When BC head coach Kelly Doton played for the Demon Deacons from 2000-2003, her coach was current Wake Forest head coach Jennifer Averill.
On Friday, Doton stood on the field coaching her own squad, squaring off against her former head coach and alma mater in Wake Forest.
“I always love seeing Jen and getting the catchup,” Doton said. “And you know, they were a great team.”
The match against the Demon Deacons served as No. 16 Boston College field hockey’s first ACC matchup of the year, one in which BC dominated possession of the matchup, ultimately defeating Wake Forest 4–1.
When asked what propelled her team to victory, Doton touched on what changed in her team’s performance from last weekend to this weekend.
“I think just effort, hard work,” Doton said. “They really competed well tonight for each other coming off last weekend, even though we had two wins, the effort just wasn’t there. And you’re going to get beaten in the ACC if you don’t have that.”
It took the Eagles some time to get on the board, though.
For the first frame, the matchup proved to be a back-and-forth between the Demon Deacons and the Eagles—with just three shots tallied together between both Wake Forest and BC.
But Yani Zhong delivered yet again for the Eagles.
Off consecutive a penalty corner and two consecutive passes from Mia Garber and Martina Giacchino, Zhong swiftly dribbled the ball past her defender, sweeping the ball into the back of Wake Forest’s net for her sixth goal of the season.
It didn’t take long for the Eagles to extend on their lead.
A little over ten minutes later, Madelieve Drion drove the ball to Zhong, who then swept the ball to Peyton Hale, nailing the ball into the lower-left corner of the Demon Deacons goal and past Wake Forest’s Ellie Todd.
The final 15 minutes of the game can be defined as the BC show.
While Wake Forest did tally one goal less than three minutes into the fourth quarter, its chances of a possible comeback were quickly shut down. 7:57 in the final frame, Drion gave the Eagles a two-goal lead—silencing any Wake Forest chance at tying up the game.
Less than seven minutes later, BC was presented with another scoring opportunity—a penalty stroke.
Standing on the penalty line, Hale swept the ball into the lower-right corner of the Demon Deacons net, as Wake Forest’s goaltender failed to stop the Eagle’s one-on-one offensive attack.
When asked about the penalty stroke, Doton explained the referee’s call.
“I think it could have gone either way, but she established position,” Doton said. “It looked like the goalkeeper kind of came in and made contact with her, and they reviewed it, which is what they are supposed to do, and they upheld the call.”
After the Eagles scored their fourth goal of the matchup, the last 48 seconds of the matchup ticked down and BC successfully defeated its first ACC opponent of the 2024 season.
“I think we had some great plays hockey-wise, putting four goals up on the board against an ACC opponent is very crucial,” Doton said.
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