November 28, 2009 END OF THE LINE B.C. women ousted by No. 1 Stanford
Vicki DiMartino set up Boston College's lone goal a minute into the match. Photo by Dennis Madigan
Stanford, Ca. - The Boston College women had their season come to an end in a 3-1 loss to top-ranked Stanford in the NCAA Division I women's tournament on a cold Friday night in front of 2,200 fans at Laird Q.Cagan Stadium.
Stanford (24-0) reached the College Cup Final Four in College Station, Texas next week.
The Eagles (18-4-2) advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. The 18 wins was the most in a season in program history.
BC coach Alison Kulik was pleased with her team's performance. "We knew coming in here that we were going to be playing the No. 1 team in the country so we needed to bring our "A" game" she said. "We gave it everything we had, and I liked our effort out there this evening."
BC has seven members of the Long Island Fury on the team, including the DiMartino sisters, Gina and Vicki (team-high 34 points) of Massapequa Park, N.Y., defenders Kelly Henderson (Baldwin, N.Y.), Alyssa Pember (Northport, N.Y.), Hannhan Cerrone (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) and Alaina Beyar (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) and goalkeeper Jillian Mastroinanni (Durham, Conn.). The Fury captured its second Women's Premier Soccer League championship in four season this past summer. Forward Lelissa Gimpel (Rockville, Centre, N.Y.) is also on the team.
Boston College wasted no time opening the game's scoring in the first minute on a goal by Julia Bouchelle that was assisted by Vicki DiMartino. Bouchelle got a centering pass from DiMartino and fired an 18-yard shot that went off the right post and into the net for her fifth goal this season.
This was the first time that Stanford had trailed in a game in more than a month. The last time the Cardinal were losing in a game was Oct. 23 against Washington State.
Stanford's Kelley O'Hara responded with a goal of her own less than a minute later to tie the game. She scored on a rebound attempt that came off a shot that deflected off the crossbar.
O'Hara, the leading goal scorer in the country, collected her second goal to give Stanford a 2-1 lead in the 26th minute off a bending shot from 20 yards that was just out of the reach of goalkeeper Jillian Mastroianni.
Stanford outshot the Eagles in the first half, 18-4.
Much of the second half was a back-and-forth affair as both teams' defenses really stepped up not allowing many quality scoring chances.
The game started to get very physical as the half wore on, and that drew two yellow cards in the 78th minute. One yellow was on Stanford's Christen Press, while Boston College's yellow was given to Henderson, who playing her final game.
The Cardinal put the game out of reach in the 84th minute as Christen Press scored her 20th goal of the year. The Eagles tried desperately to get something going in the final few minutes but couldn't break through.
