Boston College Athletics
Women's Soccer Shuts Out Holy Cross
August 31, 2004 | Women's Soccer
Aug. 31, 2004
The Boston College Eagles won their home opener 3-0 over the Holy Cross Crusaders on Tuesday evening. Goals from Kia McNeill, Molly Dane and Laina Ceddia brought BC back to .500. With the victory, the Eagles improve to 1-1-0. The loss drops Holy Cross to 0-2-0 while both teams are untested in conference play.
Looking at general statistics, BC out-shot the Crusaders immensely. The Eagles tacked up 21 shots while Holy Cross put up one. Although this is an impressive statistic, the Eagles tallied 18 in their last game at BU as well. The big difference this time is that three of those bids found the back of the net.
"The win felt really good," Head Coach Alison Foley commented. "Winning that opening game at home is so important and having that win under your belt feels pretty special."
The scoring opened up for the Eagles when freshman Kia McNeill, 2003 National High School Player of the Year, took a through ball from midfielder Heather Ferron that brought her inside the 18-yard box. Holy Cross goalkeeper Eileen Geoghegan made a charge at McNeill, but McNeill managed to get the ball over her outstretched hands and into the net for the game-winner. On the day, she put four hard shots on the Holy Cross goalkeepers.
When asked how it felt to score her first collegiate goal, McNeill responded, "It truly was a great feeling scoring that goal. I've been watching this team for the past two or three years and now to come in and make an impact feels great."
BC struck again just 17 seconds into the second half when McNeill passed the ball upfield to sophomore Molly Dane. Dane dribbled up while tightly defended and put a hard shot across the net. The attempt found the upper left corner and the Eagles extended their lead to two. Dane had quite an offensive day as well, as she ripped a team-high five shots. McNeill notched her third point of the game and the season with the assist on Dane's goal.
To seal the victory, BC scored with about a minute left in the game. Laina Ceddia got her body in front of the Holy Cross goalkeeper's kick to clear the zone and managed to knock it down. Ceddia streamed past her and put the ball in the net gingerly. The hustle that blocked the keeper's clear ball made the actual shot on net relatively simple.
Although the offense was dynamic on Tuesday, the story was the Eagles defense. Kate Taylor went down at the end of the first half when she dove for a ball at a Holy Cross forward's foot. However, at the beginning of the second half of play, she returned to the goal and nursed her shutout until the 90 minute mark.
Sweeper Lindsey McArdle and Laura Georges are a perfect compliment to the goalkeeping of Taylor. McArdle is a tough ball-winner and, on Tuesday night, was not afraid to lay her head on two Crusader shots streaming towards the net. Her style of play coupled with the aggressive ball-handling skills of Georges paved the way for Taylor and her shutout.
"Kate [Taylor] exudes confidence in the net at all times," Foley said. "The other two center backs compliment her style so well and they will continue to be a strong duo throughout the season."
The next time the Eagles take the field is this coming Sunday as they travel to the University of Hartford. They square off against the Hawks at 1 p.m.
