No. 7 Eagles Prepare for No. 11 Northwestern in NCAA Tournament

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The No. 7 Boston College field hockey team prepares for the first round of the NCAA Tournament, where the Eagles will face No. 11 Northwestern in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday, Nov. 15 at 2:30 p.m.

The Matchup
Boston College will face off against Northwestern for the second time this season. Earlier this year, BC lost a road game to the Wildcats in the ACC/BIG 10 Challenge, 3-2. Margo Carlin and Fusine Govaert scored for BC, who held a 2-1 lead in the 52nd minute of the game.

Scouting Northwestern
Northwestern enters the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid, going 14-7 during the regular season and 5-3 in the BIG 10.

During the BIG 10 tournament, Northwestern defeated then-No.16 Rutgers 3-1, and fell to then-No. 7 Iowa, 2-1 in the semifinals.

They're led by Bente Baekers, who has 27 goals, three assists and 57 points this season, while Kirsten Mansfield has four goals and 17 assists on the year.

In goal, Florien Marcussen has started every game for the Wildcats, where she has a 1.40 GAA and 0.730 save percentage. Her record is 14-7 in net with six shutouts.

How BC Got Here
BC started the season slowly, with a 1-3 record after four games and a 4-5 record after nine. Once October hit, though, the Eagles found a groove and went on an impressive run to close the season. BC closed the regular season winners of seven of their last eight games, including six shutouts and a lone loss to No. 1 North Carolina.

Then in the ACC Tournament, the Eagles shutout both then-No. 21 Wake Forest and then-No. 4 Virginia to advance to their first ACC Championship game in program history. BC would fall to defending national champion No. 1 North Carolina, but did enough to earn an at-large bid into the tournament.

Record-Setting Eagles
Boston College has had a historic regular season and had the best finish in program history. The Eagles have four ACC wins for the first time in program history and the highest seed (2nd) in the ACC Tournament in program history.

BC also closed the season winning seven of its last eight games, which they hadn't done since closing the season with nine-straight wins in 2004.

First-Ever
BC is entering unchartered territory, playing in its first-ever ACC Field Hockey Championship. Prior to this season, the Eagles had been 1-14 in ACC postseason play.

Awards SZN
BC closed the last week of the regular season garnering awards at both the conference and national levels. Senior goalkeeper Sarah Dwyer earned ACC and NFHCA Division 1 Defensive Player of the Week after her shutout performance against Duke.

On Wednesday, the ACC announced its season-long awards, headlined by Margo Carlin earning ACC Freshman of the Year and Head Coach Kelly Doton earning ACC Coach of the Year honors. Carlin made it on the All-ACC first team, being joined by junior Fusine Govaert, while sophomore Sky Caron was named to the second team.

This is the first time since 2007 the Eagles had two All-ACC first team members. Coach Doton is also the first BC coach to be named coach of the year in the ACC, and first to be named conference coach of the year since Sherren Granese in the BIG EAST in 1998.

Carlin's Calling
Margo Carlin is moving up the Boston College record books with her stellar freshman campaign. She currently has a stat line of 17-6-40, which leads the Eagles. Her 17 goals are good for the BC freshman record, 8th in a single season at BC and 2nd in the ACC.

Carlin is also rewriting the BC record books with 40 points. The total is good for eighth all-time in a single season at BC and a freshman record. The total is second in the ACC by nine points and tied for fifth in the nation.

Carlin is among nine players in the country who have scored four goals in a game this year, which she did at Boston University on Sunday, Oct. 13.

Dwyer on Fire
Sarah Dwyer took over in goal for the Virginia game and has found a groove that seems nearly unstoppable. She's posted a 9-3 record (9-2 since Virginia, Oct. 4) with a 0.688 GAA and 0.800 save percentage. She has eight shutout performances in 12 starts, which leads the ACC and tied for the third-most in BC history.

Her 0.88 GAA leads the ACC and is second in the nation. If the season ended today, it would be a new BC single-season record.

Dwyer's 0.800 save percentage has also been stellar, boasting the best in the conference and fourth in the nation. Since Oct. 4, Dwyer has only given up seven goals (six total vs. UNC) and made 39 saves.

Ice in her Veins
Fusine Govaert is having a career-year, setting new career-highs in goals (8), assists (7) and points (23). Her seven assists are tied for fifth in the ACC.

Govaert is also tied for third in the ACC with five game-winning goals on eight total goals. Everyone ahead of Govaert on the list has at least 10 goals.

She has now been the hero in two of BC's last four games, scoring the game-winner against Duke in the fourth period, then sending BC to the ACC title game in overtime against Virginia.

Battle Tested
BC's schedule is one of the toughest in the nation based off opponent win percentage. The Eagles have faced the second-hardest schedule in the country so far this season with an opponent win percentage of .683.

Rankings
The Eagles moved up to No. 9 in the NFHCA Coaches' Poll heading into postseason play. The ninth-ranked Eagles are at their highest spot this season and reached No. 9 last on Sept. 25, 2018.

BC has been on an upward trajectory since the Oct. 8 poll, where the Eagles were 17th.

Autumn Heat
BC played some of its best field hockey since the beginning of October, amassing a 9-1 record with four shutouts and six wins over ranked opponents.

The Eagles outscored their opponents 19-3 during the month, helping improve their RPI from 13 to seven and NFHCA ranking from 17 to 10. Six of the seven BC wins have been shutouts.

Coming out of Halftime
The Eagles have been excellent coming out of halftime, outscoring opponents, 18-8. They have also outshot opponents 75-57 in the third period. BC has a shooting percentage of 0.227 coming out of the break, which is 0.052 better than its regular average of 0.175.

Youth Movement
BC has 92% of its scoring offense returning next season, with seniors Brigid Wood (3-2-8) and Emily Buttinger (0-2-2) not returning in 2020 from BC's scorers. Seven of BC's eight top scorers are returning in 2020, including each of the top five. Of the top-five scorers, two are juniors, one is a sophomore and two are freshmen.

Consistent Starters
The Eagles have had 9 players start 17 or more games this season, with the one position that has seen a timeshare has been goalkeeper. BC has also had six players start all 17 games this season.

Gambino Against a Familiar Foe
Assistant Coach Jill Gambino is familiar with Northwestern, where she earned her bachelor's degree in 2009. In 2005 and 2006, Gambino led the Wildcats in goals with 11 and six, respectively. Gambino played 73 total games for Northwestern throughout her career, finishing with 20 goals and six assists for 46 points.

No. 7 Eagles Prepare for No. 11 Northwestern in NCAA Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Emily Buttinger

Margo Carlin

Sky Caron

Sarah Dwyer

Fusine Govaert

Brigid Wood