contact lens. Athletic trainer Matt Culp is unable to locate the lens anywhere in Walls’ eye, and asks if he has a spare. He says no. Freshman Andy D’Avanzo asks Walls what his prescription is, but Walls doesn’t appear to have any idea. “Is it by any chance negative 1.75?” D’Avanzo inquires. “Yeah, that’s it!” Walls exclaims. Without hesitating, D’Avanzo takes out his lens and hands it to Walls, who gives it a quick saline bath and pops it in. Good as new, he steps back onto the field. D’Avanzo watches the rest of the match with his right hand over his right eye.

67th minute – One of BC’s dangerous forwards makes a slashing run, beating two Brown defenders before blasting a ball across the face of goal. It somehow manages to elude all defenders and attackers, and rolls just wide at the far post.

75th minute – A BC free kick takes an unfortunate deflection and falls directly to a BC player twelve yards from goal. With plenty of time, he misfires and sends the ball wide of goal.

82nd minute – Kevin Davies dipsy doodles up the right sideline, cutting inside and outside and inside, then serves a low cross toward goal. It caroms off a BC defender and falls directly to Nick Elenz-Martin. N-E-M’s first time effort flies just wide of goal.

90th minute – The final whistle blows. Overtime again!

OT – David Walls plays an intelligent ball into the feet of forward Dylan Sheehan. Sheehan posts up his defender Shaq-style and holds it for a second or two. He then lays it back to Laurent Manuel, who decides to have a very optimistic attempt from 30 yards. He connects perfectly and sends a low driven shot screaming into the lower right corner of goal, beating the keeper cleanly. In unmistakable ecstasy, he sprints toward the bench, a huge grin on his face, his pointer finger to the sky. For the second straight game, the Brown players flood the field to celebrate an overtime victory. When asked after the game if the shot deflected slightly, and why he didn’t come up with a more creative celebration, Manuel responds, “I have no idea. I blacked out.”

Final Score: Brown 1, BC 0
Overall Record: 8-1-1
Ivy Record: 1-0-0