At this point, it would seem as though nothing is coming easily for the Boston College field hockey team. Yes, the Eagles entered last weekend as the eighth ranked team in the country, but their path to that position was not as simple as following the yellow brick road.
The Eagles have played 12 games so far this season. Of those 12, four have been against top-20 opponents, three of those coming against top-five squads. As if that was not enough, of their 12 games, the Eagles have taken their opponents to overtime in six of them.
This was the case yet again when the Eagles traveled down the road into Boston to face off with the 9-2 Northeastern Huskies. The game would be a long-fought battle, extending into not one but two overtimes. The Huskies would eventually gain the edge though, downing the Eagles by a final score of 3-2.
The first half was on the slow side offensively, neither team capitalizing on any of its scoring efforts. The Eagles took just four shots in the first frame while Northeastern took only three. On top of capturing the advantage in the shot differential, the Eagles were more efficient with their effort, challenging goalkeeper Becky Garner to make three saves as three of BC’s shots went on goal. On the other end, Leah Settipane encountered only one shot on goal, and saved it.
One area where the Huskies did have the advantage in the first half was on corners, as BC took two penalties within the scoring arc, which resulted in two unsuccessful opportunities for Northeastern.
During the second half, both offenses picked up in their own way. Northeastern more than doubled its shot count from the first half, firing off eight attempts with four on goal. The Eagles, while their shot count actually decreased, made more of their attempts count.
BC got on the board first with a stroke from Kelcie Hrominsin, assisted by AshLeigh Sebia, that beat Garner to take the game to 1-0 in the 39th minute of play. Northeastern was quick to respond, though, striking less than two minutes later.
After that rapid succession of goals, the offense calmed for about 15 minutes until BC once again made a go-ahead goal, this time coming from Emma Plasteras assisted by Romee Stiekema. While the Eagles held onto their lead a bit longer this time, they couldn’t hold it through the end of the last period of regulation, with the Huskies coming back with under three minutes to play to send it into the first overtime.
For overtime, the NCAA plays a 15-minute, sudden death format. In the first 15-minute period, though, neither team was able to score. The Eagles once again put more shots on goal than the Huskies, registering two to Northeastern’s zero, but Garner stayed steady in net.
When the teams came out for the second overtime, though, the Huskies finally managed to put a cap on the game, with Emma Lamison scoring on the first and only shot just over five minutes into the second overtime to give Northeastern the win after 90 minutes and 39 seconds of playing time.
The win marked Northeastern’s second victory over a ranked opponent on the year, having recently defeated then No. 20 Boston University on Friday, Sept. 26. With their second overtime loss of the season, the Eagles dropped to 8-4.
Featured Image by Emily Fahey / Heights Editor
