Wild Saturday Awaits In NCAA Elite Eight

The NCAA Tournament, regardless of sport, has a way of creating poetry from drama. Postseason heroes are born, and stories are written that will last a lifetime. Every team that wins does so because they deserve it, and nobody reaches deeper rounds for no reason. It's a leveling of the playing field, where only the best of the best survive and advance to play another day.

For Boston College and Southern California, it's a unique collision course bringing them to Saturday's game in Newton. The NCAA Women's Lacrosse Committee hands national seeds to the top eight teams, with the top six receiving first round byes. But only five seeded hosts advanced to the Elite Eight, with Florida and Syracuse losing after receiving two of those byes.

The teams they lost to? Boston College and Southern California.

As a result, both of these teams find themselves finishing their season in the Commonwealth. Instead of the Trojans heading to New York, they're coming to Boston. Instead of the Eagles going to Gainesville, they're staying home. The winner heads about an hour down I-95 next week to play in the Final Four at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.

But nothing's a done deal. USC is ranked seventh in the coaches poll, and their 18 wins are second only to undefeated and top-ranked Maryland. They romped through the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, going unbeaten to host and then win the conference tournament. They rank as one of the nation's best teams statistically on both sides of the ball.

On Saturday afternoon, Boston College hosts Southern California in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship. For the Trojans, it's a chance to make a second cross-country flight in as many weeks. For the Eagles, it's a chance to simply stay home to do something they've never done before - play in their first ever Final Four. It's a toss-up game, and that's what the NCAA Tournament is all about. One round left to glory, but that one round is miles upon miles away.

"I can't even wrap my head around (a first-ever Final Four berth) yet," head coach Acacia Walker said. "We just have to prepare for USC. I'm not trying to be cliche, but that's all I can see. I can't even begin about Gillette. We just have to get through film, get through practice, and go one day at a time. That's it."

Here's what to watch for on what will be a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Newton.

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And you get a goal! And you get a goal!

With an offensive explosion last weekend, BC cemented its reputation as one of the best offensive teams in the nation. The Eagles dropped 40-plus goals on Canisius and Syracuse, using a 9-2 run over 12 minutes' time in the first half to help defeat the Orange. It was just the program's third victory over Syracuse, the first in any postseason setting. As a result, they enter Saturday as the ninth-most productive attack in the nation, averaging 15.43 goals per game.

The Trojans are just as prolific. USC's 15.29 goals per game is a hair behind BC in 10th, and Michaela Michael is the fifth best scorer in the nation with 3.67 goals per game. She's the most prolific, but they carry four other players with 30 or more goals and three other players with 50 or more points in total. There's no questioning that the defense will have its hands full with the Trojan attack.

The good news for BC? They just faced the second-best scorer in the nation in Canisius' Erica Evans and held her scoreless. And it's not like the Eagles don't score. Where USC has Michael, BC has both Sam Apuzzo and Kate Weeks. They have nearly 200 points combined, 141 of which come from goals. They've put 206 shots on goal, accounting for 80% of their shots in general, and they're outright deadly on free positions.

Those are just two examples. BC has two other 40-goal scorers, and in her nine games since rejoining the team, Kenzie Kent has 23 goals.

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Rock Solid

If there's an X factor to a high-scoring prediction, it's USC's defense. The Trojans are one of two teams averaging less than eight goals per game allowed, and they're second only to Stony Brook. For what it's worth, the Seawolves are a good case study because they average over 16 goals and average seven allowed per game. Their win over the Trojans is also the last time USC lost a game.

Strictly by the numbers, it would imply BC is at a defensive disadvantage, but it also had to play in the ACC in tough, close games against some of the nation's best. So the number can be misleading. It's true BC gave up 32 goals to North Carolina, but they lost by three in both games. It's equally true that BC gave up double-digit goals in 17 of their 21 games, but they also never lost by four or more goals after early March.

"The points are awesome, but I can't stop talking about how solid our defense was (last weekend)," Walker said. "I think our defense is really responding to (assistant coach) Jen (Kent). She's got them really locked in and they work really hard. They study a lot of film, and you really see how hard they work when they're out (on the field) practicing. They're a cerebral bunch, so they're making really good decisions."

Looking further within, USC gave up 10 goals or more in four of their last six games, including their last three. The numbers are skewed by dominant wins over teams like St. Mary's, Stetson, New Hampshire, and California, who all ranked in the bottom 10 of national winning percentage. That might imply that the numbers are a smoke screen, but It's never an accident when a team gets to this point.

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I was really hoping for snow.

The only wild card to this game is the location. By sheer bracketology luck, the Trojans have to travel across the country to play Boston College. That's virtually the furthest flight they could've taken, going from Southwest to Northeast a week after they had to go to Florida. They're playing for the chance to do it again next week - in the exact same airports - but it's always easier to play at home. BC went 7-1 in Newton this year, with only defeat coming on April 8 against Duke.

That said, USC went 10-3 away from McAlister Field this year. Though they went 1-2 in New England when they played in March, beating Dartmouth and losing to Cornell and Stony Brook, they just went to Florida and avenged an early-season loss. They're living proof that nobody gets to this point in the year by accident.

"I can't give enough respect to USC," Walker said. "They are going to have no problem coming across the country. They did that (once) and beat Florida, which speaks so much to their group. I don't think it plays to our advantage that they are flying. They are who they are no matter where they play, and we've got to be our very best to even stay with USC."

Temperature-wise, though, May is substantially better than March. After baking this week in 90 degree temperatures, there's going to be a significant drop-off on Friday night as overnight temperatures drop under 50. Game time should rebound into the 60s, which is about what the Trojans are experiencing back home in Los Angeles.

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How To Watch

Newton Campus has its own home field advantage. Because it's located away from the main Chestnut Hill campus, it's a fun area that retains Boston College character but is more quaint and intimate. Everyone talks about how it has its own distinct charm. It'll be a perfect May day as well, so if you're like me, put away the golf clubs and head on down to watch a really fun, competitive sport played at an elite level.

But if you can't make it out to the game, video broadcasts will be available on ESPN3.

Players Mentioned

Sam Apuzzo

Kenzie Kent

Kate Weeks

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