Lights! Camera! Whistle! Newton Soccer Field might not be allowed to play music, but the field is home to a collection of pop stars: the BC Women’s Soccer team. The young team is midway through a grueling, 18 games in 2.5 months season, which means it’s time for a midseason check-in.
Just past the halfway mark, the Eagles are (3-6-2). But records only tell half the story, especially in a conference as competitive as the ACC. Like any pop icon, personality and chemistry mean just as much as the numbers. So, “strike a pose,” and let’s see what’s in Vogue for women’s soccer.
#1 Wiebke Willebrandt – Taylor Swift
Willebrandt is the undisputed superstar of the Eagles. Like Swift, the keeper has evolved in each of her three seasons on the Heights, reinventing herself into a keeper who’s unafraid to play the ball with her feet under pressure, or come off her line. Yet, beneath the reinventions, Willebrandt remains the same: tirelessly organizing her defense, putting her body on the line to make the incredible look easy. Beyond that, Willebrandt does the little things right on and off the field, earning the respect and praise of her teammates. As a goalkeeper, Willebrandt rarely gets the flowers she so richly deserves, but in her final year, Eagles fans should celebrate her Eras Tour.
#26 Bella Douglas – Renee Rapp
Renee Rapp was nominated for Best New Artist at the VMAs, and Douglas was just named one of the most impactful freshmen for a New England program by the New England Soccer Journal. Douglas seamlessly combines her defensive prowess with a knack for positioning herself in the final third, making herself an offensive threat, as well. Watching Douglas, you wouldn’t know she’s a freshman with the effortless way she closes down opposition forwards. Douglas plays with assurance, shaking off a missed touch like she’s been here before, or regrouping to jump start the offense on the next play. Douglas has only scratched the surface of what she’s capable of, but she’s already a star.
#7 Claire Mensi – Cher
Everything Mensi does is clean and, like Cher, she’s instantly recognizable. The graduate student captain holds down the back line with grace, while occasionally being deployed as a center forward if the moment calls for it. Handling the losses, position changes, and general frustrations of the season with grace, Mensi adds experience to the backline. The center back is timeless, knowing the right moment to step forward and when to allow her wingers to track back as she defends the center of the box. But Mensi is more than just a one trick pony: her two goals and an assist show the captain’s versatility. She’s an example of balanced leadership, stellar play, and emotion in a season where the Eagles are young.
#4 Sarai Costello – Olivia Rodrigo
Costello is cool, smart, and probably knows how to parallel park. More than that, match after match, without breaking a sweat, Costello battles opponents off the ball, guiding it up the field and out of danger. Costello has Guts, playing with a bite the Eagles sorely need. Her position is center back, but honestly, you can look anywhere on the pitch and there’s a chance Costello is there, putting out fires. She plays smart, with her positioning doing the hard work, and her tactical genius keeping opponents frustrated. Costello is ferocious, brave in one-on-one situations, and should receive more praise for her light’s out defending over the past three years. Taking on Costello? It’s a “bad idea, right?”
#6 Ava McNeil – SZA
McNeil has Control in both her position as the left back and playing higher up the field. The sophomore plays smart, using her positioning to step in on defenders or move the ball higher up the field, turning on the jets only when she has to. Like others on the team, McNeil plays her position with a quiet confidence, expertly diffusing situations as they develop and rarely dropping into emergency mode. Still growing into her dual role, like SZA, McNeil has space to grow and evolve while finding her voice on the field.
#8 Laura Gouvin – Maisie Peters
Laura Gouvin is everyone’s problem, and she’s fine with that. The midfielder directs traffic through a crowded midfield, allowing her teammates to pass out of tricky situations. Gouvin is relentless, forcing the opposition to work harder than her in order to beat her—which rarely happens. Playing a holding midfield role, Gouvin’s vision benefits the Eagles, turning a defensive position into an offensive asset. Maisie Peters puts her whole heart into her songs, and Gouvin does the same with her soccer, willing the Eagles to make that final push late in games. Her set piece abilities are just an added bonus.
#5 Sonia Walk – Phoebe Bridgers
The thing about Phoebe Bridgers is that she thrives as an individual and in boygenius. The thing about Walk is that she’s good on her own, making life impossible for opposing teams to break through the field, but she’s great on the Eagles, as well. Walk serves as the defensive fulcrum in the midfield: swooping in to pickpocket a forward, passing out of danger, and closing down space. You don’t necessarily say Walk’s name a lot in a game, but that’s because her presence is the game changer. More than that, Walk’s ability to pick up on runs and thread through passes has seen her play a more offensively minded role late in games as the Eagles are pushing for a goal. Walk thrives, no matter where you play her.
