Weekly Roundup: September 5, 2017
September 04, 2017 | Field Hockey, Women's Soccer, Women's Cross Country, #ForBoston Files
Field hockey is rolling, and both women's soccer and cross-country had great weeks!
When I met with Boston College field hockey head coach Kelly Doton before the season, it was the second day of preseason training. I wanted to catch some of practice, expecting to get an idea for how coaches drilled players. Instead of seeing conditioning drills, though, I watched a team going full speed on their field, competing in game situations.
The Eagles hit the ground running in preseason, and it hasn't stopped. Ranked 12th in the nation, they stand deserving of a top 10 national ranking. Over the weekend, they traveled to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for the ACC/Big Ten Cup against national powerhouses Northwestern and Maryland. First dispatching the No. 14 Wildcats, 3-2, in double overtime, BC scored a 2-1 victory over No. 6 Terrapins to win both games in the tournament for the first time ever.
"This was our third year in the ACC/Big Ten Cup, and we know we usually see teams that make it to the postseason," Doton said. "Maryland and Northwestern are two really great teams. These were games that will lead nicely into the ACC, and they're going to be great preparation for us leading into Syracuse on Friday. They were good tests, especially early on in the season."
Facing the Wildcats on Friday, BC rallied twice to tie the game before winning it in double overtime. Northwestern took a 1-0 lead at the 8:41 mark, then held the lead for the next 12 minutes. That's when Brooke Matherson found Jaime Natale in the circle. Natale spun and drilled a shot on goal, scoring through Northwestern goalie Annie Kalfas.
After Northwestern scored again in the 47th minute, BC tied things up at 2-2 thanks to Alesandra Miller. With time winding down, Ymke Rose Gote took a shot that came back out to Miller. Miller put it by Kalfas, knotting the game back up. After a 15 minute scoreless first overtime, Lucy Lytle scored her second goal of the season to win the game 30 seconds into the second extra frame.
BC carried that momentum into Sunday's game against the Terrapins; Caroline McGovern scored less than nine minutes in, a score that held for over 35 minutes before Fusine Govaert scored her first career goal for insurance. It became the difference as the Eagles stopped a Terp rally over in the game's final minutes.
"We've really tried to utilize our strengths as a team, and I think the players are starting to really buy in," Doton said. "We're smart and fit, so we want to utilize our intelligence and really work. We try to limit mistakes; if we can win the turnover ratio, we can win the game. We're really tapping into that potential now, and the team has grown over three weeks. But we're not done, and we do our best to keep the girls in check (with that growth)."
Results being a byproduct of work and growth, BC is now 4-0 for the first time since 2013. They have three wins over Top 25 opponents and two over teams ranked higher than them. They remain one of three undefeated ACC teams, joining Duke and Syracuse. The Eagles play the Orange on Friday at home, meaning that number is assured of dropping later this week.
"We want to focus on us," Doton said. "I always tell the team to keep the blinders on. It's important not to look at the top of the staircase and to stay in the moment to climb with what's in front of us. The weekend is over. We should be proud of that, but we're onto Syracuse. I've always been a small picture person; we want to keep focusing and fixing the little things, working on film and getting better. Win or lose, we want to learn from our result and move on."
The BC-Syracuse game is scheduled for 5 p.m.
*****
Not the only show in town
Field hockey isn't the only program having a solid run of Newton Campus. Women's soccer lost an evenly-played game to Vanderbilt, 1-0, on August 25. Last week, though, the Eagles kicked off a three-game winning streak to elevate their 2017 record to 4-2.
After a 5-1 thumping of Colgate, BC went to Stony Brook to score a 3-0 shutout victory. They returned home on Sunday, hosting a plucky and sneaky-good Northeastern team. Sam Coffey and Jenna Bike scored one minute apart in the second half to help the Eagles grab city bragging rights over the Huskies with a 2-1 victory.
The Eagles are seeing breakout stars emerge in big ways. Bike already has four goals on the season, having scored in each game in the streak. That tops her goals tally from all of last season, when she had three.
