Boston College Women's Soccer Blanked 2-0 in Season Opener Against Notre Dame
The Boston College women's soccer club began their brief 2020 campaign Thursday night against ACC foe Notre Dame in a very rainy South Bend, IN. The Eagles coming off an 8-8-2 and season last year had a brutal end to their 2019 season winning just one of their last ten matches. With all eight of their losses last year coming in the ACC this Boston College women's soccer club is looking to change what happened a year ago.
For the home squad, Notre Dame's season didn't exactly end they way they wanted it to either. The Fighting Irish won four of their last ten before bowing out in the ACC quarterfinals to UNC. Though Notre Dame did manage a win in the first round of the national tournament against St. Louis before losing to South Carolina.
Notre Dame came into this matchup with two matches already under their belt going 1-1. Both games being played on the road, the Fighting Irish lost to Florida State 5-0 then came back in dominant fashion beating Miami 6-0. Tonight was their first home game of the brief eight game schedule.
Game Notes
Notre Dame had a good look inside the 18 just 90 seconds in with a loose ball but BC was able to clear. BC struggled to establish possession in the early going going up against a squad that already had two contests under their belt. But 11 minutes in, the Eagles had their first chance of the first half. With a good feed into the box, Jenna Bike couldn't quite knock it home for the Eagles.
1-0 Notre Dame
Sammi Fisher broke open the scoring with 31:45 left in the first half splitting two Eagle defenders with her shot that got past Augur towards the far post after another solid Notre Dame attack in the box. And shortly after the Fighting Irish goal, they almost knocked another passed the BC goalie after a corner kick, but Augur was there to prevent the second Notre Dame goal.
2-0 Notre Dame
Kiki Van Zanten doubled the Notre Dame lead making it 2-0 with just under 10 minutes left in the first half off a splendid cross from Eva Hurm which Allie Augur had little she could do.
Boston College looked like a team that was still shaking off rust and Notre Dame looked like a team that had played two games. It took about 15 minutes but BC finally found their legs starting to get better offensive looks. One of those looks was from Samantha Agresti who nearly netted a beautiful goal far post on a cross but the cross was just too strong. However; Notre Dame was able to weather the BC storm and keep the press on.
The Eagles registered only one official shot in the first half while the Fighting Irish logged 14, eight of which were on frame.
BC came out with a little bit of purpose with a golden opportunity in the six yard box but Jenna Bike couldn't put it past Jaina Eckert. Bike had BC's best chance of the second half with 31 minutes left with a nice shot that skimmed off the far post which would've brought the game to 2-1. However; Notre Dame responded nicely with attack after attack in the box but Augur was able to hold strong in the second half for the Eagles registering two solid saves for the half.
Although BC had a much stronger second half, Notre Dame played superbly in the second half to get their second shutout of the season. The Eagles had strong play from graduate student Jenna Bike whose two shots were both on goal, although she did commit a game high three fouls.
The Eagles will stay on the road for their next matchup on Sunday against Louisville while Notre Dame will stay at home to take on Syracuse the same day. Both games will kickoff at 12pm ET and can be seen on ACC Network Extra.
