By JOHN BOSCHINI
When Boston College was announced as the fourth seed in this year's NCAA Tournament, more than a few people raised their eyebrows in surprise. On Sunday, the rest of the college soccer world found out why.
The Eagles were shocked at home by unseeded Rutgers with a penalty kick shootout loss, dumping Boston College out in their first game of the tournament. Regulation ended knotted at 1-1 with Ibrahim Kamara scoring in the 87th minute for the dramatic equalizer, canceling out Patrick Chin's well-taken headed goal just after halftime. Kevin McMullen came up big for Rutgers in the penalty shootout, saving two spot kicks with Steve Rose failing to convert the final penalty. Rutgers moves into the third round for the first time in a decade.
Top-seeded North Carolina were less than convincing in their opening round of the tournament but survived with a 3-2 victory over Coastal Carolina. The visitors took the lead twice with goals from Ashton Bennett and Teejay East but the Tar Heels equalized with goals from Ben Speas and Kirk Urso. Enzo Martinez, who famously rescued North Carolina in last year's NCAA tournament, once again was the hero with the free-kick winner in the 69th minute.
Akron is still alive in its pursuit to repeat as champions with a 3-2 upset of No. 6 SMU. Darren Mattocks scored twice and Luke Holmes added a third as the Zips jumped out to a 3-0 lead. The Mustangs made a late charge with goals from Tyler Engel and Arthur Ivo in the final 10 minutes but it wasn't enough to complete the comeback.
Here is a look back at the rest of the results from the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
St. Mary's continued their upset run through California with a 2-1 upset of No. 8 UC Irvine in a double-overtime thriller. Justin Howard headed home a golden goal in the 103rd minute to book The Gaels into the sweet sixteen. Riley Hanley put the visitors up early in the second half with a goal from a corner but Miguel Ibarra scrambled home a goal seven minutes from time.
No. 16 Indiana 3, Old Dominion 0: The Hoosiers are through to face North Carolina thanks to a comfortable victory over Old Dominion. Nikita Kotlov bagged a double while Tim Wylie added a goal of his own. Goalkeeper Luis Soffner made two saves in the shutout.
Brown 1, No. 9 St. John's 0: Dylan Remick scored just after halftime and the Ivy League champions were resolute in defense against the Red Storm. Brown advances into the Sweet Sixteen for the second-consecutive year.
No. 5 Maryland 4, West Virginia 0: With Boston College eliminated, Maryland are now the top seeds in their quarter of the bracket and the Terrapins made an emphatic statement against West Virginia. Senior Casey Townsend tallied a hat trick and and Jordan Cyrus scored from the near post to cap off the rout for Maryland
No. 12 Louisville 3, Bradley 2: After a final four minutes that saw Colin Rolfe equalize and Kenney Walker take the lead for the Cardinals. Bryan Gaul equalized with 26 second left and Nick DeLeon came up with a golden goal for Louisville in the 107th minute.
No. 3 UCONN 2, Monmouth 1: Mamadou Diouf scored twice to give the Huskies a comeback victory over Monmouth. Matt Jeffery scored for the visitors early.
No. 14 James Madison 2, Wake Forest 0: Jimmy Simpson and Ibikunle Tolani scored in the first half to give James Madison a comfortable victory over the ACC visitors.
Charlotte 3, No. 11 UAB: Goals from Evan James, Jennings Rex and T.J. Beaulieu gave Charlotte a comfortable victory. Chase Wickham's goal in the second-half proved to be little more than a consolation
No. 7 USF 2, UCF 1 (OT): Wesley Charpie's headed goal in the first overtime gave USF a victory over their in-state rivals. Chris Blais came up huge for the Bulls, making five saves.
No. 10 New Mexico 2, Duke 1 (OT): Blake Smith canceled out Nick Palodichuck's opener and Carson Baldinger's golden goal kept the Lobos perfect season alive.
No. 15 UC Santa-Barbara 3, Providence 2: Luis Silva, Josue Madueno and Dom Sarle scored in an uneasy win for UCSB. Brandon Adler and Anthony Baumann scored for the Friars but Providence couldn't complete the comeback.
No. 2 Creighton 3, Northern Illinois 0: Ethan Finley scored twice and Jose Gomez provided a goal in a comfortable Blue Jays win.
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What did you think of the second-round results? Impressed with Maryland? Surprised Boston College is gone so early? Still betting on Carolina despite the difficulty getting by Coastal Carolina?
Share your thoughts below.