Looking for its first conference win Thursday night, Boston College women’s soccer had the chance to do it at home in front of a home crowd. A quick shower of rain and dark clouds during warmups set the tone for a gritty, defense-heavy game in which no team ever truly had an advantage.
Coming off of its first ACC game against No.1 Florida State, which saw BC fall 4–1, Thursday was a chance for BC to get back in the win column.
Getting back in the win column is harder than it sounds, especially against opponents in a stacked ACC. Scoring against those same opponents appeared just as hard, as BC (6–3–1, 0–2–0 Atlantic Coast) failed to find the net once, falling to Wake Forest (9–1,1–1) by a score of 1–0.
Both teams came out of the gate aggressive and things only got more physical as the game went on. BC had many chances to strike first in the opening half, including a near-perfect shot from Sam Smith during the 28th minute that hit the crossbar.
Wake Forest responded to BC’s near goal just a minute later, when Jenna Menta sent a cross to Hulda Arnarsdottir, who fired a shot into the net after BC goalkeeper Wiebke Willebrandt couldn’t handle the cross. Willebrandt was shaken up after the play but remained in the game, not allowing another goal. Regardless, BC had missed an opportunity on one end and given one up on the other, finding itself in a 1–0 hole.
“I thought we created a lot of good stuff tonight and had real good supplies of possession, just hit the post a few times. Didn’t jump on a couple rebounds that [Wake Forest] did,” BC head coach Jason Lowe said.
BC has now only scored one goal in its last two games. With 14 shots on goal against Wake, the opportunities were there, but the execution was not.
“I mean, when playing the No.1 team in the country, and then another ACC game, we’re not just going to be able to run up four goals like we did in the non-conference, so we’ve just got to be clinical on the chances that we get and just keep creating opportunities like we have and we’ll be fine,” Lowe said.
Ella Richards, BC’s leading scorer this season with eight goals—tied for third-most in the country—was quiet against Wake. Lowe waited to substitute Richards back in until the 60th minute, even though the Eagles trailed by one. Richards played the final part of the second half with Linda Boama, BC’s second leading scorer, comprising a duo that is dangerous when paired together on the field.
“Not a lot [of adjustments] because I thought we played well,” Lowe said in regards to his plan to take on Notre Dame on Sunday. “Maybe use some players we didn’t use today and just keep fresh legs, but let’s keep playing BC soccer.”
Both teams had exactly 14 shots on goal, and BC registered seven corner kicks to Wake Forest’s six.
“Stick to the positives,” Lowe said. “It didn’t fall our way, but you know we’re just gonna claw and scrap and just find a way to get back in the tournament, and that’s our goal.”
Featured Image by Steve Mooney / Heights Staff
