Bridgewater, Va. – Bridgewater College saw another busy week of sports action as field hockey and track and field completed their home openers and both swimming and basketball programs saw their season come to an end. Next week looks to be another busy week as more spring sports open their season.

Men’s Soccer

The men’s soccer team traveled to Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday in a matchup of winless teams in the ODAC.

The game started and remained scoreless throughout the first half and all the way until the 77th minute as the Marlins broke the tie to get ahead 1-0. 

Virginia Wesleyan held their lead all the way until the final minute, when a late Eagles charge led to a goal by sophomore forward Kalefa Boyar. Senior midfielder Sam Beckman added an assist on the goal.

As the game headed into overtime, there was no change in the score as the game ended at a 1-1 tie. BC was out shot 6-2 in the overtime periods combined. 

The Eagles move to 0-1-2 overall and in ODAC play with seven games left on the schedule. They will play again on March 11, when they make the trip up Route 42 to Eastern Mennonite. 

Field Hockey

The Bridgewater College women’s field hockey team opened their season with a 4-1 victory over Sweet Briar. 

Senior Courtney Cooke led the Eagles with the opening goal in the first quarter and then added another goal in the second half on a penalty shot. 

Senior Karinne Moyer also added a score in the third quarter for the Eagles and sophomore Allison Thompson added a goal and an assist in the win for BC.

Junior goalkeeper Brooke Hamm made her first career start and looked impressive with five saves on six shots. Credit is also due to Hamm’s defense as the Eagles limited Sweet Briar to just one shot on goal in the second half. 

The eagles will be back in action March 12 at Lynchburg.

Football

The Bridgewater College football team traveled to Ashland to take on Randolph-Macon in their first ODAC game of the season on Friday night. The Eagles lost to the Yellow Jackets 25-13. 

BC got behind early in the game before senior quarterback Matt Lawton tossed a 13 yard touchdown strike to senior wide receiver Chad Jones. Back up kicker Nathan Chaput would miss the PAT to set the score at 13-6. 

Macon would stretch the lead back out to two possessions to 18-6, before senior tailback Demetrius Jalepes punched it in from seven yards out to pull the Eagles back to within a touchdown at 18-13. 

The Yellow Jackets drove down the field and scored to extend their lead out to 25-13, which is how the game would finish as BC dropped its first regular season game in over a year. 

Jalepes led the Eagles ground attack with 113 yards on just 12 carries. Lawton led the air attack for BC with 203 yards and a touchdown.

The football team will be back in action, when they travel to Ferrum for a 7 p.m. start on March 12.

Swimming

The Bridgewater College swim teams took part in day one of the ODAC Swim Championships on Friday.

The Men’s team currently sits at No. 3 in team points, which puts them on the fast track to beat the programs previous best finishes in ODAC competition. 

The men were in good position with third place finishes in both the 400m medley relay and the 200m free relay.

The women’s program also opened the meet with a successful day one as they tied the program record for All-ODAC swimmers with four. Junior Jessica Touve, first-years Katie Roach, Katelyn Wiglesworth and Katie Tolone all earned those honors with top six finishes in their respective events. 

The Lady Eagles are also third in the team standings on the women’s side.

Day two of the event took place after publication. 

Track and Field

Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted the North River Invitational on Saturday. 

The men’s team finished second overall in the event to Lynchburg University. 

The Eagles were highlighted by wins from junior Reginald Patterson III in both the javelin and hammer throws. BC also added wins in the 200m, 4x400m relay and the 800m. In addition, the Eagles added a 1-2 finish in the 10k by first-year Anthony Cadle and sophomore Vinny Leo. 

The women’s team also hosted the event. It was highlighted by putting five of their runners in the final eight of the 100m dash, which was capped off with a win by first-year Adalia Coleman. 

Both teams will be in action on Saturday, when they will travel to the Lynchburg Invitational.

Men’s Basketball

The men’s basketball team had their season come to an end at the hands of the No. 1 team in the country — Randolph-Macon. The score was 80-49. 

The Eagles trailed start to finish but hung around as they kept the Yellow Jackets lead under 20 points for most of the game — until the final minutes.

Junior Andy Pack led the Eagles with 17 points. Junior David Oliveras added ten points and first-year Alec Topper added nine. In his final game as an Eagle, senior Chandler Murray scored seven points and added six rebounds. 

Women’s Basketball

The women’s basketball team was originally scheduled to compete in their ODAC quarterfinal contest on Saturday against Ferrum, however, it was canceled due to a positive COVID-19 test within the program.

The Eagles finished the season at 4-0 overall and in ODAC play. In addition, the women are the ODAC Regular Season Champions.