The Boston College women’s lacrosse team will begin play in its 11th straight NCAA championship tournament on Sunday, May 12. The Eagles, seeded #2 in the tournament, will play the winner of the opening round match between Drexel and Princeton at home.
BC qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2013, coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein’s first season as coach of the Eagles. They have played in every tournament since (the 2020 season was canceled because of covid).
In post-season ACC honors announced May 1, four Eagles were recognized:
• Senior Belle Smith repeated as midfielder of the year
• Senior Sydney Scales also repeated as defender of the year
• Sophomore Shea Dolce was named goalie of the year
• Acacia Walker-Weinstein was named co-coach of the year
Boston College defended its ACC championship in women’s lacrosse this morning, defeating #1 seed Syracuse 15-8 to take the title again. The Eagles had defeated #2 seed Notre Dame 9-7 Friday in the semifinal.
The Eagles shut down the high-scoring Orange in the second half, allowing them only one goal while scoring eight. The score was 7-7 at the half. Syracuse had come to the championship game after beating Virginia, 19-4.
Syracuse scored the first goal of the game after only 13 seconds, led 5-1, and finished the first quarter ahead 5-3.
Senior Kayla Martello led the Eagles with six goals and one assist. Junior Emma LoPinto added three goals, with two assists, and junior McKenna Davis scored two goals, with three assists. Others scoring goals were junior Rachel Clark, senior Belle Smith, grad student Cassidy Weeks, and freshman Molly Driscoll.
Sophomore goalie Shea Dolce stopped 10 of the 18 shots on goal by Syracuse.
The Eagles (16-3) (7-2) move on to their 11th straight NCAA tournament and perhaps their seventh straight Final Four.
Sophomore Cutter Gauthier gathers himself after final horn in BC’s 2-0 loss in national title game yesterday. David Berding/Getty Images
Well, that was unexpected. And disappointing.
The two highest-scoring teams in college men’s hockey met for the national championship yesterday in St. Paul, Minn., and the game ended with Denver the victor, 2-0. Boston College, ranked #1 in the country and winner of 15 straight games, was shut out for the first time this season.
Perhaps being the runner-up was somewhat foretold. On Friday, major awards for individual performance in college hockey were announced. In the balloting for the Hobey Baker Award to the nation’s best player, BC’s Cutter Gauthier was runner-up. In the contest for best goalie, BC’s Jacob Fowler was runner-up.
That was opinion, however. When the game on the ice finished yesterday, the Eagles had laid a goose egg. Runner-up.
Only once in the season had BC been held to fewer than two goals and that was a 1-0 win over New Hampshire.
“They played a tight trap game against us, limiting our speed,” Gauthier told The Boston Globe. “We’re a team that likes to play off the rush, and they slowed us down a lot, created a lot of turnovers, and shoved it down our throats.”
The Eagles had only 12 shots on goal entering the final period, with Denver ahead after scoring two goals in the second period. BC peppered Denver goalie Matt Davis with 23 shots on goal in the period, including on two power plays, but Davis, with two shutouts earlier in the season, stopped them all. Davis turned away 68 of 69 shots during this year’s Frozen Four, holding Boston University to a single goal in Denver’s 2-1 win in double overtime in the semifinal. He was named the tournament’s “most outstanding player.”
One of Davis’s saves was described later by one commentator as the most amazing in the history of the NCAA tournament.
Denver had 26 shots on goal for the game.
The win brought Denver its 10th national championship, most of any team, and its second NCAA title in three years. Michigan, the team BC beat 4-0 in the semifinal, has nine championships. Wisconsin has six titles, while BC and BU are tied with five.
“[Denver] played a heck of a game tonight,” BC coach Greg Brown told the Globe. “It was a championship battle, and they were as stingy and tight defensively as we’ve seen this year. They did a great job. Played a lot of winning hockey. They played like a championship team. So that being said, proud of our guys, too. It was not only the season they had, but the game they had tonight. We made a great push in the third. Had a lot of chances. Their goalie played great. They got some blocks. Hit a post or two.
“When it’s a one-game series, you need some breaks in there. So our guys gave everything they had, and tonight wasn’t their night.”
The Eagles finished the season with a school record 34 wins, six losses, and a tie.
The game attracted the year’s largest contingent of San Diego Eagles, family, and friends at our gamewatch at The Corner Drafthouse. Go Eagles!
The Boston College women’s lacrosse team will begin play in its 11th straight NCAA championship tournament on Sunday, May 12. The Eagles, seeded #2 in the tournament, will play the winner of the opening round match between Drexel and Princeton at home.