Coffey, meanwhile, is turning into an assists machine in her rookie season. Her goal against NU was her second of the season, but she's added four assists to tie for the team lead. She had five points, including three assists, against the Raiders.
And both Lauren Berman and Olivia Vaughn have three goals through the first six games. Berman scored against both Colgate and Stony Brook, while Vaughn added an assist this week. She had three goals in the Eagles' first two games of the season.
BC won't leave Massachusetts again until the end of the month. They're at Harvard on Wednesday, but their three games after that are all at home, including the ACC opener against Louisville on September 17. It's part of a 6-for-7 stretch where their only game outside the Bay State was the Stony Brook.
The Harvard game is slated for 7 p.m. in Boston. The Eagles are back in Newton four days later on Sept. 10 for a game against Boston University at 1 p.m.
*****
Run The Reservoir to Victory
Running the Chestnut Hill Reservoir in a 3K dual meet against Harvard, the women's cross country team opened its season by dominating the Crimson, 15-50. In a sport where lower scoring is awarded based on finishing spot, BC swept the top five slots.
Ashbrook Gwinn finished first overall with a time of 10:23, followed shortly thereafter by Lauren White's 10:26 and Laura Leff's 10:30. Katherine DeLoreto and Kylee Raftis finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with times of 10:32 and 10:37.
The meet is a solid start for the Eagles, who have an incredibly talented and competitive crop of freshmen. White, DeLoreto and Raftis are all rookies, and all made their collegiate debuts in the run.
The meet won't impact either team's finish during the season since it occurred outside of the NCAA qualifying window, but it's still worth noting because of its strong finish. It's something to build on with BC's first true home cross country run coming up in a couple of weeks; they host the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown at Franklin Park on September 22.
*****
Suit 'em up on Sunday
The NFL contracted preseason cut down days from two to one this year, allowing a franchise to carry 90-plus players through the final preseason game. It meant the last cuts day was darker than usual, with teams cutting dozens of players free after four weeks.
Boston College players weren't immune from the cuts, and some recent heroes got the dreaded call to bring their playbook (or iPad since it's 2017) to the coach's office for bad news. On behalf of everyone who watched or followed their careers, I'm hopeful they will all get another shot somewhere along the line. There's no telling which circumstances can create opportunities.
More than a dozen Eagles, however, made it through the final cuts and will suit up for games that truly count. Some names were givens - I highly doubt the Atlanta Falcons or Carolina Panthers, for example, were planning on cutting Matt Ryan or Luke Kuechly. But it's a tribute to the football program to see some of the names who made it.
Ifeanyi Momah, for example, tore his ACL after making eight catches for 157 yards in the first game of his collegiate senior season. Without a sixth year of eligibility, he went undrafted and bounced around from Philadelphia to the practice squads of Cleveland and Detroit before catching on with Arizona. Now both healthy and a tight end, he'll fight for snaps on the Cardinals' active roster.
For everyone fortunate enough to watch them play on Sunday, congratulations and best of luck on your NFL careers. For those who got the unlucky call, keep plugging and know that everyone who wears Maroon and Gold continue to root for you.
*****
The Road Ahead
The early season is already behind many of the fall teams, meaning ACC matchups kick off this week in a big way. On Friday, field hockey will play Syracuse on their turf while men's soccer kicks off over the tree line against Notre Dame, both at 5 p.m. That leads to Sunday's non-conference matchups; field hockey is once again on the field at Newton, this time at 1 p.m. against Providence while women's soccer kicks off at the same time against BU.
Football has its first home game of the year on Saturday, opening conference play against Wake Forest. There will be lots to digest for that game, which we'll be covering throughout the week.
And to wrap things up, volleyball is at Temple for a weekend set with both the Owls and Delaware Blue Hens. Sailing opens with a number of regattas, and both golf programs head to the Golfweek Program Challenge.
The Eagles hit the ground running in preseason, and it hasn't stopped. Ranked 12th in the nation, they stand deserving of a top 10 national ranking. Over the weekend, they traveled to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for the ACC/Big Ten Cup against national powerhouses Northwestern and Maryland. First dispatching the No. 14 Wildcats, 3-2, in double overtime, BC scored a 2-1 victory over No. 6 Terrapins to win both games in the tournament for the first time ever.
