Weekly Roundup: March 7, 2018

From an athletics standpoint, it's one of the most exciting times of the year: winter sports hit peak crescendo in the form of conference and NCAA tournaments, while spring athletics are cranking into full gear.

In hoops, where the madness of March reins supreme, the men's basketball team was tripped up their regular-season finale by Florida State, 85-76, but flipped the momentum in the opening round of the ACC tournament where they knocked out Georgia Tech, 87-77, on Tuesday for their first conference tournament victory since 2015.

"The first game is always the hardest to play," said head coach Jim Christian, whose team plays N.C. State in the quarterfinals at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. "The kids are excited, they're a little bit nervous in a good way, they're fighting for their season. It's rewarding to everybody that we're fortunate enough to play the next night."

The women of the hardcourt tipped off against North Carolina, a team they beat 77-64 in the regular season, bowed out of the ACC Tournament in the first round following the 69-64 loss to the Tar Heels despite 23 points and a career-high seven 3-pointers from Taylor Ortlepp.

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Unable to capture a third straight Hockey East title following a 4-2 loss to UConn in the semifinals, the women's hockey team will look to regroup after receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Eagles earned the No. 4 seed and will face off, for the first time in program history, against Ohio State in the quarterfinals, with a 1 p.m. faceoff scheduled for Saturday at Kelley Rink.

"We didn't really know our fate coming into this," senior goalie Katie Burt said. "We're really excited that we got a seed. To have home ice is awesome."

The Eagles men's hockey team will also have Conte Forum rocking with tournament action this week as they take Hockey East's top seed into their quarterfinals series versus Merrimack, with 7 p.m. games on Friday and Saturday nights, and a 6 p.m. tilt on Sunday, if needed.

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Senior Carter Robertson will make history this weekend when he becomes the first modern-era Eagle to take flight in the NCAA skiing championships, held at Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

"I think it's something that I've had on my mind since day one. It's something I've been working for and striving for since I came to BC," Robertson said. "I'm proud to be bringing BC our to Steamboat."

Also competing in an NCAA Championship is junior Paige Duca of the women's track & field team who will challenge the field in the mile at Texas A&M this coming weekend.

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The Eagles second-ranked lacrosse team improved to a national best 7-0 record with a 14-2 win over Binghamton last Friday.

Sam Apuzzo scored four goals to pace the attack, capping a 13-goal week that earned the country's leading goal scorer the ACC Offensive Player of the Week.

The team was able to depart for warmer climes ahead of the impending inclement weather, flying west for games versus USC (Wednesday) and San Diego State (Saturday).

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The softball team's trip south for the break got off to a rousing start with an 8-2 win over N0. 18 Ole Miss on Tuesday, the team's first win over a ranked opponent since February 20, 2017.

Senior Jess Dreswick improved to 5-3, striking out 10. In her last three starts the Eagles ace is 3-0 with 27 strikeouts and only two runs allowed over 19 innings.

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Matt Gill (1-0), Joey Walsh and Sean Hughes combined for a five-hit shutout of UNC-Asheville, 8-0, to bring the baseball team back to .500 at 5-5.

The team is currently 2-2 on their Carolina trip, which dips from North to South when they play Wofford on Wednesday, before returning back over the border for three against NC State this weekend to open ACC play.

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The men's tennis team saw freshmen Markus Nordby and Chris Grasel, and senior Kent Mukai pick up singles victories in their spring season opener, a 4-3 loss at the University of California Irvine on Monday.

They conclude their trip out west with a visit to UNLV on Thursday.

The women's team got doubles victories from the tandem of Asiya Dair and Natasha Irani in their losses to ACC foes North Carolina (2-6) and N.C. State (1-6) last weekend.

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