Boston College Athletics
Photo by: Mark Burch
High Drama Sends Eagles to Elite Eight
November 16, 2019 | Field Hockey, #ForBoston Files
Late game heroics lifted BC past Northwestern in the NCAA First Round
The NCAA Tournament is designed to maximize dramatic theater. Selection committees study and analyze teams to pair them together, but nothing palpitates like the actual game between the lines. Every game represents a closer step to achieving the ultimate preseason dream, so it sparks an internal fire unlike anything anyone experiences during an offseason practice or midseason game.
It doesn't hurt, though, to fabricate matchups between teams likely to engage in an instant classic. That's why the committee placed Boston College and Northwestern together in the bracket hosted by Louisville. They were two similar, power conference teams with nearly-identical records and reputations. They both played the same style and knew each other from annual head-to-head games. So the proverbial glove would hypothetically fit the hand perfectly if the committee wanted to initiate drama.
That made the game supremely satisfying to anyone who had a hand in making it happen. Elizabeth Warner deflected a penalty corner shot with just over a minute remaining in the fourth period, and the Eagles won their NCAA First Round matchup, 2-1, over the Wildcats.Â
BC advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals to play the No. 4 Cardinals on Sunday.
"A game like that is going to be about who makes the last mistake," BC head coach Kelly Doton said. "(Northwestern head coach Tracey Fuchs) is a great coach. Northwestern has some really solid individual players that are systematically well-coached. They started the year off strong, then ran into a little hiccup during the year, but they played well at the Big Ten Championship and are just a solid team. They have one of the top players in the nation that can easily put in two or three goals by herself. We just played really well in one of the best 60 minute displays of hockey that we've had all year."
Boston College took a lead right before halftime when Margo Carlin knocked down a cross in front of the Northwestern cage, and it stood as the game's only goal under the Wildcats' Bente Baekers buried a penalty stroke with under 12 minutes remaining in the fourth period.
It deadlocked the game into the white-hot spotlight of the late stages when Northwestern earned a penalty corner with four minutes remaining. It was the Wildcats' second of the period after the BC back line denied its opponent a corner through the first three frames. The ball sent right to the top, the Eagle defense exploded off its cage, and a shot went wide to keep the game tied.Â
"We categorize all of (an opponent's) corners," Doton said. "So when we ran through the defensive corner unit, we were able to run through the tendencies of what (Northwestern did). They had only run that corner play once before. We shouldn't have given up a corner at that point of the game anyways, but the defensive corner penalty unit did a great job."
It teed up some late-game heroics for the Eagles. Margo Carlin came away with an interception with about two minutes left, and as the ball rolled in on the left side, a whistle blew for an obstruction. It granted BC its fifth penalty corner of the day, and Doton called for a designed play through Sky Caron and Fusine Govaert. The Eagles lined the duo side-by-side as strikers with Govaert hitting the gas pedal past a stationary Caron.
Govaert's burst of speed drew the attention of the Wildcat defense, and everybody went right to block an oncoming shot that never made it. Caron's stationary hit went wide of the defense, right to the awaiting stick of Warner. Her deflection punched BC's second goal past Florien Marcussen, touching off a wild celebration that became only more intense one minute later when the clock expired.
"The play was designed for Elizabeth," Doton said. "The ball should be a little bit into the field because it's an intentional strike outside of the cage, to set up for the deflection. We always tell Sky and (Govaert), who are our primary attacking strikers on the corner, that they have to error to the cage. That keeps the shot on the cage. You can't error too far, though, because the ball goes over the end line. Sky played it well from where we were, and it's designed with her to the right. It wound up deflected."
It was exactly the expected game, including the toss-up result, between these two teams. Northwestern entered with the third-leading scorer in the nation in Baekers, a player averaging 1.29 goals per game. She had scored multiple goals in four of her last six games, including a hat trick against Rutgers in the Big Ten Championship. Though she was held scoreless twice by Iowa, Baekers represented a multi-faceted threat, the top producer in a system designed to maximize a player's strength. She also had already scored a goal against BC this year after potting the first in a 3-2 win by the Wildcats in the early season's early stages.
"A game like that is about who is going to make the last mistake," Doton said. "We played really well. (Northwestern head coach Tracey Fuchs) is a great coach, and Northwestern has solid individual players that are systematically well-coached. They played well at the Big Ten Championship, and they're just a solid team. (Baekers) is one of the top players in the nation, and she can easily put two or three goals on the board by herself."
The win marked BC's first victory on the national stage since 2015 and advances the team to within a game of the NCAA national championship weekend. It was also the back end of a wild day in Louisville where the host Cardinals survived a pesky threat from visiting Michigan as part of an all-ACC/Big Ten bracket.
The Wolverines drove the fourth-ranked Cardinals into extra time, but an overtime victory sent Louisville through to the second round, ultimately setting the stage for an ACC rematch. BC lost to the Cardinals at the Newton Field Hockey Complex in late September, 3-2, in a game that featured four goals over a five minute span in the third period.
"There's a benefit to being in the ACC," Doton said. "The game plan is about finding the top player on the field, so we're used to (in conference play). You slide the number one player. Against Northwestern, we had to find Bente. Playing the ACC and coming off of the ACC Championship, we know what kind of team every team is. There's no more information about these teams like there is early in the season. By the time you make it to this point, it's just about playing (your game). All of these teams are close systematically. We know Louisville is going to be a tough battle."
