Eagles Fall to No. 6 Denver in Third Loss

After nearly nine minutes of scoreless play with lockdown defense from each side, the Pioneers finally broke through BC’s defense and Sloane Kipp notched the first goal of the game at the 6:06 mark.

Kipp’s goal opened the floodgates for Denver, and less than two minutes later two goals from Ellie Curry gave the Pioneers a 3–0 lead, forcing an early BC timeout with

4:10 left in the quarter. Eight seconds after play resumed, Denver potted its fourth goal of the match.

The scoring barrage did not stop there, as Denver continued its onslaught of unanswered goals with its fifth and sixth goals at the 3:51 and 2:36 marks, respectively.

The Eagles recorded just one shot on goal in the first quarter.

“I think that Denver came out and executed, like, their game, very well, and we did not,” Walker-Wein- stein said. “I think in the beginning, and throughout the game, I think Denver wanted to win more than we did.”

The lackluster quarter prompted Walker-Weinstein to pull Dolce and sub in Hall, who had started the first seven games of the season for the Eagles.

“You know, like I said, all year, both goalies are very good, and we’re going to continue to play who’s hot,” Walker-Weinstein said. “But I think Denver was overwhelmingly organized and executed way better than we did. No one person’s fault by any means. I think Denver just had a better game plan and executed it better.”

The second quarter went back and forth, as Courtney Weeks finally ended BC’s scoreless streak 1:20 into the second quarter with an assist from Mckenna Davis, but Denver responded with two goals of its own.

Kayla Martello then found the back of the net for two straight goals, and the Eagles entered halftime trail- ing 8–3. Hall allowed just two goals on four shots on goal in the quarter.

BC’s defensive and offensive woes returned to start the second half, though, as the Pioneers extended their lead to seven with two goals by the 10:55 mark.

The Eagles, however, responded with a goal from Ryan Smith at the 3:20 mark, and Jenn Medjid joined the scorer’s circle with her first goal of the game with 57 seconds left in the quarter to bring the Pioneers’ lead back down to five.

“I think a positive is that we had a great third quarter and we executed need-ball defense very well and arrived very well,” Walker-Weinstein said. “That’s a positive.”

BC continued its run at Denver in the final quarter, as Medjid potted her second goal of the game to bring BC within four.

Pulling off an 82–77 overtime upset win over Wake Forest last year and then being three points away from defeating Miami in the quarterfinals of the 2022 ACC Tournament brought excitement and buzz around a program in need of all of the above.

That national recognition won’t come overnight, but Grant has made it clear that he is taking BC in the right direction and will slowly garner attention around the team in Chestnut Hill. Quinten Post taking home the ACC’s Most Improved Player award—the first Eagle to ever do so—this season is an example of that.

BC’s improvement under Grant in two years, starting from its 6–14 conference record in the 2021–22 season to a 9–11 record in the 2022–23 season—its most ACC wins in 12 years—shows that this is no fluke. To follow the pattern, 11–13 conference wins in 2023 would put the Eagles right in the thick of the ACC and another step closer to snapping its 14-year NCAA Tournament drought.

And Grant’s done all this through a Big East–esque, defensively menacing approach, penning the slogan “gritty not pretty” as the style of this new era of BC men’s basketball. The slogan was certainly capitalized on when BC held the Cavaliers to just 48 points, and especially there in regards to BC going 5–0 when holding teams to under 50 points, 13–2 when holding teams to under 60 points, and 21–4 when holding teams to under 65 points during Grant’s reign.

But what is most fascinating about the transformation under Grant thus far is every player’s undeniable commitment to the team. It’s obvious, just from attending practices, games, press conferences, and locker room visits while covering the Eagles, that the team—one through 15—buys into Grant and his message.