BOSTON – Playing okay was enough to get the Hoyas by.

In a game that was closer than it should have been, the No. 4 Georgetown women’s lacrosse team squeaked out a 12-8 victory over Boston College Saturday. The unranked Eagles (6-4, 1-3 Big East) led the Hoyas once, forced two ties and pulled to within one on three occasions before the Hoyas (8-2, 3-0 Big East) pulled away for the win.

“When we needed a goal, we played well. When we needed a stop, we played well. But it’s in between those points when we get caught up, running around,” Georgetown Head Coach Ricky Fried said. “We’re just not thinking about what we’re doing. That’s the difference between when we’re good and when we’re okay.”

The Hoyas opened the game playing good lacrosse, striking twice for goals in the first three minutes. Sophomore attack Coco Stanwick tallied her first of two goals just 1:37 seconds into play, and senior midfielder Lauryn Bernier followed up 35 seconds later.

Georgetown’s defense faltered, though, and Boston College capitalized, stringing together three goals in just over eight minutes to take its first lead. The Eagles were led offensively by senior attack Susie Breaznell, who tallied a game-high five goals. After she scored her first, junior mids Elizabeth Kadison and Lizette Blohm contributed one apiece for a 3-2 game.

Needing a goal, the Georgetown offense righted itself to put together four unanswered, including two on free-position shots. Senior midfielder Allison Chambers scored two of her three while Stanwick and senior mid Lauren Redler added one to regain the lead.

All season, Fried has emphasized his team’s need to play its own game. “It’s not selfish lacrosse we’re playing,” he said after the victory, “but we’re playing down to the level that our opponent is right now. If we can focus on us a little bit more, we’re going to be more successful.”

The Hoyas’ tenuous 6-3 lead lasted only three minutes as the Eagles pulled back to within one on goals from Breaznell and sophomore midfielder Katie Wagoner. But with under a minute to go in the first half Georgetown senior attack Catherine Elbe put up her first of three, pushing a low roller past the BC goalie.

Georgetown’s offense remained streaky into the second half, missing a handful of early opportunities. The Hoya defense also struggled as Breaznell again pulled her team to within one goal on a free position shot with 23:29 remaining.

Junior attack Lucy Poole and Senior attack Hollis Pica scored one apiece within two minutes, however, and the Hoyas took a 9-6 edge that the Eagles were unable to fully recover. Breaznell scored twice more for BC, including a free-position goal in the last three seconds of play that closed the Hoyas’ margin of victory to four goals after Elbe had scored twice and senior attack Sarah Oliphant added one.

Statistically the game was nothing more than okay for the Hoyas, as well. They outshot the Eagles only 23-17 and had a margin of four in draw controls. Boston College picked up twice as many groundballs as Georgetown while the teams each scored on three of their five free-position shots. In the net for the Hoyas, senior goalkeeper Sarah Robinson made seven saves while allowing eight goals.

The Hoyas will stay in Boston, practicing Sunday for a game against No. 11 Boston University on Monday. Georgetown will use that practice to regroup at both ends of the fields in preparation for a tough game.

“The main focus is on us, not on the other team,” Fried said. “At times we’re buying into it, but we need to do it more successfully.”

Georgetown and Boston University have never met before on the women’s lacrosse field, and if the Hoyas hope to come away with a victory, Fried said, they will need to play better than okay.

“The biggest thing we need to do is run our offense, don’t get caught up in what they’re doing,” he said. “They’re going to come hard after us. We can’t be reactive; we have to know what’s coming. On defense we need to be consistent as far as forcing the right way.”

Opening draw is scheduled for Monday at 4 p.m.