Coming into the 2024 season, Boston College women’s soccer head coach Chris Watkins predicted that Ella Richards would have a breakout year after leading the team in goals and points last season.
And Watkins’ prediction rang true in the Eagles’ season opener on Thursday morning, when Richards’ goal was the deciding factor in BC’s (1–0) 1–0 win over Jacksonville (0–1).
With a little less than nine minutes remaining in the first period, Bella Douglas intercepted a pass and punted it upfield to find Richards.
While being pursued by Hannah Bielicke, Richards took one initial touch before launching a move that lost Jacksonville goaltender Gretchen Duttenhofer—leaving Richards all alone to score with a dominant left-footed shot.
Although the shot was the only one that found the net for either team, the Eagles were not without their fair share of chances. BC fired 13 shots in the first half alone.
“It was a tough game today—to come out with so many chances, and so many chances, and finish with 22 shots and only get the one goal,” Watkins said. “It was hard.”
Twenty minutes into the match, Douglas launched a shot that forced Duttenhofer to jump in and make her first save of the game. The Eagles kept firing, racking up shots on goal and forcing Jacksonville to step up their defensive efforts.
But except for Richards’ goal, none of BC’s shots could find the back of the net in its season opener.
Despite its offensive struggles, BC’s defense contained the Dolphins. The Eagles allowed just three shots and no shots on goal from Jacksonville in the first period.
BC ended the matchup holding Jacksonville to six shots total, and no shots on goal. BC goaltender Wiebke Willebrandt completed her fourth-straight shutout in season openers.
Jacksonville switched goalkeepers at halftime, bringing in Pia Bozic. She made three saves in the second half, stopping attempts from Sydney Segalla and Aislin Streicek.
“I think our girls worked pretty hard for a while, but as the shots stopped going in, we got a little more frustrated,” Watkins said. “Frankly at the end, we weren’t as good as we needed to be.”
With just under ten minutes remaining in the game, Sarai Costello was called on a foul that gave Jacksonville’s Logan Gonzales the chance to tie things up with a penalty kick.
But Gonzales’ attempt was no good, and the Eagles escaped the opportunity for a Dolphin comeback—clinging to their single-goal lead.
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