No. 6 Boston College Field Hockey has been dominant over the ACC this season. The Eagles were undefeated heading into their matchup with No. 11 Duke.
But a conference game finally went south for the Eagles as BC (11–4, 5–1 Atlantic Coast) fell 1–0 to the Blue Devils (11–4, 6–1) on Friday afternoon in a highly anticipated matchup between two top-15 programs. The Blue Devils entered the game looking to extend their six game win streak, while the Eagles attempted to knock off a worthy opponent on the road.
The game started off slow, with both teams failing to register a shot on goal until the second period was almost over. The Blue Devils broke the defensive deadlock and put together a solid offensive push with about three minutes left in the second period, forcing two shots on goal.
But BC goaltender Charlotte Kramer made the necessary saves to preserve the 0–0 tie headed into the half.
The Eagles saw their first good look at a score 37 seconds into the second half, when Mia Garber’s steal led to a strong shot on goal from Yani Zhong. But a great glove save from Duke goaltender Frederique Wollaert prevented BC from getting on the board.
BC’s defense could not hold up forever, though. Scoring finally opened up with a goal by Duke’s Alaina McVeigh, who buried her tenth goal of the season to put the Blue Devils up 1–0.
Duke drew its third penalty corner of the game near the end of the third period, but failed to score through the wall of BC defenders.
The Eagles got their own pair of penalty corners at the start of the fourth quarter as they desperately tried to find some offensive rhythm. Despite a shot on goal from Peyton Hale, however, BC was unable to tie the game.
With three minutes left in the final quarter, BC pulled Kramer and added an extra forward in a last ditch effort to force overtime. But the Eagles’ efforts were fruitless, and Duke handed BC its first conference loss.
