Oct. 31, 2014
DATE: Nov. 1, 2014
TIME: 7 p.m. ET
LOCATION: Newton, Mass. (Newton Soccer Field)
LAST MEETING: ND 3-1 (10/24/13 at ND)
BROADCAST: N/A
LIVE STATS:
TWITTER: @NDsoccernews
TEXT ALERTS: Sign up at UND.com
Storylines
– The Fighting Irish are 11-1 (.917) all-time against Boston College.
– Notre Dame officially clinched its second straight berth in the ACC Championship, joining Florida State, Virginia and North Carolina in the four-team tournament Nov. 7-9 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 2014 regular season finale has arrived for the University of Notre Dame women’s soccer team, as the Fighting Irish close Atlantic Coast Conference play on Saturday at Boston College. The 7 p.m. (ET) match will take place at the Newton Soccer Field in Newton, Massachusetts.
A goal in the eighth minute from senior forward Lauren Bohaboy (Mission Viejo, California/Santa Margarita) provided the winning tally for No. 9/7 Notre Dame (12-4-1, 7-2 ACC) last Sunday, as the Fighting Irish scrapped to a 1-0 ACC win over Louisville. The win was the fifth straight and the seventh in the past eight matches for Notre Dame, cementing the Fighting Irish among the top four teams in the conference standings to qualify for the 2014 ACC Women’s Soccer Championship on Nov. 7-9 at the UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Final matchups for the ACC Championship will be determined following the final regular season games on the conference schedule this weekend. Notre Dame is locked in to the No. 4 seed in the semifinal round, and will face the No. 1 seed on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (ET) on Nov. 7, with video streaming live at ESPN3 (WatchESPN).
Bohaboy earned ACC Co-Player of the Week honors on Tuesday after tallying both game-winning goals in two 1-0 victories last weekend. She became the second Notre Dame player to earn the top ACC weekly honor in 2014, joining sophomore goalkeeper Kaela Little (Tulsa, Oklahoma/Bishop Kelley) on Sept. 30. Bohaboy has tied a career-high with a team-high seven goals this season, and has scored in four of her past five starts.
Junior defender/tri-captain Katie Naughton (Elk Grove, Illinois/Elk Grove) was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week after the two team shutouts. Naughton, who has played all 1,560 plus minutes on the Notre Dame back line through 17 matches this season, was previously named to the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week on Aug. 26.
Boston College (10-8, 3-6 ACC) enters Saturday’s home finale and Senior Day looking to solidify an at-large bid into the NCAA Championship. The Eagles have dropped three ACC matches by one goal, most recently falling at Wake Forest (4-3) and Duke (2-1 in overtime) last weekend.
Notre Dame holds a dominant 11-1 (.917) edge in the all-time series against Boston College, with the lone Eagle win coming in a 2-1 defeat of the Fighting Irish on Nov. 7, 2003, in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship in Piscataway, New Jersey. Notre Dame has won the last three head-to-head matchups between the teams, outscoring Boston College an aggregate 6-1 in those contests.
A result in Saturday’s match would complete the ninth unbeaten regular season road record for Notre Dame in program history, and the first since the Fighting Irish were 8-0 away from home in 2008. The 1997 Notre Dame squad, which went a perfect 10-0 in true road matches, remains the program standard bearer for road wins in a single season.
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SCOUTING BOSTON COLLEGE
Boston College looks to keep its NCAA Championship at-large bid hopes alive on Senior Night Saturday against Notre Dame at the Newton Soccer Field. The Eagles enter the regular season finale at 10-8 this season with a 3-6 mark in ACC competition. The team’s leading scorer from 2013, junior forward McKenzie Meehan (20 goals, 41 points), is expected to miss the entire season due to injury.
Sophomore forward Hayley Dowd has picked up the scoring lead in Meehan’s absence, tallying 14 goals and adding three assists in her first 18 matches of 2014, including five match-winning goals. Senior forward Stephanie McCaffrey has chipped in six goals and a team-high seven assists, while junior midfielder Lauren Bernard has scored two goals to go along with her six assists.
Senior goalkeeper Alex Johnson has earned the majority of Boston College’s wins this season, posting a 9-3 mark with a 1.08 goals-against average and five solo shutouts in 14 match appearances. Freshman keeper Darien Dunham has seen the rest of the action in the Eagles net, logging a 1-5 record and 2.36 goals-against average in eight match appearances.
