While temperatures clocked close to ninety in Durham, N.C., that didn’t hinder Boston College field hockey’s performance in its Friday afternoon matchup against No. 4 Maryland. In fact, it may have helped showcase what the Eagles are capable of in the third game of their young season.
“Our players were coming off and were completely gassed, but they went back out there and performed, and I am really proud of their effort,” BC head coach Kelly Doton said.
The first half ended scoreless for both teams, but No. 8 BC (3–0) was able to get things going in the second half. The Eagles scored one goal in the third quarter, then another in the fourth, all while shutting out the Terrapins (2–1) for a 2–0 victory to remain undefeated.
Neither team was able to get much going in the first frame. Both the Terrapins and the Eagles were granted penalty-corner opportunities, but both Maryland’s Brinkley Eyre and BC’s Madelieve Drion stood strong, and the score stood at a standstill going into the second quarter.
The same story rang true in the second quarter. Despite going punch-for-punch, though, the two teams couldn’t seem to inch past the other.
The only time a penalty corner took place in the second frame was at the very beginning, after the first quarter ended with a green card for BC’s Alex De Cain. Fortunately for BC, that didn’t leave much of an imprint. Maci Bradford’s corner yielded no points thanks to two quick blocks from Drion.
The second half didn’t mirror the first, however, and it all started with Caroline Chisholm. The freshman made her third collegiate career game count when she swept the ball to teammate Melea Weber.
Juking her defender, Weber hammered the ball into the back of the Terps’ net as the Eagles took the lead for the first time.
With just a one-goal lead, BC was far from comfortable against the fourth-ranked team in the nation.
“1–0 is the reward and those are the outcomes we are looking for,” Doton said. “You can’t let down, Maryland is a very good team.”
The Terps couldn’t find their footing against the Eagles as the third frame winded down.
All eyes were on Djuna Eikelboom as she prepared for her team’s penalty corner with five minutes left in the third. But it was too good to be true for Maryland, as the Eagles shut out another Terp corner and maintained their lead.
Even after racking up the assist on her team’s go-ahead goal Chisholm wasn’t quite done yet in Durham. With ten minutes left to play, she scored a goal of her own off a penalty stroke, as the ball sailed through the legs of Maryland goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko.
“With Caroline getting the stroke and going up 2–0, I always say, and it may be cliche, it’s the most dangerous score in the sport,” Doton said.
The danger of a scoreboard reading 2–0 didn’t seem to be too much of an issue for the Eagles, though.
Wrapping up the final frame preserving that lead, BC shut out Maryland for the first time since 2021. It is also the first ranked win that the Eagles have earned since defeating Duke at the ACC Tournament on Nov. 6, 2024.
“You don’t really know what you have until like three or four weeks into the season,” Doton said. “The growth that we have had since preseason to now has been tremendous.”