No. 7 Boston College field hockey has only allowed one goal in its last three games and has been absolutely stifling as a defensive unit.
That pattern continued on BC’s senior day on Sunday when the Eagles took on No. 13 Albany (12–3, 4–0 America East). Once again, the Eagles’ (11–3, 5–0 Atlantic Coast) defensive dominance was enough to hold their opponents to one goal and gain a 3–1 victory over the Great Danes.
“Albany is such a good team, they kind of broke our press and we didn’t really have a solution for it,” BC head coach Kelly Doton said. “But we kind of countered that with just some defensive effort individually.”
It didn’t take long for the Eagles to score their first goal in the matchup. Just 3:58 into the first frame of the game, Mia Garber swiftly swept the ball to Yani Zhong. Juking her defender, Zhong nailed the ball into the lower right-hand corner of the Great Danes’ net and through the legs of Albany’s Lara Behn—marking Zhong’s eighth goal of the season.
But the Eagles were not done quite yet. Less than two minutes later, BC responded with another goal.
Dribbling down the field with the ball, Garber strongly swung her stick back, as she launched a shot toward the Great Danes’ net. Landing in the back of the net, the shot marked BC’s second goal within six minutes of the first frame, sparking a dominant start to the Eagles’ offense.
And the Great Danes were unable to deliver any goals within the first frame. In the first 15 minutes of the game, Albany tallied zero shots on net compared to BC’s seven shots on goal.
The second frame, however, proved to be different for Albany.
Only 27 seconds into the second frame, Albany’s Charlotte Triggs proved to be the difference maker that the Great Danes needed for a possible comeback. Firing the ball into the back of the Eagles’ net and through the legs of Charlotte Kramer, Triggs limited the goal deficit to just one goal.
But the chance of an Albany comeback was short-lived as the game continued, though.
The highlight of the second half came from the Eagles’ Eva Kluskens’ goal with less than 10 minutes left to play in the game, which brought the score to 3–1. BC’s defense limited Albany to only four total shots in the second half, paving the way for its two-goal victory.
Garber led the Eagles offensively with one goal and one assist. When asked about Garber’s role on offense, Doton was clear about her impact.
“She always has, even if she doesn’t show up on the stat sheet,” Doton said. “She’s got such great speed and great hands up there.”
The win carried extra weight for the Eagles this afternoon as it was the team’s Senior Day.
“They’re definitely emotional,” Doton said. “We never know what’s going to happen down the road, especially when we get into the tournament and how we finish, so this was our last regular season game, but hopefully, maybe we could host.”
