Photo by: John Quackenbos
"Everyone Shows Up, Ready to Compete" as Posteason Looms
November 07, 2019 | Field Hockey, #ForBoston Files
BC field hockey opens up the ACC Championships this afternoon against Wake Forest.
Kelly Doton began the 2019 field hockey season with a vision for Boston College. She reflected on her own strengths in her first four seasons before identifying her own personal areas of growth. It was the perfect time to do so because she believed it allowed her to adapt to an overhauled roster. Her Eagles had lost eight graduating seniors, so she sought to change her own course with the way the tides would shift on Newton Campus.
Three months later, it's safe to call her new approach a success. Starting today, the Eagles will host a postseason tournament with an opportunity to enjoy a deep run at both the conference and national level. The No. 9 Eagles, seeded second for the conference's postseason, host No. 21 Wake Forest in the first round of the 2019 ACC Field Hockey Championships.
"This is the fun part," Doton said of the postseason. "This is what they've worked so hard for, and there's a long way to go. The postseason, with the NCAA Tournament, you don't know what's going to happen, and things just have to take care of themselves there. But I think this team can play and beat any team in the country."
The postseason brings the potential of spoils and riches for the young BC roster, but the regular season wasn't the easiest road to this point. The team lost three of its first four games, including an overtime matchup against Fairfield, before rallying for wins over Dartmouth and Northeastern. A 2-0 win over Wake Forest opened ACC play in late September, but the following weekend turned into a disappointment with back-to-back losses against Louisville and Saint Joseph's.
It ended there. BC upset Virginia, a team ranked inside the Top 10 nationally, on the road in its next game, kicking off a string of four consecutive shutouts.
"The season started sluggish," Doton said before the conference tournament opener. "We weren't that far off, but we had some unfortunate results on the scoreboard. The Louisville and Saint Joseph's weekend was disheartening in a lot of ways, but we started to get on a roll after that. The way the win streak started against Virginia, on the road, gave us confidence."
BC's stride never stopped from there. The Eagles closed the season with a 7-1 record in their last eight games to improve to 11-6 overall, and their 4-2 ACC mark set a program record for most victories since joining the conference. Each defeat came against a ranked opponent, but the team beat six ranked teams from the most recent poll. The lone loss came against UNC's top-ranked Tar Heel roster, but the Eagles rebounded to beat the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils at home in the season finale.
"In what's now my fifth year, looking back, it's been a long process," Doton said. "The ability to change to the ideal situation for this team was first and foremost the most important thing. We wanted to be more positive and reinforcing because the team was going to make mistakes. But this roster is probably the most competitive team day-in and day-out. You got into October when academics had midterms, and everyone still showed up every day, ready to compete. That helped contribute to the level of success of where they are right now."
BC's streak rocketed the Eagles forward in the RPI rating for their best mark in over two years. They finished the regular season ranked No. 7 in the RPI index, one of five ACC teams in the Top 10, despite holding the second-hardest strength of schedule in the nation.
The attack finished second in the ACC with 44 goals, 17 of which came from ACC Freshman of the Year Margo Carlin. That number broke the program record for freshman scoring, part of a larger, 39-point output that also set a new rookie mark. Both numbers ranked eighth all-time in overall BC program history and ranked her second in the ACC this season. Her four-goal output against Boston University tied for most goals in a game this season by any player.
This week, she became the first Rookie of the Year honoree since BC changed conferences and just the second overall in program history (Anne Marie Ambros' award in 1995 was part of the Big East).
She formed a lethal combination with junior Fusine Govaert, who made good on her preseason All-ACC selection. She set career highs in goals and assists, finishing the season with 20 points. Her seven goals and six assists placed her 11th and 5th in the conference, respectively, earning her First Team All-ACC honors. Govaert further finished the season with four game-winning goals, highlighted by the lone goal scored in the 1-0 win over Duke in the season finale.
But the team's hallmark became a change on defense, where Doton, who played defense as a player, took more pride in the unit's ability to play together. It helped Sarah Dwyer transform in net into one of the nation's top goaltenders in her senior season; she finished the regular season with a 7-2 record and ranked atop the ACC in goals against average and save percentage.
"Sarah's been great, but the defense improved in front of her," Doton said. "It wasn't that (Jonna Kennedy) was playing poorly, but we decided to make a change because we needed to make a change. As soon as we did it, we changed a couple of things (defensively). System-wise, Sarah's been great, but we can't overlook the fact that forwards are defending better and the midfield structure is good. The backs are marking some of the best forwards in the country. We're comfortable with both Jonna and Sarah, and right now, it's Sarah with the defense helping her out. If you have a defense, you can win games, 1-0."
BC now enters the postseason as a team with its own brand of swagger. The roster is young and clearly built for long-term success, and it will return over 90% of its scoring from a team with 10 players owning 15 or more starts this season. But the desire to win is more immediate, from the top down.Â
"This team plays those top teams, and these guys don't know any better," Doton said. "They don't care what the other team's seed is, what the uniform says or what stadium they're in. They just really want to win. They step on the field every game thinking they can win that particular game. It goes through the entire roster. That confidence, I can't teach that. I can talk about beating any team, but if they don't believe it, it means nothing. That's this team's culture and it speaks to who they are as players. That can't be overlooked."
Boston College opens up the 2019 ACC Field Hockey Championships against No. 21 Wake Forest at the field hockey complex on Newton Campus at 2:30 p.m. The games can be seen on the ACC Network with streaming video available online at WatchESPN.com.
