A clear Thursday night made for cloudy results in Newton, as the Boston College Eagles took on Wake Forest University.
Although the first shot of the game was taken in the fifth minute by BC midfielder Lauren Berman, the Eagles did not see a successful shot until the 81st minute.
Even back-to-back corner kicks in the first half for both teams were not enough for either to break. And by the end of the first half, the Eagles had only six shots on goal, while the Demon Deacons managed a mere two.
What should have been a 2-1 decisive victory for BC (10-6-1, 4-3-1 ACC) over the Deacs (4-11-2, 1-7-0 ACC) after a big loss to Virginia on Sunday, turned into a show of what the Eagles need to work on going into the end of their season: finishing.
Play after play, turnover after turnover, offsides after offsides, Hayley Dowd and McKenzie Meehan both found the same difficulties in taking too long to shoot, making it clear that their timing is something to work on.
“There are points when we kept it and both found the forwards feet and the seams early enough,” said Meehan, who earned her 13th goal of the season in double overtime, “but we obviously need to work on our timing to prevent those offsides calls.”
The Wake Forest defense relentlessly stopped the BC offense at the 18-yard line, making it easy for the Demon Deacons to regain possession. And eventually, both teams grew more aggressive as the game progressed.
But it can’t be ignored that the first 80 minutes of the game consisted of sloppy play by both teams. Neither could keep possession. Neither could put itself on top.
“Connecting that three thirds of the field is something we work on every week,” head coach Alison Foley said. “Our back line dropped off when we really needed them to be higher.”
But this lackluster play by both teams for almost all of regulation time does not give the full picture of where the game ended.
After changes were made to the lineup, namely moving Dowd and Meehan closer together, as well as adding a player in the midfield to increase possession, the Eagles could finally capitalize on an opportunity.
In the 81st minute, the Eagles found what they had been looking for the whole game. Dowd made it out of the corner into prime shooting space in the box to rocket a shot between the post and goalie, for her ninth goal of the season.
But the Demon Deacons were not far behind. Three minutes later Sarah Medina assisted Kahla Seymour at the 18-yard line to tie the game.
A game of missed opportunities and turnovers, with no clear victor, was going into double overtime. Things were about to get a bit more interesting.
Two minutes into the first overtime, BC defender Allyson Swaby received a yellow card, giving Wake Forest a penalty kick at the 28 yard line, which they did not use to their advantage.
Wake Forest had the first shot in the second overtime in the second minute but with no luck.
A minute later, Meehan was taken down in the box. A penalty kick was going to be the deciding factor in this game. She finally got her timing and, in the 103rd minute of play, scored.
And as the Eagles look towards Sunday’s game against Miami, this game has made it clear that there are still improvements to be made.
“It’s not a matter of opportunities,” Foley said.“We have great forwards and great attacking people we just [have] to sharpen up in front of goal a bit.”
Featured Image by Jake Evans / Heights Staff
