Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
Friday, October 27, 2006, Washington Post

Goal: See the Aces of the ACC

Area soccer fans better start making plans: Next week, the Atlantic Coast Conference men's tournament will be played at the SoccerPlex in Germantown. This is a rare chance to see some of the country's best college soccer teams because this is the first time the ACC championship has been played in Maryland. The tournament should be a blast.

The ACC is the best college soccer conference in the country. Four of the conference's nine teams -- No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Wake Forest, No. 4 Virginia and No. 6 Maryland -- are ranked in the Soccer America Top Ten. Three other teams -- No. 12 Clemson, No. 13 North Carolina and No. 25 Virginia Tech -- are in the Top 25. ACC teams have won more than 85 percent of the games they have played against non-ACC teams.

Every team in the ACC is solid, which guarantees that the games will be thrilling. For example, Boston College, one of the conference's two unranked teams, beat Maryland, 3-1, recently at Maryland. That was the Terps' first loss at home in two years. Boston College features one of the leading goal scorers in the country. Charlie Davies has averaged a goal a game this year for the Eagles.

The ACC is loaded with talented players. Eight ACC players were named to Soccer America's preseason all-American team. And plenty of the ACC's best go on to play in Major League Soccer and other pro leagues around the world.

So who is going to win the tournament? That's hard to say. No team is undefeated in conference play this season. Maryland, which won the national title last year, lost three conference games. The Terps did, however, knock off Duke and Wake Forest. Maybe the Terps can use their home-state advantage to win it all. But you can bet that every game will be close, with some games going to overtime.

The fun starts with the eighth- and ninth-place teams matching up on Tuesday. Then, there are four games Wednesday, starting at noon.

If you're lucky enough to go to school in Montgomery County, schools are closed that day for a professional day for the teachers. (Hooray for professional days!) What could be better than to spend a day off from school watching ACC soccer? If you don't have Wednesday off, don't worry. The semifinals and final will be played Nov. 3 and Nov. 5.

Tickets are available for all the games, but you better move fast. The SoccerPlex, where lots of kids play their games and tournaments, seats about 5,000 fans. It's a great place to watch the games because the fans are so close to the action.

So get your mom or dad or your soccer team to start making plans. Seeing at least one game in this year's ACC tournament should be the goal of any soccer-playing kid.