It didn’t take long for No. 14 Boston College field hockey to jump out to an early lead in its Red Bandanna game against Maine.
Madelieve Drion got the scoring started with her first goal of the season just over three minutes into the tilt.
The Eagles (3–2) never let the Black Bears (4–2) back into the game, and ultimately not only earned their third win of the season, but they did something greater—honoring the memory of Welles Crowther for the Red Bandana Game.
“Welles Crowther, his significance at Boston College is felt not just within the athletic department, but across the university,” BC head coach Kelly Doton said. “To be able to put his shirt on and have that flag come out with us, it was definitely for Welles today.”
BC’s offense came out blaring at the beginning of the first quarter, but couldn’t sustain its momentum.
“We had too many self-inflicted turnovers on us,” Doton said. “We can’t be doing that. We’ve got to be able to take control and put it away quicker.”
It only took 3:12 for BC to get on the board against the Bears. Off a Mia Garber assist, Drion swept the ball swiftly past Maine’s Rozarie Mrazova legs into the lower-right hand corner of the goal, bringing the Eagles an early lead.
But then Maine responded. A little over five minutes later, the Bears’ Olivia Geniti tallied Maine’s first goal of the matchup and knotted the score at 1–1.
“I don’t think we played our best game, not even close,” Doton said. “We turned over the ball too much. Our defense was kind of lax getting our counter defense setup.”
For much of the first and second frame, both team’s offenses remained silent as their defenses played a game of back-and-forth. BC’s offensive attacks were limited by its inability to drive shots into the net and lackluster passes.
With less than four minutes left in the second quarter, the Eagles’ scoring drought was finally over.
From a swift Yani Zhang, Peyton Hale snuck the ball into the lower-left corner of the Bears’ net—marking her fifth goal of the season. And it seemed BC had a cushion entering the half with a 2–1 lead.
The next 15 minutes could be defined as a BC show. Shutting down any of Maine’s offensive opportunities, the Eagles consistently controlled possession of the ball. And the Eagles lead only grew as the third frame continued.
With 3:35 left to play in the third quarter, sprinting down the field dribbling the ball, BC’s Klara Mueffelmann push-passed the ball through the legs of her Maine defender and into the stick of Pia Serowik. From Mueffelmann’s clutch pass, Serowik tapped the ball into the Bears’ net as the time in the third frame ticked down.
But the Bears would not give up so easily in the final quarter, though. Less than two minutes into the final frame, Geniti came up big—again. Scoring her second goal of the game, she brought the possibility of a Maine comeback into the works.
“You can’t let a good team like Maine back into the game,” Doton said. “They were in the game way too long, and we should have put the game away a lot earlier, a long time ago.”
Even though it took longer than expected, BC did just that. With less than five minutes left in the matchup, Zhong delivered for the Eagles—yet again. Off of consecutive passes from Eva Kluskens and Kiki Bruijne, Zhong solidified a BC win with another goal on the night.
BC’s win marks its 15th win against the Black Bears, bringing the series to a 15–2 advantage in the Eagles favor that dates back to 1987.
Even though Doton was less than impressed with her team’s performance, one thing remained true: the play-making of Zhong.
“Yani has meant everything to us,” Doton said. Being an international student athlete grad, coming into a different culture, different country, having some leadership capabilities in not her native language, she’s been everything, and I don’t know where we would be without her.”
