Under the bright Friday night lights of the Newton Campus, No. 9 Boston College field hockey had high hopes when taking on No. 16 University of Virginia. Coming off of of three big wins against No. 14 Stanford, No. 3 North Carolina, and Northeastern, the Eagles had hoped to continue their winning streak but struggled to find the back of the goal to pull out a win, losing to the Cavaliers 2-1 in overtime.
The Eagles (4-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) first had a chance to get on the scoreboard nine minutes into the game when Lucy Lytle took a shot but was ultimately blocked by Carrera Lucas of Virginia (5-4, 1-1). BC had a relatively defensive first half, taking only three shots to the Cavaliers’ five. Lytle soon redeemed her early miss with her third goal of the season 24 minutes into the game, receiving the ball on a cross from Chelcie Mendonca. Both teams played the majority of the first half passing and alternating players with little ground gained. Though the half was mostly tame, BC had a scary moment when Ymke Rose Gote took a ball to the face and was down right after Lytle’s goal. After taking a few moments to pause and collect herself, Gote had to exit the game.
Starting the second half, the Eagles took a more offensive approach, doubling the amount of shots taken in the first half in an eight minute span. Head coach Kelly Doton realized that her team needed to take a different approach if they were to come out on top.
“Technically, we were not anywhere close whereyat we needed to be to be competing in that first half,” Doton said. “We changed our outletting structure a little bit, and it provided a little bit more open field play for us.”
Her new game plan ultimately did little to fend off Virginia’s point-hungry offense, with the Cavaliers’ Caleigh Foust breaking through the defense to tie up the score 1-1 with seven minutes and 42 seconds left in the game. The two timeouts Virginia took in the second half proved to be beneficial, as the team seemed to get more energized following each one. Meanwhile the Eagles couldn’t help but look tired in comparison, as they chased the Cavaliers around the field instead of the other way around.
The final buzzer blew with UVA shooting 14 times to BC’s 10 and neither team able to score another point. They headed into overtime, and the five minutes in between was tense with anticipation. Virginia’s Lucy Hymans ultimately became the hero, finding the back of the net under two minutes into the frame on a fast break. And it won’t be a restful weekend for the Eagles. They’ll prepare for a quick turnaround, with a game against University of Massachusetts on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
“Short term memory is what I keep telling them,” Doton said of her team’s preparation. “For all the wins you have, regardless of what year you are in your career, you have to have a short term memory. So wins or losses, you have to put that behind, because the season’s not over and we have another game in 48 hours.”
With the sun setting on Newton and the field lights dimming, the Eagles can only take this loss as a learning opportunity and head into Sunday’s game with heads held high and their minds no longer thinking of navy blue and orange.
Featured Image by Daniella Fasciano / Heights Staff
