No. 10 Boston College field hockey was on the cusp of a season-defining win.
The Eagles had No. 3 Virginia on the ropes, leading 2–1 with less than four minutes to play. An electric, almost tangible buzz simmered through the air with an expected Eagle victory.
The Eagles wouldn’t find a win in regulation, however, as the ball found itself in the Eagles’ shooting circle in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. With her back turned away from the goal, Virginia’s Taryn Tkachuk laced a perfect pass to Daniela Mendez-Trendler, who deflected it in for a goal. BC’s chances seemed to evaporate into thin air as all the momentum swung toward the Cavaliers as the teams headed into overtime.
“It can be deflating, or you can use it as motivation,” BC head coach Kelly Doton said.
The Eagles seemed to treat the Cavaliers’ late goal as motivation, not a deflating factor. Aided by a Virginia (9–1, 3–1 Atlantic Coast) penalty in overtime, BC (8–2, 3–0) utilized a player advantage to slam the door shut on the Cavaliers’ hopes at a victory, defeating them 3–2 on Friday and handing Virginia its first ACC loss.
Splitting two Cavaliers, Madelieve Drion ripped a shot past Virginia goaltender Tyler Kennedy and into the bottom right of the goal. The Eagles bench rushed to Drion, celebrating their first ranked win of the season.
The Eagles started the game strong and closed the first quarter with the opening goal.
Rebounding her blocked pass attempt, Eva Kluskens dribbled up the Cavaliers’ side of the field, making defenders miss. She threaded a pass between two Virginia defenders to Kiki de Bruijne, who set up Pia Serowik to chip the ball over Kennedy.
BC quickly added to its lead as Elisa Brauel-Jahnke took a rebounded shot by Mia Garber and slid her shot past Kennedy. In a matter of less than two game minutes, BC had gained a two-goal advantage over the third-ranked team in the country.
Yani Zhong helped fuel the offensive attack for BC. From her midfield position, she stalled offensive attempts from the Cavaliers while helping spur offensive chances for BC, using her quick first step and stick skills.
“She can beat one, two, three easily with her first touch,” Doton said. “She’s so skillful on the ball.”
BC’s defense shined for the remainder of the first half, and held its two-goal lead into halftime.
“I think our first half we did very well moving the ball and played well defensively,” Doton said.
Leading the charge for BC’s lead was goaltender Charlotte Kramer. BC was outshot 10–3 throughout the game and 3–1 in the second quarter, but Kramer handled the pressure nonetheless.
“Our defense starts with her,” Doton said. “She’s a great goalkeeper … she’s made some key saves for us.”
The second half was a reverse of the first. BC was outshot 7–0, and Kramer gave up two goals as the Eagles’ defense finally burst when Mendez-Trendeler’s first goal of the game hit its mark 5:34 into the second half.
BC also struggled offensively, tallying no shots through the third and fourth quarters.
“In the first half, we did the things well that define us,” Doton said. “In that second half, we kind of went away from that.”
Despite their second-half struggles, the Eagles rallied quickly in overtime to clinch a gritty victory.
When asked what the win showed about BC’s resilience, Doton simply said, “Everything.”
“Hopefully it gives them confidence they can compete with any team in the country regardless of ranking,” Doton said.
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