Boston College field hockey was ranked No. 14 in the preseason National Coaches’ Poll. After a 1–3 start to the season that saw BC fall three straight times to ranked opponents—Old Dominion, Maryland, and Northwestern—the Eagles dropped six spots to No. 21.
But since BC defeated Penn in a shootout victory and earned its first ranked win against then-No. 9 Virginia, the Eagles have been on the up and up. BC sat at No. 18 heading into its Friday night matchup with Duke, and after a 1–0 win against the No. 20 Blue Devils, the Eagles are moving toward returning to their preseason prediction.
All it took was one score for BC (5–4, 2–0 Atlantic Coast) to down the Blue Devils (4–5, 0–2), with Margo Carlin netting the game-winner in the 24th minute.
Carlin took a penalty corner 24:30 into the game. Sarah Johnson received the corner and took a shot, but it deflected off a Duke player.
Carlin controlled the deflected shot and knocked it into the top of the net over Duke goaltender Piper Hampsch. Neither team scored again, and the Eagles walked away with a 1–0 win in Durham, N.C.
The goal was the second of the season for Carlin, who has been a mainstay of BC’s offense since her freshman campaign in 2019. She sits at third on BC’s roster in total points this season with seven, and third in goals with two.
BC goaltender Emily Gillespie shined in Friday’s outing. Gillespie moved to 3–0 on the season, recording three saves on five shots in the process. Gillespie was there when she needed to be in the fourth quarter, recording two saves in the game’s final four minutes to clinch the win for the Eagles.
BC will continue its 2022 campaign and journey to climb up the rankings against No. 11 Syracuse on Sept. 30. After visiting Albany on Oct. 2, the Eagles will continue ACC play against No. 2 North Carolina on Oct. 7.
With all seven of the ACC teams that have field hockey programs currently ranked in the Top 25, the Eagles will face tough conference opposition this year, and their ACC play will be crucial to climbing the national rankings.