Head coach Alison Foley is in her 18th season at the helm of the Eagles, and has led Boston College to a 235-121-33 (.647) mark during her tenure. The Eagles have qualified for the NCAA Championship in 13 seasons under Foley’s tutelage, including each of the last 11 campaigns. Boston College reached the NCAA Women’s College Cup in 2010, closing the year with a 17-7-1 record.
THE NOTRE DAME-BOSTON COLLEGE SERIES
Notre Dame is 11-1 all-time against Boston College dating back to when the series between the teams began in 1995. The Fighting Irish hold a 30-6 aggregate goal edge in 12 prior meetings with the Eagles, and have won seven of 11 matchups by way of a shutout.
Saturday’s match will be the fourth true home contest for Boston College during series history, with Notre Dame a perfect 3-0 in the first three meetings.
THE LAST TIME NOTRE DAME AND BOSTON COLLEGE MET
Midfielder Morgan Andrews collected a goal and two assists, while midfielder/tri-captain Mandy Laddish added a goal and an assist to help the Fighting Irish put an emphatic end to their rare four-match losing streak with a 3-1 win over Atlantic Coast Conference rival Boston College on Oct. 24, 2013 at Alumni Stadium.
Forward Karin Simonian got Notre Dame on the board just before halftime, while defender Brittany Von Rueden rekindled her playmaking abilities with a second-half assist in the final regular-season home match for the Fighting Irish.
Goalkeeper Kaela Little made two saves in the Fighting Irish net, while BC’s Jessica Mickelson turned aside five shots while getting the start for the Eagles in place of their normal starting goalkeeper, Alex Johnson, who was sidelined after receiving a red card at Miami four days earlier.
Notre Dame finished with a 16-10 edge in total shots, as well as an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal. Boston College shaded the Fighting Irish on corner kicks, 3-2, as well as fouls, 6-5.
LAST TIME OUT: LOUISVILLE
Forward Lauren Bohaboy scored her team-high seventh goal, and her fourth in her past five starts, to provide the winning Fighting Irish tally in a 1-0 win over Louisville on Senior Day Sunday at Alumni Stadium.
No. 9/7 Notre Dame won its fifth straight conference match, clinching the fourth and final berth into next month’s Atlantic Coast Conference Championship in the process. The Fighting Irish held a 22-5 shots advantage over Louisville, including an 8-3 cushion in shots on goal, and attempted four corner kicks while holding the Cardinals without a single corner try.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kaela Little made three saves during the full 90 minutes to post her 11th shutout of the season, and seventh clean sheet during ACC play. Little has not allowed a goal over her last 450 minutes in net, dating back to an Oct. 5 match against No. 4/5 Virginia.
BOHABOY NAMED ACC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After scoring both Notre Dame game-winning goals last weekend, senior forward Lauren Bohaboy was recognized by the Atlantic Coast Conference in earning co-ACC Women’s Soccer Player of the Week on Tuesday.
Bohaboy became the fourth Notre Dame player to be tabbed as the conference’s top weekly performer since the program joined the ACC in 2013, and the second this season, joining sophomore goalkeeper Kaela Little during the week of Sept. 30. The Fighting Irish striker shared the weekly league honor with Florida State standout Dagny Brynjarsdottir.
IRISH PUNCH TICKET TO THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
Notre Dame sewed up its second straight ACC Women’s Soccer Championship bid last Sunday with its 1-0 win over Louisville. The Fighting Irish are 37-6-1 (.852) with 11 tournament titles in conference championship play since the 1995 season.
IRISH LOOK FOR UNBEATEN REGULAR SEASON ON THE ROAD
Notre Dame will look to finish the 2014 regular season unbeaten in road matches Saturday at Boston College, entering the contest with a 6-0-1 record. The Fighting Irish have outscored opponents a combined 12-1 on their counterpart’s home field thus far this season, allowing a meager 24 shots on goal over 650 minutes of play.
Eight different players have tallied goals in away matches this season, with sophomore midfielder Morgan Andrews, junior forward Anna Maria Gilbertson and sophomore forward Kaleigh Olmsted leading the way with two goals each. Andrews has chipped in two assists for a team-high six points in seven road starts.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kaela Little has earned six solo shutouts away from Alumni Stadium, posting a nearly flawless 0.14 goals-against average and .958 save percentage. Little has not allowed a goal on the road since the 23rd minute of the regular season opener at Illinois on Aug. 22, a span of just over 628 minutes of match action.
NEXT UP FOR THE IRISH: ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
Notre Dame will join Florida State, Virginia and North Carolina in the 2014 ACC Women’s Soccer Championship, Nov. 7-9 in Greensboro, North Carolina.