BC Home Opener Wednesday vs. UMass

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Boston College looks to snap its two-game skid when it returns home to the Newton Campus Lacrosse Field for the team's home opener against Massachusetts on Wednesday, March 2. The Eagles have won the last seven home openers and are 15-9 in home openers all-time.

MASSACHUSETTS (4-0, 0-0 A10) VS. NO. 14 BOSTON COLLEGE (2-2, 0-2 ACC)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 | 3 PM
NEWTON CAMPUS LACROSSE FIELD

GAME NOTES

Wednesday's home opener marks the 11th matchup all-time between the two schools and the first time the two have squared off since 2008. BC is 6-4 all-time against the Minutewomen, with UMass having won the last two games. On March 22, 2008, the last time the two teams faced each other, Jenna McCabe and Lauren Costello each had four points in the Eagles 13-10 loss.
Boston College moved up one spot in this week's IWLCA poll to 14th while they remained at 14 in the Nike/LacrosseMagazine poll. The Eagles are one of seven ACC teams in the conference listed in the top-20 of both polls. Senior Molly Erdle is tied for fifth in the conference, averaging 1.75 caused turnovers per game while junior GK Zoe Ochoa is fourth in conference in saves per game with 6.75. Caroline Margolis in tied for ninth in the ACC with 1.25 assists per game.
UMass has won each of its first four games by a combined score of 56-20. Most recently, they defeated Yale 13-3 at home on Saturday. All four wins for the Minutewomen have come against non-conference opponents, including mutual opponents in Holy Cross and Boston University. The Minutewomen are led by senior Tewaaraton Watch List member Erika Eipp, who has a team leading 21 points, while Nicole Troost and Holly Turner round out the top-three in scoring. They are fourth in the nation in caused turnovers (12.75), fifth in scoring defense (5.00) and tenth in assists per game. They sit at 18th in this week's Nike/LaxMag Poll.
In Saturday's overtime loss at Louisville, the Eagles got career days from junior GK Zoe Ochoa and freshman midfielder Brooke Troy. Ochoa tallied a personal best 13 saves and a .650 save percentage while Troy, making her first collegiate start, recorded a new career high with three caused turnovers. Ochoa's 13 saves tied her for second most by an ACC goalie this season. Sarah Mannelly also recorded her 50th career assist, which puts her in a tie for fifth place in the program's career assist record with Kristin Igoe (2008-12).
Head coach Acacia Walker also has ties to UMass, as she served as the Associate head coach in Amherst for the 2009 and 2010 lacrosse seasons. In her four years as a head coach at BC, she has only once faced a team she had previously coached. In 2013, her Eagles traveled to Northwestern, where she was an assistant coach from 2006-2008.
On Tuesday, February 23, three Eagles were among 18 female student athletes from the ACC to be named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, a list of the top-50 women's lacrosse players from across the NCAA. Sarah Mannelly, Caroline Margolis and Kenzie Kent were all included on the list. Mannelly and Margolis have both had positive impacts to start off the season, while Kenzie Kent has yet to join the team due to her committment to the women's ice hockey team. At 36-0-0, Kent's hockey team is ranked no. 1 in the country. She has tallied 14 goals and 23 assists on the season, including a goal and an assist against Maine this past weekend to advance to the Hockey East semifinals. She will join her lacrosse teammates at the conclusion of the ice hockey season.
Boston College remains two wins shy of its 200th win in program history, dating back to the 1992 season, the first season that women's lacrosse was a varsity program at The Heights. The Eagles are in its 25 season overall.
On Wednesday, February 17, when the Eagles defeated Holy Cross 19-6, history was made as Caroline Margolis became the 20th player in program history to record 100 career points, a feat she accomplished with her first half goal.
Sam Apuzzo continues to show dominance early in her collegiate career. In the Holy Cross game, the freshman notched her second straight hat trick in as many collegiate games while her eight draw controls at Holy Cross were the fifth most ever in a single game for a BC player.
Coach Acacia Walker is six wins away from tallying her 50th career win as head coach of the Eagles. Her current .688 winning percentage is the highest among BC coaches all time, dating back to the first year as a varsity program in 1992.

LAST TIME OUT

The Eagles dropped an OT thriller on Saturday at Louisville. After trailing for most of the second half, BC battled back to even the score at six in the final five minutes of regulation and forced overtime against the 17th ranked Cardinals. However, with 12 seconds remaining in the first half of the sudden death OT period, Hannah Kiloski netted the game winner as Louisville topped the Eagles, 7-6.

THE SCHEDULE AHEAD:

After the home opener Wednesday, the Eagles will stay at home for a non-conference matchup with the United States Naval Academy on Saturday, March 5. The game is scheduled for 1 pm at the Newton Campus Lacrosse Field.

Throughout the season, make sure to stay up to date with all the Boston College lacrosse news by searching the hashtag #BCEagles and following @BCWlax on Twitter and Instagram.

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Players Mentioned

Sam Apuzzo

Molly Erdle

Kenzie Kent

Sarah Mannelly

Caroline Margolis

Zoe Ochoa

Brooke Troy

Boston College Athletics