Sophia Lowenberg gave the Eagles a lead with under 10 minutes to play, but Wake Forest responded, and the game ended in a 1–1 draw.
For 80 minutes of Boston College women’s soccer game against Wake Forest on Thursday, it looked as if the Eagles would end their season in a similar fashion to how they ended eight of their matchups this year—scoreless. But then came Sophia Lowenberg, who netted one in the 81st minute, handing BC a glimmer of hope in its final contest of the year.
But the lead didn’t last for long, as Wake Forest followed up with a goal of its own four minutes late, and the Eagles capped off their 2022 season on a more anticlimactic note than it looked like after Lowenberg’s tally—in a tie.
The Eagles (5–8–5, 1–7–2 Atlantic Coast) entered their final game of the season against the Demon Deacons (9–6–3, 3–6–1) without a win since Oct. 6 and having only scored two goals in their last nine games. While BC avoided its ninth loss of the season, it couldn’t hold onto a 1–0 lead, and the game ended in a 1–1 draw.
BC and the Demon Deacons swapped possession of the ball for the first eight minutes of the game before BC’s Andi Barth sent a shot flying just wide in the ninth minute. BC regained possession, and Lowenberg also attempted to put the Eagles up early just a few seconds later, but to no avail.
BC continued to look for opportunities to score, and Sam Smith sent a shot just over the crossbar. The Demon Deacons took possession of the ball and took their first shot about 18 minutes into the match.
Twenty-one minutes into the match, Sydney Segalla took the Eagles’ first shot on goal.
With less than a minute left in the first half of the match, the Demon Deacons made a charge for the goal. Wake Forest’s Giovanna DeMarco took a shot with six seconds to play, but BC goalkeeper Wiebke Willebrandt made a heartstopping save as the clock ran out.
Both teams played soundly on defense in the first 45 minutes of the match as each team allowed just one shot on goal from its opponent in the first half. The teams entered halftime tied 0–0.
“I thought that they were clean in the first half,” BC head coach Jason Lowe said. “To have a shutout going into the second half, that’s something we’ve been giving up with early goals, so I think just our mentality going into the second half was so much better because of how they were performing.”
The Eagles came out of halftime looking to break the tie as Barth took a shot on goal under a minute into the second half. Wake Forest also took a shot on goal at the 66-minute mark, but the first half largely repeated itself, and neither team capitalized on their chances until the game’s final 10 minutes.
Lowenberg broke the tie in the 81st minute as she sent the ball flying over Wake goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks’ head for the first goal of the game with just under 10 minutes to play. The goal came off of a textbook assist by Laura Gouvin and Sarai Costello. The crowd jumped up as BC took the lead in its final game with just a few minutes remaining.
It looked like the Eagles would ride into a victory as the clock ran out, but with five minutes to go, Hannah Johnson sent the ball into the top shelf for Wake Forest.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t hold them off, but it’s a good Wake team,” Lowe said. “I mean, you know, that’s how it goes in the ACC—give a team one chance, and they cash in.”
After the final whistle blew, Lowe reflected on the Eagles’ season and said he hopes to see growth next year.
“We just gotta keep growing,” Lowe said. “We are trying to turn this program around, and we see a lot of growth … especially with some of our younger players. I mean, Lowenberg is a freshman getting a big time goal all the way down at the end. Sydney Segalla [had] her first start and probably [had] one of her best performances of the year.”
While Lowe commended his freshman group for showing potential down the stretch, he acknowledged the foundation his veteran players built.
“Credit to the seniors, you know, I mean they built the foundation for what we are building on now, and to send them out with their heads up high is important,” Lowe said.
