Boston College’s Thursday slate brings a little bit of everything: the first crack of fall baseball, a meaningful ACC soccer matchup at home, and a former Eagle trying to fight his way back onto an NFL field.
The first stop is Rhode Island, where Todd Interdonato’s baseball team opens its fall exhibition schedule tonight at 6:15 p.m. That game kicks off a four-game fall slate that was officially announced Wednesday. BC will go to UConn on October 2, host Hofstra on October 10 and wrap up fall ball at Rutgers on October 18, with times still to be set for the final three dates.
Interdonato’s roster looks different this fall after a busy offseason. Boston College brought in a 10-player transfer class, including six position players and four pitchers, after finishing 37-23 and reaching the NCAA Tournament before falling in the Athens regional.
On the soccer side, Boston College women’s soccer returns to Newton for a big ACC test against California at 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra. The Eagles are 8-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play, but they’re coming off their first loss of the season.
No. 17 Notre Dame beat BC 4-0 and snapped an eight-game winning streak.
Even with that setback, the Eagles have put up serious numbers. BC has scored 26 goals in nine games and sits 11th in RPI.
Nicollette Kiorpes leads the team with six goals, while Sophie Reale tops the scoring chart with 13 points on four goals and five assists. Emily Mara has 12 points and Addyson Kalaw has 11.
California arrives with a rough record, sitting at 2-4-4 overall and 0-2-1 in the ACC. The Eagles have also had trouble with the Golden Bears historically, going 0-2-2 in four previous meetings and still searching for their first win in the series.
There’s also a familiar name to keep an eye on in the NFL. Zay Flowers missed Wednesday’s practice with a hamstring injury after sitting out Baltimore’s previous game. Ravens head coach Jesse Minter had said earlier in the week that Flowers had a good chance to return Sunday against Dallas in Brazil.
So far this season, Flowers has five catches for 150 yards and a touchdown. The former Boston College first-round pick is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and signed a four-year, $140 million extension with Baltimore in August, including $108 million guaranteed.
Elsewhere on the BC calendar, women’s tennis continues at the ITA All-American Championships in Cary, North Carolina. And Friday keeps the pace moving: volleyball opens ACC play against Notre Dame at 1 p.m., and men’s soccer heads to Clemson for a 7 p.m. match.
In Other News...
Boston College Defense Faces A Major Depth Test Against Virginia Tech
Boston Colleges first availability report for Saturdays noon matchup with Virginia Tech offers an early look at how thin the defense may be when the Eagles return to Alumni Stadium on ACC Network. The list already includes 11 players out, among them linebacker Bodie Kahoun and defensive lineman Chris Marable Jr., setting up a depth challenge for a unit that has to be ready quickly against an ACC opponent.
The uncertainty does not stop there. Defensive end Kris Jones and defensive back Syair Torrence are among the players marked questionable, leaving Boston College to sort through a defense that has already had to absorb its share of absences and could be forced to lean on more next-man-up answers than usual. [Read more 🡒]
Boston College Faces A Clemson Test That Has Haunted The Eagles
Boston College heads into Historic Riggs Field on Friday with a strong early-season resume and a chance to measure itself against one of the ACCs standard-bearers. The Eagles are 5-1-2 and have gotten production from multiple places on the field, with key players helping both the attack and the back line as the schedule gets tougher. Clemson, ranked 14th, brings a 6-2 mark into the matchup and the kind of offensive punch that can punish any lapse.
Rashford Gyan and Xander Sevian have powered much of Clemsons scoring, and the setting only adds to the challenge for Boston College. These two programs have met 24 times, but the Eagles have had little reason to feel comfortable in this building, where the Tigers have long made life difficult. For a BC team trying to prove its start is more than a fast opening run, this is the kind of conference test that tends to say plenty. [Read more 🡒]
Boston College Faces An Early ACC Test That Could Reveal A Lot
Boston Colleges volleyball team heads into ACC play with some early momentum after a 9-2 non-conference run, and the timing could not be much better for a first real measuring stick. The Eagles get that chance at home, opening league action against Notre Dame on Sept. 25 before turning around to face Louisville two days later, a quick start to conference season that should tell a lot about where this group stands.
Audrey Ross, Sam Hoppes, Naomi Watson and Brooklyn Yelland have all been central to BCs strong start, supplying the kind of production that has helped the Eagles show up well in several ACC statistical categories. With the conference schedule starting immediately, Boston College will get an early read on how its balance holds up once the level of opposition rises, and whether its strengths translate when the matches start carrying a little more weight. [Read more 🡒]