"This was our third year in the ACC/Big Ten Cup, and we know we usually see teams that make it to the postseason," Doton said. "Maryland and Northwestern are two really great teams. These were games that will lead nicely into the ACC, and they're going to be great preparation for us leading into Syracuse on Friday. They were good tests, especially early on in the season."
Facing the Wildcats on Friday, BC rallied twice to tie the game before winning it in double overtime. Northwestern took a 1-0 lead at the 8:41 mark, then held the lead for the next 12 minutes. That's when Brooke Matherson found Jaime Natale in the circle. Natale spun and drilled a shot on goal, scoring through Northwestern goalie Annie Kalfas.
After Northwestern scored again in the 47th minute, BC tied things up at 2-2 thanks to Alesandra Miller. With time winding down, Ymke Rose Gote took a shot that came back out to Miller. Miller put it by Kalfas, knotting the game back up. After a 15 minute scoreless first overtime, Lucy Lytle scored her second goal of the season to win the game 30 seconds into the second extra frame.
BC carried that momentum into Sunday's game against the Terrapins; Caroline McGovern scored less than nine minutes in, a score that held for over 35 minutes before Fusine Govaert scored her first career goal for insurance. It became the difference as the Eagles stopped a Terp rally over in the game's final minutes.
"We've really tried to utilize our strengths as a team, and I think the players are starting to really buy in," Doton said. "We're smart and fit, so we want to utilize our intelligence and really work. We try to limit mistakes; if we can win the turnover ratio, we can win the game. We're really tapping into that potential now, and the team has grown over three weeks. But we're not done, and we do our best to keep the girls in check (with that growth)."
Results being a byproduct of work and growth, BC is now 4-0 for the first time since 2013. They have three wins over Top 25 opponents and two over teams ranked higher than them. They remain one of three undefeated ACC teams, joining Duke and Syracuse. The Eagles play the Orange on Friday at home, meaning that number is assured of dropping later this week.
"We want to focus on us," Doton said. "I always tell the team to keep the blinders on. It's important not to look at the top of the staircase and to stay in the moment to climb with what's in front of us. The weekend is over. We should be proud of that, but we're onto Syracuse. I've always been a small picture person; we want to keep focusing and fixing the little things, working on film and getting better. Win or lose, we want to learn from our result and move on."
The BC-Syracuse game is scheduled for 5 p.m.
*****
Not the only show in town
Field hockey isn't the only program having a solid run of Newton Campus. Women's soccer lost an evenly-played game to Vanderbilt, 1-0, on August 25. Last week, though, the Eagles kicked off a three-game winning streak to elevate their 2017 record to 4-2.
After a 5-1 thumping of Colgate, BC went to Stony Brook to score a 3-0 shutout victory. They returned home on Sunday, hosting a plucky and sneaky-good Northeastern team. Sam Coffey and Jenna Bike scored one minute apart in the second half to help the Eagles grab city bragging rights over the Huskies with a 2-1 victory.
The Eagles are seeing breakout stars emerge in big ways. Bike already has four goals on the season, having scored in each game in the streak. That tops her goals tally from all of last season, when she had three.
Coffey, meanwhile, is turning into an assists machine in her rookie season. Her goal against NU was her second of the season, but she's added four assists to tie for the team lead. She had five points, including three assists, against the Raiders.
And both Lauren Berman and Olivia Vaughn have three goals through the first six games. Berman scored against both Colgate and Stony Brook, while Vaughn added an assist this week. She had three goals in the Eagles' first two games of the season.
BC won't leave Massachusetts again until the end of the month. They're at Harvard on Wednesday, but their three games after that are all at home, including the ACC opener against Louisville on September 17. It's part of a 6-for-7 stretch where their only game outside the Bay State was the Stony Brook.
The Harvard game is slated for 7 p.m. in Boston. The Eagles are back in Newton four days later on Sept. 10 for a game against Boston University at 1 p.m.
