On a hot, Sunday afternoon in Newton, Mass., before an audience of 519, Boston College women’s soccer fell to the St. John’s Red Storm in overtime. Although the Eagles played competitively throughout the game, their energy was lacking at times. The Red Storm scored quickly in the first half and the first sudden death overtime period, resulting in a 2-1 final score.
St. John’s opened the scoring in the second minute of the game with a goal on a penalty kick scored by Rachel Daly—this was her third goal of the year. Daly, a native of England, was brought down by sophomore defender Allyson Swaby in the eighteen yard box. She put the penalty kick away against the Eagles’ starting goalkeeper, Alexandra Johnson, and the Red Storm held a 1-0 lead. BC coach Alison Foley made sure her players didn’t slump after surrendering such an early goal.
“It happens, but you have the whole game left,” she said. “It certainly wasn’t something we were overly concerned with. We wished it didn’t happen, but I just told everyone to stay to the course and that we’re fine- we play our game, we don’t need to change anything, we’ll build ourselves back into it.”
The next 68 minutes of play were physical and competitive. At one point, BC junior Hayley Dowd and St. John’s senior Emily Cubbage were shown yellow cards. The referees called for three water breaks to prevent dehydration for the players. There was a prolonged break about ten minutes before halftime when a spectator required medical attention. The game continued when medics helped the fan to an ambulance.
Both BC and St. John’s sent out different goalkeepers for the second half. The Red Storm sent junior Diana Poulin to tend the net while the Eagles substituted redshirt freshman Alexis Bryant into goal.
The Eagles’ energy during the game wasn’t always obvious, but Foley said that is normal for her team. “It was focused,” she said. “I don’t think we’re an overly ra-ra team- we’re a bit more sophisticated. We had good determination.”
The energy did pick up in the second half and definitely picked up after the Eagles netted the equalizer. A neat sequence between freshman Gaby Carreiro and redshirt sophomore Lauren Berman led to Dowd receiving the ball in front of the Red Storm’s goal. Dowd gathered the ball and shot, scoring on Poulin for her fourth goal of the season and equalizing the score at one goal apiece. After the goal, the energy picked up for both teams. The Red Storm and the Eagles both failed to take advantage of scoring opportunities. Bryant came up big down the stretch, making some saves to keep the Eagles in the game; meanwhile, the Eagles just couldn’t find the back of the net offensively, despite plenty of shots.
“I certainly think that we created enough chances. [I wish] we were a little bit sharper in front of goal, putting away some of those opportunities,” Coach Foley said.
Regulation ended with the score tied 1-1. Overtime rules dictate that there be two ten minute sudden death overtime periods, but the Red Storm needed only twenty-five seconds to put the winning goal away. Christina Bellero, a freshman, scored her third goal of the season to give the Red Storm the victory.
Although the game was competitive, the Eagles failed to take advantage of scoring opportunities while the Red Storm capitalized off of a penalty kick and a quick goal to end sudden death overtime. BC’s loss, just its second this season, can be partly attributed to the up-and-down nature of their energy throughout the game.
Featured Image by Drew Hoo / Heights Editor
