CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Sophomores McKenzie Meehan and Lauren Bernard each scored as Boston College defeated Northeastern 2-0 on Friday night at the Newton Soccer Field. The Eagles improved to 11-9-1 on the year and are now 9-0-1 against the Huskies since 1998.
Meehan scored her 18th goal of the season at 8:30 in the first half when she kicked in her own rebound on a shot from just inside the box that hit the crossbar and bounced right on the goal line. The goal tied the BC school record for goals in a single season. Mary Guarino also had 18 goals in 1999, her senior season.
Bernard gave BC a comfortable 2-0 lead 38 seconds into the second half. She took a shot from the corner of the box that she curved into the far end of the net at 45:38.
“I think it was huge,” head coach Allison Foley said about the second goal. “At halftime we were hoping for a goal and said these next ten minutes are really important. We need to stay focused and determined and when chances present themselves we have to take care of them, so to get it in the first minute was even better than waiting nine more. Being up 2-0 made it feel a little bit like the pressure was off, and it made it like less of a fire drill.”
The Eagles had control of the game most of the first half and only allowed Northeastern to attempt one shot, a redirect that went well wide of the net. BC had great ball possession and kept it in Northeastern’s side of the field for the majority of the first 45 minutes.
BC had a 12-1 advantage in shots attempted in the first stanza, and a 7-0 lead in shots on net.
Northeastern’s best opportunity in the first half came with 4:10 remaining when Lahaina Zoller sent a cross into the box from the far end of the field that Haley Sinclair barely missed on a header attempt. Sinclair was in position inside the 18 but was unable to send the ball in on Eagles goaltender Alex Johnson.
The Eagles kept the pressure on in the second half with nine shots attempted to Northeastern’s one. The one shot the Huskies had came from Shayna Blackwood who tried to lift a shot from eight yards out over BC’s goaltender, but Johnson made a great one-handed save that she punched over the net to keep the Huskies off the board.
Johnson made one save and improves to 8-3-1. Paige Burnett made seven stops for Northeastern and falls to 5-9-6.
The Eagles will play next at Nebraska (19-3-1) on Nov. 22.
