Boston College field hockey honored its seniors with a Senior Day victory against Harvard on Sunday. The Eagles controlled play throughout the game, opening the scoring in the fifth minute and adding goals in the 41st, 43rd, 48th, and 58th minutes to secure a 5-0 win against the Crimson in the last game of the regular season.
From the beginning of the game, the Eagles maintained control over play. Their first short corner occurred in the second minute, but Crimson goalkeeper Issy Davies saved the ensuing shot. BC’s second short corner occurred in the fourth minute, but the shot went wide left. The third time proved to be the charm for the Eagles, however, as they put one away on their third short corner of the game. Romee Stiekema assisted AshLeigh Sebia’s goal to give BC a 1-0 lead. It was Sebia’s fifth goal on the season, but it held important significance to her.
“Romee’s actually my roommate, so we have a really special connection both on and off the field,” Sebia said. “So [scoring on Senior Day] was really special, and for her to have the assist was great as well.”
The rest of the first half was scoreless. The Eagles still dominated, recording eight shots to the Crimson’s five. BC’s record-setting goalkeeper, senior Leah Settipane, faced her only real test of the half in the final minute, when she handled a shot off a short corner with ease. Harvard’s goalkeeper Davies recorded five saves in the half.
BC opened the second half with energy and still dominated the game. A short corner in the 41st minute led to Sebia assisting freshman Frederique Haverhals to brace the Eagles’ lead. Two minutes later senior Kelcie Hromsin scored an unassisted goal, bringing the score to 3-0 in BC’s favor. In the 48th minute Lucy Lytle assisted Emily McCoy’s ninth goal of the season off of another short corner. Ten minutes later, senior Jacqueline Kelleher assisted Brittany Sheenan for the fifth and final goal of the game.
The Eagles outplayed the Crimson from the beginning, and in every way. They finished the game with 29 shots to Harvard’s two. They also finished with 13 short corners to Harvard’s two. Settipane was barely tested by the Crimson, while Davies finished with nine saves and five goals allowed.
The 5-0 rout of Harvard was a total team effort with contributions from everyone, including the seniors. To Sebia, the team’s accomplishments meant more than her own.
“It was even more special to have four of the seniors have a point, and Leah with the shutout,” she said. “I think that really defines us as a class, everyone contributing in their own way.”
Head coach Kelly Doton was proud of her seniors in their last home game. “Four years of the effort, energy, blood, tears and sweat they put into this program,” she said. “They got rewarded tonight. They’ll always remember their last home game.”
Doton also emphasized that the Eagles will look to carry the positive momentum from the Senior Day victory into postseason play, which opens on Thursday. Doton will look to her seniors to set the example in the upcoming ACC and NCAA Tournaments.
“I hope they score in the ACC and NCAA [Tournaments] as well,” she said. “We’ve been working hard in practice, fixing some things that we needed to, and come Thursday we’ll be ready for Wake Forest.”
Featured Image by Lucius Xuan / Heights Staff
