Boston College
No. 7 Virginia
No. 9 Field Hockey Strikes Early Against Cavaliers To Win
September 22, 2006 | Field Hockey
Sept. 22, 2006
Newton, Mass.--Just a minute and six seconds into Friday night's game at the Newton Campus Field, sophomore Bob Dirks registered the only goal of the match to give the ninth-ranked Boston College field hockey team a 1-0 win over seventh-ranked Virginia. The game marks the first ACC win for Boston College (7-2, 1-1 ACC) and its second consecutive win. The Cavaliers drop to 7-2 and even out their ACC record, 1-1.
Boston College had possession of the ball to begin the half and immediately moved up the field with it. With still 33:54 remaining on the clock in the first half, Dirks took a loose ball and sliced a hard, high shot into the cage from the top of the circle and past Virginia goalkeeper Katherine Blair.
At 14:55, the Eagles had an opportunity to increase their lead to 2-0 on a penalty corner when senior Caitlin Gillen drove a hard shot at the net, but Blair stopped it with her pads to prevent a Boston College goal. Virginia's only shot on goal of the first half came at about the 23:00 mark when Inge Kaars Sijpesteijn took a penalty corner shot on goal, only to have it saved by sophomore goalkeeper Julia Berkowitz. Blair ended the half with two saves, while Berkowitz recorded the one stop.
The Cavaliers stormed into the second half looking to come back from the 0-1 deficit, but the momentum swung back in the Eagles' favor in the final minutes, where they took four shots on goal and preserved the win. Boston College forced Blair to make seven saves and Berkowitz finished with three saves in net.
"Not only is this a great ACC win, but it's a great team win," says Head Coach Ainslee Lamb on the victory. "This was the best team effort to date. We wanted to break it open and take a great step at this juncture of the season. We played at another level tonight."
"Coming off a big loss [5-0 to Maryland last Saturday] we knew we still had the confidence and we still knew we were a good team," says senior captain Lauren Parks. "We want to show the ACC that we're serious. We wanted to play our hockey, BC hockey. That's what we did tonight."
Boston College will play host to the Dartmouth Big Green in Newton on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
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