No. 11 Boston College field hockey was deep into enemy territory facing a steep uphill battle on Friday afternoon, down 2–0 against No. 1 North Carolina in the fourth quarter. The Eagles had dominated the second half, controlling possession, but North Carolina nonetheless had increased its lead with a goal in the third quarter.
But a penalty corner in three minutes into the final quarter was exactly the spark BC needed. Margo Carlin struck the ball from North Carolina’s goal line to Martina Giacchino, who stopped the ball. Peyton Hale received the ball and passed to Mia Garber, who chipped it into the net to make it 2–1 and give BC life.
“We’re a really good attack team when we move the ball,” BC head coach Kelly Doton said. “We started to do that a little bit more, instead of in the first half where we hung onto it a little bit too much.”
But Garber’s goal, her fifth of the season, wasn’t enough, as North Carolina (9–1, 3–0 Atlantic Coast) responded eight minutes later with a goal of its own to defeat the Eagles (7–5, 1–3 Atlantic Coast) 3–1 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
“That’s what is going to happen when you go up against these teams that are really good,” Doton said. “They can get scored on but then they don’t lose that mentality of we need to get another goal back. They’re not going to give up.”
After BC cut the Tar Heels lead to one in the fourth quarter, North Carolina regained control of the game. The Eagles were forced to play a player for a stretch of the final quarter, as Simone Hefting drew a yellow card that took her out of the play for 5 minutes starting at the 53:51 mark.
Two North Carolina shots subsequently almost found the back of the net, but it was Charly Bruder who managed to extend the Tar Heels’ lead on a hard-hit strike off the penalty corner with five minutes left in the game while BC was still a player down.
Bruder also notched North Carolina’s second quarter goal, the first score of the game for either squad. The score came during a period when the Tar Heels had only 10 players on the field after Romea Riccardo drew a green card. Bruder now has eight total goals this season.
BC headed into halftime down 1–0, with little answers to North Carolina’s offense. The Eagles recorded only two shots in the first half compared to North Carolina’s nine.
Second half featured the Eagles showing renewed energy, stringing together multiple passes and creating opportunities. Carlin faced a wide open North Carolina goal two minutes into the third quarter, but Kelly Smith reached out her stick to deflect Carlin’s shot in incredible fashion, protecting the Tar Heels lead.
“It always starts with Margo up front, diving around on defense, giving us everything she has,” Doton said. “She’s a competitor and every single game she goes into she wants to win.”
With three minutes left in the quarter, Paityn Wirth batted down a ball out of midair to put North Carolina ahead 2–0—proving too much of a lead for BC to come back from.
“We tried to battle back,” Doton said. “It was a little bit too late for that. We had a chance to tie it up a couple times but we just fell short.”
BC finished with six total shots compared to North Carolina’s 16. Goalkeeper Carolina Kelly tallied seven saves in the loss.
“She made some incredible saves to keep us close and keep us in the game,” Doton said.
Despite the loss, Kelly remains confident in the Eagles’ ability to compete with anybody.
“Just stick to what we’re good at,” Doton said. “When we do that consistently for 60 minutes, we can beat any team in the country.”
