It is no secret that scoring is an essential part of soccer. For Boston College women’s soccer, doing just that has been a struggle as of late. The Eagles have gone scoreless their past two games against ACC opponents, struggling to generate much offense whatsoever, and providing flashbacks from last years 1–9 conference record.
The Eagles (4–3–3, 0–2 Atlantic Coast) are a talented group. But they were no match for Duke (7–2, 2–0), who attacked aggressively while tearing apart BC’s defense for a 3–0 victory at Koskinen Stadium.
Duke came out firing. Immediately the Blue Devils were in BC’s face, dominating time of possession. Duke’s midfielders made BC’s goaltender Wiebke Willebrandt work all 90 minutes, putting up shots left and right, and totaling 19 total shots to the Eagles’ three.
It was Duke’s Kat Rader who struck first, cutting inside on a breakaway and using her left leg to blast one through Willebrandt. BC defenders getting beat was a consistent trend Thursday night, as Duke proved they could get in the best possible positions to score.
Willebrandt would not give in, as she tallied eight saves for the game. But no matter how many times Willebrandt would bail the Eagles out, the Blue Devils would be right back to attack. having the Eagles hold their breath every time Duke was nearing a shot.
A 17th-minute save from Willebrandt saw her sprawling to the right and displaying her athleticism, flicking the ball with her hand to prevent Duke from going up two goals. As if on cue, Duke got off two more shots four minutes later, but did not convert. By the end of the night, Duke had 11 shots on goal while BC only had one.
Fouls were also an issue for the Eagles. Freshman Sophia Lowenburg was on the wrong side of them, as her foul put Duke’s Michelle Cooper face to face with Williebrandt on a penalty kick. Williebrandt chose wrong on the kick, thinking right when Cooper shot left, giving the Blue Devils a 2–0 lead going into halftime.
The Eagles could not flip the momentum in the second half, continuing to struggle with limited possession of the ball. Another foul on Lowenburg hurt the Eagles, giving Duke the ball. The Blue Devils controlled their possession, setting up a Cooper header past Willebrandt for her second score of the game, and Duke rode on to a 3–0 victory.
