No. 7 Eagles Set for National Semifinal Against No. 1 North Carolina

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The No. 7 Boston College field hockey team is preparing for its first final four in program history, where the Eagles will play No. 1 North Carolina on Friday, Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. at Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The Matchup
Boston College is facing a familiar foe, North Carolina. The two teams will meet for the third time this season, which is the most they have ever played in one year. In the first meeting, BC traveled to Chapel Hill, where UNC scored a late goal to win, 3-2. Then, the two teams met in the ACC Championship game, where UNC would go on to win, 3-1. UNC scored first, but BC would answer before UNC would score the next two. The Eagles played over a third of the game down a player due to yellow cards, only having 10 players on the field for 22 minutes of game action.

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.

BC entered Louisville's region as the second seed and had to face Northwestern in the first round. The Eagles scored late in the first half to take a 1-0 lead, before Northwestern tied it on a penalty stroke. Then the Eagles scored off the stick of Elizabeth Warner, who redirected a shot into the back of the net.

The Eagles then faced Louisville, a team who was also eyeing its first NCAA Final Four. Back-and-forth action saw the Eagles strike first with six seconds left in the first half off another redirection from Warner. Louisville would tie it up and the game would go into overtime. Overtime seemed to lean in the Cards favor, but BC almost capitalized on its one chance with 10 seconds left, but a shot by Jaime Natale rung off the post and the game went into a shootout. In the seventh round, Margo Carlin spun around the goalkeeper to score and give BC the chance to win it with a Sarah Dwyer save. As she had done all season, Dwyer put the team on her back and made the save to give BC the win.

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.

There's a First Time For Everything
BC is entering unchartered territory this season. For the first time in program history, BC advanced to the ACC Championship game, ultimately falling to UNC, 3-2.

Then, the team went on to win two NCAA Tournament games for the first time in program history to advance to its first final four.

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.

A Homecoming of Sorts
BC head coach Kelly Doton is all too familiar with the campus of Wake Forest and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A graduate of Wake Forest in 2004, Doton was named the 2003 Honda Award winner as the National Field Hockey Player of the Year. She was also named 2002 ACC Player of the Year and is a two-time NFHCA First-Team All-American while a Demon Deacon. Familiar with a stage this large, she won the 2002 and 2003 National Championship as a student-athlete at Wake Forest as well.

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 18-6-2, which leads the Eagles. Her 18 goals are good for the BC freshman record, seventh in a single season at BC and second in the ACC.

Carlin is also rewriting the BC record books with 42 points. The total is good for sixth all-time in a single season at BC and a freshman record. The total is also second in the ACC.

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 11-3 record (11-2 since Virginia, Oct. 4) with a 0.81 GAA and 0.821 save percentage. She has eight shutout performances in 13 starts, which leads the ACC and tied for the third-most in BC history.

Her 0.81 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 0.821 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 eight goals (six total vs. UNC) and made 50 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.

Govaert has now been the hero in two of BC's most important games late in the year, 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. 7 in the NFHCA Coaches' Poll heading into postseason play. The ninth-ranked Eagles are at their highest spot this season and reached No. 7 on Oct. 22, 2013.

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 an 11-2 record with eight shutouts and eight wins over ranked opponents.

The Eagles outscored their opponents 26-9 since Oct. 4, helping improve their RPI from 13 to six and NFHCA ranking from 17 to seven.

Youth Movement
BC has 93% 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. All seven of BC's top scorers are returning in 2020 and of those, three are juniors, two are sophomores and two are freshmen.

An interesting Postseason Trend...
Boston College has been a different team since the beginning of October, but now in the NCAA Tournament, they seem to be avenging some of its regular season losses. In the first two rounds, the Eagles faced off against Northwestern and Louisville, both of whom BC lost to in the regular season by a score of 3-2 in regulation. Now in the national semifinal, the Eagles will be facing off agains the only other team they lost to by a score of 3-2 in regulation to during the regular season, North Carolina.

If a Giant Falls, Does it Make a Sound?
Boston College has never defeated the No. 1 team in the nation. They have three wins against the No. 2 team in the country, all against UConn, with the most recent in 2014.

No. 7 Eagles Set for National Semifinal Against No. 1 North Carolina

Players Mentioned

Emily Buttinger

Margo Carlin

Sky Caron

Sarah Dwyer

Fusine Govaert

Jaime Natale

Elizabeth Warner

Brigid Wood

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