The four seniors on the Boston College women's field hockey team made the most of their final regular season home game on Friday by clinching at least a share of the Big East title. With the 3-1 victory over Big East opponent Rutgers, the BC field hockey team improved to 11-5 overall and 4-1 in the conference.
The 16th-ranked Eagles began the week with a 2-1 loss to its cross-town rival, 15th-ranked Harvard.
The game was played in cold, wet conditions on Harvard's Jordan Field. The Eagles dominated the first half of the game, outshooting the Crimson, 10-1. The Eagles took the first lead with a goal by junior Kerri Doherty at 30:16 in the first half. Doherty scored the goal after she collected a rebound from a shot by Lauren Schultz. It was Doherty's third goal of the season.
In the second half, Harvard was able to turn the momentum back in its favor. Harvard tied the game at 1-1 when Kate McDavitt hit a shot upper right corner of the goal at the 45:19 mark of the game.
Harvard struck again just 35 seconds later on a goal by Kat Gannon. The goal was Gannon's second of the season and put Harvard ahead for good. The Eagles had many chances to tie the game, but they were stopped by the tough play of Harvard's goalie Katie Zacarian, who had eight saves on the afternoon.
The seniors got things rolling for the Eagles early in Friday night's game against Rutgers. Senior Kim French scored the first goal with just over 11 minutes gone in the game. It was French's 10th goal of the season. The goal was assisted by fellow senior Virginia Droza, who made a nice feed from the baseline.
"The first goal was beautiful," said head coach Sherren Granese. "One senior to another, setting that up, and putting us on the scoreboard."
The Eagles were able to tally a second goal in the first half when sophomore Sara York scored on a corner play with seven minutes left in the half. In the second half York scored again to put the Eagles ahead 3-0. York's goals were her team-leading 15th and 16th goals of the season.
Kamilah Lalani scored a goal for the Scarlet Knights late in the game to make the final score 3-1. BC dominated the game, outshooting Rutgers 23-3.
It was the last regular season home game for the Eagle's four seniors: Lauren Hill, Lauren Schultz, Virginia Drozd, and Kim French.
"We wanted to do it for our seniors today," said Doherty. "Their leadership has been unbelievable this year."
All four seniors started the game and played significant roles. Granese said that the seniors "have had great careers here and you could see the definite impact they had on the game today." This was a great way to finish their BC careers.
Drozd and French teamed up to score the Eagles first goal. Senior Lauren Hill started in goal for the Eagles and had two saves. "Our goalkeeper played real well. She has started for us for three years. She made a couple of real nice saves tonight to keep us ahead," said coach Granese.
The coach also praised the backfield play of senior Lauren Schultz. "She does a great job of working the ball up the field and stepping up on defense," she said.
The win meant a lot to the Eagles, who finished third in the conference last year. The team lost to Villanova in the Big East Tournament and was left out of the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles do not want to be sitting on the sidelines during postseason play. Winning the Big East brings the team in the right direction.
"It was big game because with this win we got at least a share of the Big East title. We have to see what happens with a couple of the other teams to see if we share the title or win it outright," said Granese.
Both the coaches and players are very excited for the rest of season. "I feel very good about our team. We still have some things that we need to work on, like our corners," she said.
"We just need to work hard because we still have a lot of work to do. But we are real excited to be hosting the Big East tournament."
Granese said she is optimistic about the rest of the season.
"I think we keep getting a little better. We have learned and grown a lot this year and are ready to play some great hockey. We could beat anyone we have on our schedule or in the Big East."
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