BLACKSBURG, Va. – The No. 8 Virginia Tech women’s soccer team fell to No. 4 Boston College in a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat Sunday afternoon at Thompson Field. The Eagles' Stephanie McCaffrey notched the final two goals in the last six minutes of regulation to secure the win. Shannon Mayrose connected early at the 15:54 mark for the Hokies.
Tech fell to 9-2-0 on the season and 1-2-0 in the ACC, while Boston College improved to 8-1-2 overall and 2-1-0 in the conference.
“Today was a typical ACC match,” commented second-year head coach Chugger Adair. “I think it was a match that could have gone either way. It was nice to get the first goal in the first half and I thought we had a number of other opportunities that we created as well. And in the end came down to bite us a little bit as we lost a little bit of the grip of the game in the second.”
The game started off as a battle of the defenses, as Tech’s back line remained perfect throughout the first 45 minutes of play. It wasn’t until the 10th minute when the Eagles fired the first shot of the half, as a Hokie defender was there to make the block.
The Hokies retaliated two minutes later when Ashley Manning took the ball down field and caused the Boston College goalkeeper to come out of the box. Manning made a quick move past the keeper and fired a shot on goal, but a Eagle defender made the huge save to keep the game scoreless.
Tech continued to attack, taking a corner before Ashley Meier brought the ball up field and dished it to Mayrose for the perfect setup at the 15:54 mark. For the next 30 minutes both teams traded shots and the Hokies went into the break up 1-0.
Boston College came out strong in the second, as it took four shots in the first 10 minutes back on the field and controlled most of the tempo. The Eagles held the Hokies to two shots and two corner kicks before their first goal to tie the game at one.
Boston College’s Racel Davitt sent a low cross into the box and found McCaffrey’s and she quickly flicked the ball past the Hokie keeper Dayle Colpitts.
“They made some adjustments in the second half and we didn’t do a good job dealing with that and they closed the game out. When that happened we didn’t create enough possession or counterattack to sustain the pressure in the end and unfortunately the game went the other way.”
Just two minutes later, Lauren Bernard served McCaffrey the ball and she took it upfield and fired a hard shot past Colpitts and found the back of the net for the game-winner.
“It came down to us not closing it out and hopefully we learned from this a little bit. We just have to get back and do some work this week to get ready for another tough match against Maryland next week.”
The Eagles out-shot the Hokies, 18-6, while Tech took the 3-2 corner advantage. Four Eagles recorded three shots, while Katie Yensen led the Hokies with two.
Both keepers played the full 90 minutes of regulation. Alexa Gaul (8-1-2) charted the win for Boston College, as she notched two saves. Colpitts took the loss for the Hokies and fell to 4-2-0 on the season, as the junior picked up five saves.
The Hokies return to action a week from today as they host Maryland Sunday, Sept. 30 at 5 p.m.
For updates on Virginia Tech women's soccer, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_WSoccer).