GRESHAM, Ore. — Boston College’s Annie Ward (Fr., San Rafael, Calif.) scored a game-high five goals to claim Player of the Game status as the New England Division Champion Eagles overcame Texas Division Champion/No. 18-ranked Texas A&M University, 10-9, in the final first round game of the 2018 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Washington at Mt. Hood Community College.
Courtesy the win, Boston College advances to meet Sierra Pacific Division Champion/No. 1 the University of California-Davis at 9:00 am. Pacific/Noon Eastern on Saturday, May 5, in the tournament quarterfinals. UC-Davis earned its spot into the quarterfinals by defeating the University of Oregon by a 13-5 score in the opening game of the tournament.
Texas A&M will next be in action at 9:50 p.m. Pacific/12:50 a.m. Eastern this evening against Oregon in the consolation side of the championship bracket.
The game was nip-and-tuck the entire way as neither team lead by more than two games during the entirety of the 28 minute contest.
Texas A&M jumped out to a 1-0 lead 47 seconds into the game as Alyssa Koerber (So., League City, Texas) drilled in an even-strength chance three seconds following the conclusion of a man-up chance. Boston College pulled even at one-all with 4:08 on the clock as Heather Clark (Jr., Houston, Texas) hit the mesh, but the Aggies responded at 1:35 as Lauren Kenney (So., Santa Ana, Calif.) flushed a natural marker to push Texas A&M back in front at 2-1.
The margin expanded to 3-1 with 1:03 to go in the second quarter when Kenney connected on a shot. However, B.C. chipped the margin down to one score prior to halftime as Ward slipped in a shot with eight seconds remaining in the first half to pull the Eagles within 3-2 by the break.
Boston College erased its deficit 35 seconds into the third quarter as Ward whipped in a power-play opportunity with 6:25 on the clock to balance the scoreboard at three-all.
The lead continued to sway back-and-forth as Julia Johnson (So., Woodlands, Texas) placed Texas A&M back into the lead at 4-3 (6:05), Ward responded to deadlock the teams at four-all (5:47), Michelle Hubbard (Jr., League City, Texas) made it 5-4 in favor of the Aggies (4:20) prior to the Eagles’ Elizabeth Judge (So., Scarsdale, N.Y.) knotting the score at five-all at the 4:09 mark.
Boston College went ahead for the first time at 2:48 as Clark swished a go-ahead score to give the Eagles a 6-5 lead. Jenny Cary (Jr., Houston, Texas) eradicated the margin for the Aggies by lining in a five-meter penalty shot at 2:31, but the Eagles closed out the third quarter with back-to-back blasts by Judge (2:17) and Clark (14 seconds) to go in front to stay at 8-6.
Koerber inched Texas A&M back within one at 8-7 with 6:41 remaining in the fourth quarter, but Ward answered at the six minutes mark to return the lead to a pair at 9-7. Kenney sliced the margin back to one again at 9-8 by burying a feed at 4:39, but Ward capped off her five-goal performance with a man-up strike at 4:17 for what would prove to be the winning goal in providing Boston College at 10-8 lead.
Texas A&M attempted to force overtime as Hubbard ripped in a man-up opportunity with 37 seconds to move within 10-9, but the Eagles were able to stymie the Aggies the rest of the way to hang on for a 10-9 victory.
For Boston College, Clark (three) and Judge (two) joined Ward in posting multi-goal games as the Eagles received all their scoring from three athletes. In cage, Amanda Bolanos (Sr., Palm Springs, Calif.) made 12 saves to earn the win.
Across the tank, Kenney accounted for three goals for Texas A&M with Hubbard and Koerber both netting pairs. Johnson and Cary accounted for the Aggies’ other two goals in support of an 11 save effort by Rylan Scott (Fr., Santa Barbara, Calif.).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 18 Texas A&M University | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | – | 10 |
| Boston College | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | – | 9 |
| Boston College Goals: | Annie Ward (5); Heather Clark (3); Elizabeth Judge (2) | |||||
| Texas A&M Goals: | Lauren Kenney (3); Michelle Hubbard (2); Alyssa Koerber (2); Julia Johnson; Jenny Cary | |||||
| Saves: | Boston College – Amanda Bolanos (12) ; Texas A&M – Rylan Scott (11) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Boston College – 6 ; Texas A&M – 3 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Boston College – 2-for-3 ; Texas A&M – 2-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | Boston College – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) ; Texas A&M – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Kacie Bund, Julie Snyder | |||||
Texas A&M University’s Jenny Cary (#11) spots an open player over Boston College’s Heather Clark (#4)
Boston College’s Heather Clark (#4)
Texas A&M University’s Linden Overbey (#19)
Boston College’s Annie Ward (#4) shoots over Texas A&M University’s Julia Johnson (#3)
