McKenzie Meehan stood in the rain as she watched her ball slip just wide right of the University of North Carolina goal post. It was the shot that would have given Boston College its only chance to fight back against the ACC’s number one seed. But the wind swept it away.
The Eagles—now 8-4-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the ACC—and the No. 1-ranked Tar Heels, who increased their records to 11-0-1 overall and 4-0 in the conference, battled this past Friday in poor weather conditions as Hurricane Joaquin inched closer to the coast. The game was originally scheduled to take place on the UNC campus, but their home field Fetzer Field was unplayable after heavy amounts of rain washed out the state on Thursday night and into Friday. Location was changed to Cedar Falls Park, though the rain still proved to be a factor throughout the evening.
The Tar Heels saw through the rain pretty clearly early on in the first half, with UNC easing the ball down the wet field with sharp passing to take them into Eagle territory. Following a combination between Cameron Castleberry and Joanna Boyles, Alexa Newfield sent the ball into the back of the Alexis Bryant-defended net from 12 yards out to give UNC the lead after 15:36 minutes.
The Tar Heels camped out in BC’s half for the duration of play, with five corners following the first goal, forcing the Eagles to play the defensive. UNC solidified its win in the 51st minute, when a rocket from Tar Heel Joanna Boyles smacked the top right corner from 28 yards out. The Eagles’ only break came in the 60th minute when Meehan was able to break free and get a shot off on the UNC goal, but was unable to squeeze it inside the net.
Hayley Dowd managed to get down field into the Tar Heel half as well and attempted a shot of her own, but failed to actually hit net. The Eagles finished with a total of three shots in the game, and keeper Bryant tallied up five saves defending BC’s goal.
Regardless of the weather, the matchup went to show that the maroon and gold have a lot of work to do in order to ultimately contend with the level of competition that UNC displays. The Eagles were outshot 21-3 and UNC took advantage of nine corner kicks. BC has some work to do, specifically on the offensive, if they want to be seen as a true competitor in the ACC.
Featured Image by Drew Hoo / Heights Editor
