Boston College Athletics
No. 20 Women's Soccer Shuts Out Villanova, 1-0
September 21, 2003 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 21, 2003
Chestnut Hill, Mass. - The 20th-ranked Boston College women's soccer team cemented their place as one of the top teams in the BIG EAST, registering a 1-0 shutout of Villanova today at Newton Campus Field. With the win, the Eagles remain undefeated at 8-0-0 while the Wildcats lose their first game of the year, dropping their record to 7-1-0.
The game featured the conference's top-ranked offense in the Eagles against Villanova's top-ranked defense and the numbers did not lie. The game was back and forth from the outset. Boston College narrowly missed a scoring chance early in the game when sophomore Lindsey McArdle's header off a corner kick sailed just wide. Villanova also suffered a missed opportunity in the first half when BC goalkeeper Kate Taylor plucked the ball right off the foot of Laura Johnson inside the box. Despite a combined 17 first half shots, the teams went into the break in a scoreless tie.
The Eagles picked up their offensive pressure a bit early in the second half and at 55:26 of the match, they were finally able to break through the Wildcat defense. Senior Sarah Rahko split two Villanova defenders and beat a third before crossing the ball through the box to sophomore Katie McGregor, who beat Villanova keeper Chrissy Dolan with one touch. The Wildcats did not relent, though. They earned a late corner kick and generated a couple of scoring chances in the final minutes but were not able to find the goal as the Eagles hung on for the 1-0 victory.
Taylor made four saves for the Eagles in getting her second shutout of the year, while Dolan made five stops in the loss. Boston College outshot Villanova by a 22-9 margin and earned seven corner kicks to four for the Wildcats.
BC opens up BIG EAST divisional play on Wednesday September 24 when they travel to Providence to take on the Friars at 4:00 p.m.
at Chestnut Hill, MAVillanova (7-1-0) 0 0 - 0 Boston College (8-0-0) 0 1 - 1
SCORING: BC, Katie McGregor (Sarah Rahko) 55:26.
SAVES: VU, Chrissy Dolan 5; BC, Kate Taylor 4.
