Massachusetts Claims Top Four Victory, Defeats No. 4 Boston College 2-1 in Penalty Shootout

NEWTON, Mass. -- No. 14 Massachusetts (5-0) remained undefeated in 2025, taking home a 2-1 (3-1) shootout win over no. 4 Boston College (3-2) on Friday at Boston College Field Hockey Complex. The win marks Massachusetts' first regular season win over a top four ranked opponent since defeating no. 1 Syracuse 2-1 on Oct. 11, 2012.

Massachusetts earned its 25th victory over the Eagles all-time, having claimed a 1-0 win last season in Amherst. The Minutewomen are now 2-0 this season in penalty shootouts after earning a 3-2 (3-1) victory over Brown on Friday, Sept. 5.

Freshman Emily Barrett opened the scoring, deflecting an assist from Neva Eisenga passed the goalkeeper and into the bottom right corner of the net. The Sevenoaks, England native also converted Massachusetts' first penalty shootout attempt, lifting the ball over the BC keeper in a spectacular display.

Senior goalkeeper Myrte van Herwijnen continued to lead the Massachusetts defensive effort in net recording eight saves, including five in the fourth quarter and overtime. The Huizen, The Netherlands native stopped three penalty shootout attempts for the second time in three games, proving to be a dominant force with the game on the line.

The Eagles were led by Madelieve Drion who scored goal one on two shots.

Breaking Down The Action

Massachusetts struck first as Emily Barrett redirected a pass from Neva Eisenga which found the bottom right corner of the net to give the Minutewomen a 1-0 advantage with 13:01 left in the first quarter.
Boston College held a 2-1 advantage in total shots through 15 minutes, but UMass retained its 1-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
Massachusetts retained its narrow 1-0 lead at the half, with BC holding a 5-4 advantage in total shots through 30 minutes.
Myrte van Herwijnen and the Minutewomen defense weathered a storm of 10 Boston College shots in the second half. However, Madelieve Drion found net for the equalizer with 9:23 to play in regulation.
Regulation ended with the score tied at 1-1 and Boston College holding a 15-9 advantage in total shots.
Boston College recorded the only shot in the first overtime period, the score remaining 1-1.
Myrte van Herwijnen made four saves in the final overtime period, keeping BC off the board and denying a pair of penalty corner attempts.
Despite both teams receiving a yellow card in the second overtime neither side could find the game-winning goal, sending the matchup into a winner take all shootout.
Van Herwijnen made three shootout stops and Barrett, Eisenga and Sophie Kent each buried consecutive attempts to clinch the 2-1 (3-1) win.

Notable Numbers

2: Eisenga notched her second assist of the season.
2: Massachusetts claimed its second penalty shootout win in its last three games, with Sophie Kent netting the game-winning attempt in each matchup.
5: Barrett recorded her fifth goal of the season.
5: The Minutewomen drew seven penalty corners on the evening.
5: Van Herwijnen made five saves in the fourth quarter and overtime.
8: Van Herwijnen tallied eight saves in the contest.
9: The Minutewomen tallied 9 shots in the contest, 4 on goal.
13: Massachusetts defeated a top four ranked opponent in the regular season for the first time since Oct. 11, 2012.

Series History

With the win, Massachusetts now holds a 25-13-0 record all-time against the Eagles.
Massachusetts last faced Boston College on Sunday, Oct. 6, claiming a 1-0 win in Amherst.

Up Next

The Minutewomen remain on the road, facing Dartmouth on Sunday, Sept. 14 at 1 p.m. at Chase Field. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and can be followed live on umassathletics.com or UMassFH on Twitter.

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