Three months later, it's safe to call her new approach a success. Starting today, the Eagles will host a postseason tournament with an opportunity to enjoy a deep run at both the conference and national level. The No. 9 Eagles, seeded second for the conference's postseason, host No. 21 Wake Forest in the first round of the 2019 ACC Field Hockey Championships.
"This is the fun part," Doton said of the postseason. "This is what they've worked so hard for, and there's a long way to go. The postseason, with the NCAA Tournament, you don't know what's going to happen, and things just have to take care of themselves there. But I think this team can play and beat any team in the country."
The postseason brings the potential of spoils and riches for the young BC roster, but the regular season wasn't the easiest road to this point. The team lost three of its first four games, including an overtime matchup against Fairfield, before rallying for wins over Dartmouth and Northeastern. A 2-0 win over Wake Forest opened ACC play in late September, but the following weekend turned into a disappointment with back-to-back losses against Louisville and Saint Joseph's.
It ended there. BC upset Virginia, a team ranked inside the Top 10 nationally, on the road in its next game, kicking off a string of four consecutive shutouts.
"The season started sluggish," Doton said before the conference tournament opener. "We weren't that far off, but we had some unfortunate results on the scoreboard. The Louisville and Saint Joseph's weekend was disheartening in a lot of ways, but we started to get on a roll after that. The way the win streak started against Virginia, on the road, gave us confidence."
BC's stride never stopped from there. The Eagles closed the season with a 7-1 record in their last eight games to improve to 11-6 overall, and their 4-2 ACC mark set a program record for most victories since joining the conference. Each defeat came against a ranked opponent, but the team beat six ranked teams from the most recent poll. The lone loss came against UNC's top-ranked Tar Heel roster, but the Eagles rebounded to beat the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils at home in the season finale.
"In what's now my fifth year, looking back, it's been a long process," Doton said. "The ability to change to the ideal situation for this team was first and foremost the most important thing. We wanted to be more positive and reinforcing because the team was going to make mistakes. But this roster is probably the most competitive team day-in and day-out. You got into October when academics had midterms, and everyone still showed up every day, ready to compete. That helped contribute to the level of success of where they are right now."
BC's streak rocketed the Eagles forward in the RPI rating for their best mark in over two years. They finished the regular season ranked No. 7 in the RPI index, one of five ACC teams in the Top 10, despite holding the second-hardest strength of schedule in the nation.
The attack finished second in the ACC with 44 goals, 17 of which came from ACC Freshman of the Year Margo Carlin. That number broke the program record for freshman scoring, part of a larger, 39-point output that also set a new rookie mark. Both numbers ranked eighth all-time in overall BC program history and ranked her second in the ACC this season. Her four-goal output against Boston University tied for most goals in a game this season by any player.
This week, she became the first Rookie of the Year honoree since BC changed conferences and just the second overall in program history (Anne Marie Ambros' award in 1995 was part of the Big East).
She formed a lethal combination with junior Fusine Govaert, who made good on her preseason All-ACC selection. She set career highs in goals and assists, finishing the season with 20 points. Her seven goals and six assists placed her 11th and 5th in the conference, respectively, earning her First Team All-ACC honors. Govaert further finished the season with four game-winning goals, highlighted by the lone goal scored in the 1-0 win over Duke in the season finale.
But the team's hallmark became a change on defense, where Doton, who played defense as a player, took more pride in the unit's ability to play together. It helped Sarah Dwyer transform in net into one of the nation's top goaltenders in her senior season; she finished the regular season with a 7-2 record and ranked atop the ACC in goals against average and save percentage.
"Sarah's been great, but the defense improved in front of her," Doton said. "It wasn't that (Jonna Kennedy) was playing poorly, but we decided to make a change because we needed to make a change. As soon as we did it, we changed a couple of things (defensively). System-wise, Sarah's been great, but we can't overlook the fact that forwards are defending better and the midfield structure is good. The backs are marking some of the best forwards in the country. We're comfortable with both Jonna and Sarah, and right now, it's Sarah with the defense helping her out. If you have a defense, you can win games, 1-0."
BC now enters the postseason as a team with its own brand of swagger. The roster is young and clearly built for long-term success, and it will return over 90% of its scoring from a team with 10 players owning 15 or more starts this season. But the desire to win is more immediate, from the top down.Â
"This team plays those top teams, and these guys don't know any better," Doton said. "They don't care what the other team's seed is, what the uniform says or what stadium they're in. They just really want to win. They step on the field every game thinking they can win that particular game. It goes through the entire roster. That confidence, I can't teach that. I can talk about beating any team, but if they don't believe it, it means nothing. That's this team's culture and it speaks to who they are as players. That can't be overlooked."
Boston College opens up the 2019 ACC Field Hockey Championships against No. 21 Wake Forest at the field hockey complex on Newton Campus at 2:30 p.m. The games can be seen on the ACC Network with streaming video available online at WatchESPN.com.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Field Hockey
GK
/ Field Hockey
M/F
/ Field Hockey
GK
/ Field HockeyFootball: Owen McGowan Postgame Press Conference (Sept. 14, 2025)
Sunday, September 14
Football: Reed Harris Postgame Media (Sept. 14, 2025)
Sunday, September 14
Football Availability - Coach O'Brien Media Availability
Sunday, September 14
Football: Head Coach Bill O'Brien Media Availability (September 11, 2025)
Thursday, September 11