BC will play No. 4 Louisville at Trager Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game can be viewed via free streaming video on the Louisville Cardinals athletics website, found online at gocards.com.
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It doesn't hurt, though, to fabricate matchups between teams likely to engage in an instant classic. That's why the committee placed Boston College and Northwestern together in the bracket hosted by Louisville. They were two similar, power conference teams with nearly-identical records and reputations. They both played the same style and knew each other from annual head-to-head games. So the proverbial glove would hypothetically fit the hand perfectly if the committee wanted to initiate drama.
That made the game supremely satisfying to anyone who had a hand in making it happen. Elizabeth Warner deflected a penalty corner shot with just over a minute remaining in the fourth period, and the Eagles won their NCAA First Round matchup, 2-1, over the Wildcats.Â
BC advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals to play the No. 4 Cardinals on Sunday.
"A game like that is going to be about who makes the last mistake," BC head coach Kelly Doton said. "(Northwestern head coach Tracey Fuchs) is a great coach. Northwestern has some really solid individual players that are systematically well-coached. They started the year off strong, then ran into a little hiccup during the year, but they played well at the Big Ten Championship and are just a solid team. They have one of the top players in the nation that can easily put in two or three goals by herself. We just played really well in one of the best 60 minute displays of hockey that we've had all year."
Boston College took a lead right before halftime when Margo Carlin knocked down a cross in front of the Northwestern cage, and it stood as the game's only goal under the Wildcats' Bente Baekers buried a penalty stroke with under 12 minutes remaining in the fourth period.
It deadlocked the game into the white-hot spotlight of the late stages when Northwestern earned a penalty corner with four minutes remaining. It was the Wildcats' second of the period after the BC back line denied its opponent a corner through the first three frames. The ball sent right to the top, the Eagle defense exploded off its cage, and a shot went wide to keep the game tied.Â
"We categorize all of (an opponent's) corners," Doton said. "So when we ran through the defensive corner unit, we were able to run through the tendencies of what (Northwestern did). They had only run that corner play once before. We shouldn't have given up a corner at that point of the game anyways, but the defensive corner penalty unit did a great job."
It teed up some late-game heroics for the Eagles. Margo Carlin came away with an interception with about two minutes left, and as the ball rolled in on the left side, a whistle blew for an obstruction. It granted BC its fifth penalty corner of the day, and Doton called for a designed play through Sky Caron and Fusine Govaert. The Eagles lined the duo side-by-side as strikers with Govaert hitting the gas pedal past a stationary Caron.
Govaert's burst of speed drew the attention of the Wildcat defense, and everybody went right to block an oncoming shot that never made it. Caron's stationary hit went wide of the defense, right to the awaiting stick of Warner. Her deflection punched BC's second goal past Florien Marcussen, touching off a wild celebration that became only more intense one minute later when the clock expired.
"The play was designed for Elizabeth," Doton said. "The ball should be a little bit into the field because it's an intentional strike outside of the cage, to set up for the deflection. We always tell Sky and (Govaert), who are our primary attacking strikers on the corner, that they have to error to the cage. That keeps the shot on the cage. You can't error too far, though, because the ball goes over the end line. Sky played it well from where we were, and it's designed with her to the right. It wound up deflected."
It was exactly the expected game, including the toss-up result, between these two teams. Northwestern entered with the third-leading scorer in the nation in Baekers, a player averaging 1.29 goals per game. She had scored multiple goals in four of her last six games, including a hat trick against Rutgers in the Big Ten Championship. Though she was held scoreless twice by Iowa, Baekers represented a multi-faceted threat, the top producer in a system designed to maximize a player's strength. She also had already scored a goal against BC this year after potting the first in a 3-2 win by the Wildcats in the early season's early stages.
"A game like that is about who is going to make the last mistake," Doton said. "We played really well. (Northwestern head coach Tracey Fuchs) is a great coach, and Northwestern has solid individual players that are systematically well-coached. They played well at the Big Ten Championship, and they're just a solid team. (Baekers) is one of the top players in the nation, and she can easily put two or three goals on the board by herself."
The win marked BC's first victory on the national stage since 2015 and advances the team to within a game of the NCAA national championship weekend. It was also the back end of a wild day in Louisville where the host Cardinals survived a pesky threat from visiting Michigan as part of an all-ACC/Big Ten bracket.
The Wolverines drove the fourth-ranked Cardinals into extra time, but an overtime victory sent Louisville through to the second round, ultimately setting the stage for an ACC rematch. BC lost to the Cardinals at the Newton Field Hockey Complex in late September, 3-2, in a game that featured four goals over a five minute span in the third period.
"There's a benefit to being in the ACC," Doton said. "The game plan is about finding the top player on the field, so we're used to (in conference play). You slide the number one player. Against Northwestern, we had to find Bente. Playing the ACC and coming off of the ACC Championship, we know what kind of team every team is. There's no more information about these teams like there is early in the season. By the time you make it to this point, it's just about playing (your game). All of these teams are close systematically. We know Louisville is going to be a tough battle."
BC will play No. 4 Louisville at Trager Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game can be viewed via free streaming video on the Louisville Cardinals athletics website, found online at gocards.com.
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