As the game clock signaled the end of the first frame, North Carolina’s Kelly Smith swept the ball through the legs of Charlotte Kramer and into the back of No. 9 Boston College field hockey’s net, scoring the first goal in the matchup. From that point on, the No. 2 Tar Heels did not look back.
UNC (14–0, 7–0 Atlantic Coast) only built on its lead in the ACC matchup in Chapel Hill, N.C., defeating the Eagles (11–5, 5–2) 4–0. After tallying a loss against No. 11 Duke on Friday, BC now stands at 5–2 in conference play despite entering the weekend previously undefeated in ACC games.
In the first frame, the Eagles managed to contain UNC’s offense. Kramer came up big on two consecutive penalty-corner plays at the end of the first quarter, keeping the Tar Heels from converting on both scoring opportunities.
“That was easily Kramer’s best performance against an elite team, all year,” BC head coach Kelly Doton said. “She looked confident in goal and she made some really athletic saves, and she definitely kept us in the game when that scoreline could have been higher if she was not in goal. She did a fantastic job, and it was easily the best game that I have seen her play.”
The game was a back-and-forth battle for possession until it wasn’t anymore.
While Kramer tallied a save off a UNC penalty stroke 1:38 into the second quarter, the Eagles were unable to fend off the following Tar Heel offensive possession.
After UNC goaltender Abigail Taylor saved Martina Giacchino’s shot, Ryleigh Heck quickly dribbled the ball down the opposite side of the field.
Dodging her BC defenders on the play, Heck inched toward Kramer in the back of the net. Winding up her shot and firing the ball unassisted, Heck’s shot flew through the air and bounced into the back of the Eagles’ net, marking her 11th goal of the season.
As the clock wound down in the second quarter, so did BC’s chances of gaining any scoring opportunities. Within the last few minutes before halftime, the Tar Heels tallied two shots on net and registered two penalty-corner opportunities. While neither scoring chance resulted in a goal, the Tar Heels still entered halftime with a two-goal lead.
“I thought we started the first half very well and were able to get the ball into our midfield, but we couldn’t maintain that for 60 minutes,” Doton said. “Kudos to the team because we were down at the half, but still in the game. We weathered their storm, it could have been a higher number.”
BC needed to find a way to respond, and quickly. But the Eagles proved unable to do that as their scoring drought continued through the second half of the game.
Even though the third quarter was silent for both teams, UNC continued to hammer Kramer with shots. During the third frame, BC tallied just one shot on net, while the Tar Heels registered nine.
It wasn’t fully clear whether a BC comeback could be in the works until the fourth quarter. Off another penalty corner, UNC scored its third goal of the game.
Then, with less than two minutes left to play in the matchup, Sanne Hak faced Kramer one-on-one for a penalty stroke. Despite a diving effort, Kramer was unable to save the shot, and the Eagles fell 4–0.
“They exploited us sometimes with their speed, and their ability to remain at speed with the ball,” Doton said. “I also thought that some of the corners we gave up were mistakes on our end. And I think, credit to the defensive penalty corner unit, because those guys are scoring a lot of goals. We did well defensively on those corners, but you just cannot give that many shots and corners to a good team like that and expect to win games.”
Despite the score, Doton remained optimistic about her team’s performance.
“The scoreline really doesn’t represent some of the areas where we played well, but I think we had moments of weakness,” Doton said. “We allowed them to take control of the game and that’s why they are number two in the country.”
