The majority of the month of October has not gone according to plan for Boston College women’s soccer.
Entering its matchup against Miami on Sunday afternoon, the last time that the Eagles had won a game was Oct. 3rd, taking down NC State 2–1.
But on Senior Night, the Eagles showed up and downed Miami handily 3–0.
“We have ten players that are seniors on our team, and most of them play major minutes,” BC head coach Chis Watkins said. “It’s a big day for them and for the program. I’m really proud of all the work they’ve done to bounce back and get these wins.”
With the win over Miami (5–7–4, 1–5–3 Atlantic Coast), BC (11–5–2, 3–4–2) snapped its four-game winless streak.
The Eagles struggled to maintain possession in the first half, with Miami’s Giovana Canali consistently creating scrappy chances on the goal line and outside of the box.
“We have got to be able to keep possession better, especially in the first half,” Watkins said. “We just struggled connecting, we have got to be much better.”
But in the time that BC could keep possession, the Eagles were able to execute. In the 13th minute, a senior to senior connection created the first goal of the game. Ella Richard made a pass to Aislin Streicek, who tapped the ball around Claireese Foley and shot low to the left corner.
Grace Courter led the Eagles’ defense through the remainder of the half to keep Miami scoreless. Courter stayed strong in the back line, especially in the air defending crosses.
“We made sure we kept people behind the ball so that if they were to combine and get to our goal they would have to shoot through eight of us, a bunch of us were dropped back” Watkins said.
With about 20 minutes remaining, the Eagles substituted multiple players. It seemed to give the team new energy—a change that yielded positive results.
At the 70:33 mark, Ava Lung connected with Paige Peltier, who crossed the ball to Georgina Clarke for a header goal. It was Clarke’s first goal for BC.
“[Georgina], a freshman who was out injured for a month, is back and did a great job today,” Watkins said.
Three minutes later, the Eagles extended their lead when Lung connected with Peltier for their third goal of the match. The goal cemented a 3–0 lead for BC in its second-to-last game of the season.
For the Eagles, all sights are on Thursday night’s season-closer against Syracuse.
“Hopefully with another win we can move up and with the right results we can get in the NCAA tournament” Watkins said.
