Named the ACC Goalkeeper of the Year a few weeks before No. 7 Boston College field hockey’s first-round matchup against No. 13 Princeton in the NCAA Tournament, Charley Kramer is known for containing her opponents and often comes up with clutch saves in the cage.
But in Friday’s first-round matchup against the Tigers, there was no diving save that Kramer could have made to stop the Tigers’ Beth Yeager’s shot, which she fired into the lower left-hand corner of BC’s net to give Princeton a 1–0 lead 14 minutes into the first quarter.
BC was never able to respond.
Princeton (14–5, 7–0 Ivy League) held onto its one-goal lead and ultimately defeated the Eagles (14–7, 6–2 Atlantic Coast) 1–0, ending their 2024 season just one game into the NCAA Tournament.
“I thought we had a good week of buildup and two practices we had back in Boston, and I thought the game plan we had was good,” BC head coach Kelly Doton said. “I think in the first half we were a little too relaxed on our defensive pressure, especially in our press. I then think we started to play, but you can’t go down one to nothing and then you are trying to be a little more reckless and send some risky balls in.”
In the first frame, the Tigers tallied three penalty corners and the Eagles were unable to keep Princeton away from Kramer in the net. It appeared to be a back-and-forth battle in BC’s defending half until the last minute of the first frame.
Off a Grace Schulze penalty corner, Yeager swung her stick back and drove the ball into the back of BC’s net—scoring the first and only goal of the game with 41 seconds left to play in the first quarter.
BC did not register any shots on net in the second frame of the game either and entered halftime without a single shot.
A little over nine minutes into the third frame, the Eagles’ midfielders brought the ball up the field following a Princeton turnover. Turning the play into a five-on-three BC advantage against the Tigers’ defenders, BC crisscrossed passes. As the ball bounced toward Elisa Brauel-Jahnke, it missed her stick and the ball sailed wide.
That was the Eagle’s best chance to knot the game up, tallying just two shots in the final quarter, neither of which were even on net.
“I thought the second half we played great, but we couldn’t find the back of the cage, and unfortunately, we had the 1–0 defeat,” Doton said.
The loss marked BC’s final game of the season.
“It’s been a really fun year to coach this group of young women,” Doton said. “Obviously, the seniors and fifth years were emotional afterwards, but the message to them was to think about the ride and the process and not the end goal. Everyone wants to win, and there is only one team that hoists this trophy at the end, and the rest of us are left in our misery.”
But to Doton, BC’s success can not be merely measured by its performance against Princeton.
“It’s easy to feel this pain right now, but hopefully they can reflect on making it to the ACC Championship and back into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years,” Doton said. “We had wins over UVA and Syracuse, and the big one being us undefeated at home. It’s long and hard. I know we didn’t finish where we wanted to, but at the end of the day, that’s just sport, and it’s been a fun year.”