*****
Run The Reservoir to Victory
Running the Chestnut Hill Reservoir in a 3K dual meet against Harvard, the women's cross country team opened its season by dominating the Crimson, 15-50. In a sport where lower scoring is awarded based on finishing spot, BC swept the top five slots.
Ashbrook Gwinn finished first overall with a time of 10:23, followed shortly thereafter by Lauren White's 10:26 and Laura Leff's 10:30. Katherine DeLoreto and Kylee Raftis finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with times of 10:32 and 10:37.
The meet is a solid start for the Eagles, who have an incredibly talented and competitive crop of freshmen. White, DeLoreto and Raftis are all rookies, and all made their collegiate debuts in the run.
The meet won't impact either team's finish during the season since it occurred outside of the NCAA qualifying window, but it's still worth noting because of its strong finish. It's something to build on with BC's first true home cross country run coming up in a couple of weeks; they host the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown at Franklin Park on September 22.
*****
Suit 'em up on Sunday
The NFL contracted preseason cut down days from two to one this year, allowing a franchise to carry 90-plus players through the final preseason game. It meant the last cuts day was darker than usual, with teams cutting dozens of players free after four weeks.
Boston College players weren't immune from the cuts, and some recent heroes got the dreaded call to bring their playbook (or iPad since it's 2017) to the coach's office for bad news. On behalf of everyone who watched or followed their careers, I'm hopeful they will all get another shot somewhere along the line. There's no telling which circumstances can create opportunities.
More than a dozen Eagles, however, made it through the final cuts and will suit up for games that truly count. Some names were givens - I highly doubt the Atlanta Falcons or Carolina Panthers, for example, were planning on cutting Matt Ryan or Luke Kuechly. But it's a tribute to the football program to see some of the names who made it.
Ifeanyi Momah, for example, tore his ACL after making eight catches for 157 yards in the first game of his collegiate senior season. Without a sixth year of eligibility, he went undrafted and bounced around from Philadelphia to the practice squads of Cleveland and Detroit before catching on with Arizona. Now both healthy and a tight end, he'll fight for snaps on the Cardinals' active roster.
For everyone fortunate enough to watch them play on Sunday, congratulations and best of luck on your NFL careers. For those who got the unlucky call, keep plugging and know that everyone who wears Maroon and Gold continue to root for you.
*****
The Road Ahead
The early season is already behind many of the fall teams, meaning ACC matchups kick off this week in a big way. On Friday, field hockey will play Syracuse on their turf while men's soccer kicks off over the tree line against Notre Dame, both at 5 p.m. That leads to Sunday's non-conference matchups; field hockey is once again on the field at Newton, this time at 1 p.m. against Providence while women's soccer kicks off at the same time against BU.
Football has its first home game of the year on Saturday, opening conference play against Wake Forest. There will be lots to digest for that game, which we'll be covering throughout the week.
And to wrap things up, volleyball is at Temple for a weekend set with both the Owls and Delaware Blue Hens. Sailing opens with a number of regattas, and both golf programs head to the Golfweek Program Challenge.
Players Mentioned
M
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F/M
/ Women's Soccer
XC/Distance
/ Women's Cross Country
M
/ Field Hockey
M/F
/ Field Hockey
XC/Distance
/ Women's Cross Country
XC/Distance
/ Women's Cross Country
M/F
/ Field Hockey
F
/ Field Hockey
F
/ Field Hockey
M
/ Field Hockey
F
/ Field Hockey
XC/Distance
/ Women's Cross Country
F
/ Women's Soccer
XC/Distance
/ Women's Cross CountryMen's Basketball: FAU Postgame Press Conference (Nov. 3, 2025)
Wednesday, November 05
Football: Head Coach Bill O'Brien Media Availability (November 4, 2025)
Tuesday, November 04
Football: Jeremiah Franklin Media Availability (November 4, 2025)
Tuesday, November 04
Women's Basketball: Holy Cross Postgame Press Conference (Nov. 3, 2025)
Tuesday, November 04
