With just over 2:30 left to play in the fourth quarter, Boston College field hockey lined up for its 10th corner penalty opportunity, looking to finally put the ball behind the reigning Atlantic 10 goalkeeper of the year, Myrte van Herwijnen.
Much like their previous nine attempts, however, the No. 10 Eagles failed to capitalize, and No. 19 Massachusetts held on to its one-goal lead until time expired.
Missed opportunities cost the Eagles a chance at a seventh consecutive win in a game in which they heavily out-shot their opponent.
“You can’t have ten corners and not score any and expect to win a game,” BC head coach Kelly Doton said following the game. “We got to be able to put the ball in the back of the cage … We didn’t do that.”
BC (8–3, 3–0 Atlantic Coast) lost 1–0 on the road to UMass (9–3, 2–0 Atlantic 10) in a ranked matchup Sunday.
The Minutewomen controlled the pace of the game early, playing a cleaner game and outshooting the Eagles in the first.
Just over 12 minutes into the quarter, UMass’ Dempsey Campbell tallied the game’s only goal off a strange bounce that saw the ball pop up several feet in the air before falling in behind BC goaltender Charlotte Kramer.
“We didn’t show up in the first half,” Doton said. “The energy wasn’t there, and we were making silly mistakes, and it cost us.”
As a choppy first half that included two overturned BC goals came to a close, an errant pass struck BC’s Yani Zhong in the head. Doton said postgame that Zhong avoided a serious injury.
The Eagles began to find their game in the second half, putting heavy pressure on the Minutewomen’s defense and generating chances.
“We started to play with energy, we were attacking, we got corners, and we were getting the ball inside the circle,” Doton said.
The Eagles outshot UMass 6–2 in the second half, putting a total of 10 on goal in the game, compared to UMass’ three. But despite their offensive opportunities, the Eagles couldn’t find the back of the cage.
This was thanks in large part to the performance of van Herwijnen, as she stood on her head, making 10 saves.
The third quarter featured two more BC corner chances, the second of which saw van Herwijnen make a diving save on BC’s midfielder Peyton Hale.
Hale received the game’s lone yellow card with three seconds remaining in the third, leaving the Eagles without both Hale and Zhong for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.
The lack of elite goal-scorers was not what the Eagles needed as they pushed to tie the game, and it showed, as the first five minutes of the fourth saw no real scoring chances for the Eagles.
With Hale back on the field, the Eagles had four more corner penalties and five more shots in the final 10 minutes, but were unable to erase the one-goal deficit.
“Unfortunately, the ball just wasn’t going to go in, but [the chances] were there,” Doton said.
It was once again a tale of two halves for the Eagles, who have been trying to improve upon their slow starts.
“The first half we didn’t come out and play well,” Doton said. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to go from the starting whistle. Great teams know that, and we’ve got to use this as a lesson going forward.”