#10 Emily Sapienza – Shakira
“Shakira, Shakira” or Sapienza, Sapienza? Either way, Sapienza is dancing on opposing team’s defenses. The ultimate hype woman, the season’s image of Sapienza is her screaming in celebration at the top of the penalty box when BC won a penalty kick. Her talents on the field are many, but her best quality is her ability to get the Eagles going and make small things feel like huge victories. Excellent on the dribble, unafraid to drive at a defender, and always in favor of trying her luck, Sapienza makes things happen on the field—even if she isn’t showing up on the score sheet. It’s been a bit of a brutal season for the Eagles, but thanks to Sapienza, they’re still dancing.
#21 Andi Barth – Pink
When Barth plays, her wing is hers, regardless of how good the defender matched up against her is. Barth combines speed, technical ability, and toughness—making her impossible to defend against in all scenarios. She’ll beat you with her speed to send in the perfect cross, or she’ll beat you with the dribble to get off a shot on goal. And, if you happen to dispossess her of the ball, she’s immediately tracking back, oftentimes with a vengeance. Rotating between being a starter and being a game changing substitute, Barth has handled the uncertainty with grace, making her moments count. There’s no better way to describe Barth as a player than Pink’s “So What,” especially the line “So what, I’m still a rockstar.”
#22 Ella Richards – Sabrina Carpenter
I’m sure opposing teams find themselves asking Richards “Why you gotta be so vicious?” because the center forward can do it all, beyond just notching four goals so far this season. Sabrina Carpenter is all about the performance, and Richards lights up the field every time she steps on it. Whether it be dropping deeper to serve as an outlet pass, dishing dimes from the top of the box, or initiating the Eagles’ press, Richards controls the tempo in the final third. When she chops the ball to her left, creating space in the tightest of situations, the entire crowd holds their breath. More than anything else, it is Richard’s technical ability that creates magic and yet, the forward makes it all look so effortless.
#15 Aislin Streicek – Miley Cyrus
There’s Hannah Montana Miley Cyrus and then there’s the Miley Cyrus who is making intentional choices about her career these days away from others’ control. Streicek is no different in choosing to control her own career and asserting agency, transferring into BC from Alabama and immediately forcing her way into the starting lineup. Betting on herself has seen Streicek score two goals and record two assists, making her a force on the Eagles’ squad. Streicek’s ability to cut in on the dribble and leave defenders in her wake is her biggest strength, seconded by her positional defensive play. Like Cyrus, Streicek knows her bread and butter, but plays them so well that they feel fresh each time you see her cut inside or side step the opponent.
#25 Sophia Lowenberg – Beyoncé
Lowenberg is in the process of transitioning from Destiny’s Child to Beyoncé, but you can already tell she’s going to be an absolute rockstar. Lowenberg is cool, she’s played at least three different positions, and she’s been solid at all of them. More than that, when asked to score, Lowenberg has that clutch factor, giving the Eagles two goals already this season. Her ability to serve a long ball directly onto the foot or head of her teammates is her best asset, but that’s because her positioning is impeccable. Handling her flexible positioning with grace, Lowenberg, like Beyoncé, has demonstrated herself a Renaissance woman.
# 9 Sydney Segalla – Ice Spice
Like Ice Spice, Segalla is taking the world (BC soccer fans) by storm. And even if Ice Spice is rap rather than pop, she’s still popular enough to need to be mentioned here, with Segalla also playing multiple genres (positions). Asked to play as both a winger and a right-back this season, the sophomore has proven her adaptability, growing her defensive side of the game while continuing to outwork opposing teams’ defenses to get to the long balls the Eagles send her way. Segalla plays with her heart on her sleeve and, when “she’s in her mood,” look out, because no one is stopping her from firing off a cross to the center of the box. It might be Segalla’s speed that you notice first, but the lasting impression is her willingness to outwork the opposition and make the case that you have to have her in your starting lineup.
These pop stars have seven ACC games left in their season, and their record doesn’t tell the full story of the passion, dedication, and care each member of the Eagles puts into each and every game. A little over halfway through, and there are plenty of things to improve on: finishing, defensive position, and speed of play, but despite everything going wrong, the Eagles manage to make each game feel winnable. That’s a monumental task in a season like this one.
The next home game is against Louisville on October 14th. It’ll be a performance you won’t want to miss.
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