Senior Charlotte North, left, celebrates one of her eight goals today against Notre Dame. John Quackenbos photo
Aided by record-setting performances, BC Lacrosse routed Notre Dame today, 21-10, in a NCAA tournament quarterfinal played at the Newton Lacrosse and Soccer Field.
The Eagles will thus play in their fourth straight Final Four of the national tournament. They had played in the last three consecutive championship games, finishing #2 in the country each time.
Senior Charlotte North, who played her first two seasons at Duke, scored eight goals and had one assist. Her total of 23 goals in the first three games of the tournament this year establishes the record for goals in an entire tournament. North has 94 goals for the season, tying Sam Apuzzo’s BC record, and is six short of the NCAA record of 100.
Freshman Belle Smith scored three goals and an assist in the game to bring her season point total to 59, most ever for a BC freshman. Junior Jenn Medjid scored five goals today.
BC travels to Towson, Md., for championship weekend. The Eagles meet #1 North Carolina Friday, May 28, at 9 am (PT), with telecast on ESPNU. The Tarheels beat BC 21-9 back in early March.
Three of the teams in the Final Four are from the ACC: BC, North Carolina, and Syracuse. Northwestern from the Big 10 fills out the field. The teams in the Final Four are also the top four teams in national rankings.
BC only lost to North Carolina and Syracuse during the season for their 16-3 record.
With starting BC quarterback Phil Jurkovec injured and on the sidelines, backup junior QB Dennis Grosel “let if fly” against Virginia yesterday, tying another former BC backup for most yards passing in a single game. Grosel and Doug Flutie stand atop the BC record book with 520 yards passing.
Oddly, perhaps, BC lost both games in which its quarterbacks threw for 500+ yards. Yesterday, the Eagles fell to Virginia in the regular season finale, 43-32. Flutie’s effort came against Penn State in 1982 as the Nittany Lions crushed BC, 52-17.
Both teams yesterday put up gaudy offensive numbers or perhaps lousy defensive ones. Virginia outgained the Eagles 549-513 in total offense. BC had fewer yards total than passing, as the team lost seven yards more than it gained on the ground. Virginia was certainly more balanced, running for 262 yards and passing for 287.
After a UVa field goal started the scoring in the first quarter, BC took the lead when Grosel threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Zay Flowers. A Virginia touchdown and field goal and a BC field goal brought the somewhat quiet first half to an end at UVa 14, BC 10.
The Cavaliers dominated the third quarter, possessing the ball for more than four-and-a-half minutes longer than the Eagles and outscoring them 10-0. Virginia opened the final quarter with a touchdown to expand its lead to 36-17. The teams traded touchdowns to bring the score to 43-25 and, with Grosel passing on every down, the Eagles scored again to make the final score 43-32. A BC penalty on the ensuing onside kick gave the ball to Virginia to run out the clock.
Grosel was 32 of 46 passing for 520 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. His longest pass was for 50 yards, but he also threw passes for 45- and 36-yard gains. Several were to Flowers, who had 8 receptions for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns. Tight end Hunter Long also had 8 receptions, for 109 yards and a touchdown.
BC gave up the most points it had all season in the game and the second highest number of yards.
This was BC’s first loss ever to Virginia. Its record had been 6-0 all-time until yesterday.
Here are game highlights.
The Eagles finish the regular season 6-5, 5-5 in conference play. Participation in a post-season bowl game is uncertain. While BC reached the normal 6-victory requirement, that has been waived this season. Many bowl games, however, have been canceled, so it is unclear how many teams will have a post-season opportunity.
Backup QB Dennis Grosel happily helps BC win over Louisville. BC photo.
Last year, in the BC-Louisville game, Eagles backup quarterback Dennis Grosel stepped in to replace the injured starter. In yesterday’s BC-Louisville game, he did it again. And, while last year Grosel threw three touchdown passes in a close loss to the Cardinals, this time he threw two touchdown passes and helped the Eagles hang on for a 34-27 victory.
Starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec had led BC to a 20-13 lead when, on BC’s second drive of the third quarter, he suffered a non-contact injury to his left knee. Jurkovec, at that point, was 15 of 19 passing for 203 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. Grosel’s first pass on second down was incomplete and his third-down pass was dropped by tight end Hunter Long.
BC forced Louisville to punt on their subsequent drive. On third-and-one on BC’s 25 yardline, Grosel then ran for 44 yards to the Cardinals’ 31. After two incomplete passes, Grosel threw to C.J. Lewis in the end zone where Lewis made an amazing one-handed catch, securing the ball to his shoulder pad, for the touchdown and a 27-13 BC lead early in the fourth quarter. The catch was the #2 “play of the day” on ESPN’s College Football Final highlights show.
C.J. Lewis grabs touchdown pass. John Tlumacki/Boston Globe photo
In the final quarter, BC could not shake the Cardinals. Louisville ran and passed in an 11-play 78-yard drive through a pliant Eagles defense to cut the lead to 27-20. A long kickoff return by Travis Levy led to a 21-yard touchdown pass by Grosel to Jehlani Galloway to increase the lead to 34-20.
On their subsequent possession, the Cardinals needed only one play — a 69-yard pass for a touchdown — to make it a one-score game once again. The Eagles were able to gain only three yards before giving the ball back again to Louisville with 3:12 left in the game. After a Cardinals’ first down, defensive lineman Jahmin Muse tipped a Louisville pass that was then intercepted by fellow lineman Shitta Sillah with 1:42 left in the game. The Eagles ran out the clock to secure the 34-27 win and move to 6-4 for the season, 5-4 in ACC play.
(I texted to Brian and Lissa Tsu that I was happy to have a reason to include Sillah’s name in a game report. Brian texted back, and I include this only because I said I would: “Tipped pass sends Cards to the Shitta-house.” Just another demonstration that we’re all mature graduates of an eminent university.)
The Eagles were not stellar on defense. Louisville gained 493 yards total offense, including 294 yards passing. In addition to passing for almost 300 yards, Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham ran for 135 yards. BC’s total offense was 435 yards, including a season high 188 yards rushing. Grosel ended with 4 of 7 passing for 44 yards, 2 touchdowns, no interceptions, and 49 yards rushing.
Here are highlights.
The Louisville game was Senior Day, BC’s last home game of the season. Next opponent and last regular season opponent is Virginia, scheduled for Saturday, December 5. Game time to be announced.
