Boston College Athletics
Photo by: Mike Gridley
The Champs Are Here
April 15, 2018 | Lacrosse, #ForBoston Files
Women's lacrosse clinched at least a share of its first-ever conference championship.
Hired in 2010 as the associate head coach, Acacia Walker-Weinstein helped construct the lacrosse program's infrastructure as the chief recruiter. When she became the head coach in 2012, that foundation became the impetus for the program's nexus rise to glory.
Eight years later and six years into her head coaching career, BC's seen almost everything. The program has ascended into a top-ranked team, advancing to six of seven national tournaments. It's been ranked in the top five of polls, breaking and re-breaking wins records. In 2017, the Eagles won their way into the Final Four for the first time, advancing to the national championship before losing to Walker's alma mater, Maryland.
With their 9-7 win over Virginia Tech on Saturday, the Eagles can add one more accomplishment to that growing list: ACC champions.
"I think this was a long time coming," Walker said. "There were a lot of years of these girls shedding blood, sweat and tears. It takes a long time to get to this point, so I'm just grateful for all the players that got this program to this point. But we're not done. We have so much work to do."
The victory provided the first tangible, concrete accomplishment in a season nothing short of magical. The No. 2 Eagles improved to 16-0 by defeating a ranked opponent for the fifth consecutive game and ninth time this season. They improved to 11-0 in arguably the nation's best conference, all while continuing home field mastery with a 16-1 record over the past two seasons.
"There's really no better feeling (than a championship)," senior Carly Bell said. "This is a huge win for our program, and it's something we've never done before. I'm just excited to be a part of it."
"I never thought anything would match what happened last year," fellow senior Emma Schurr said. "But this has been pretty cool."
The 2018 season hasn't always been the easiest path. Last year's Eagles were something of an underdog story that rode a cresting wave to end up as the national runner up. This season's preseason national poll placed BC at No. 6, and the Eagles received two first place votes in the conference's rankings. It highlighted this year's team's heightened expectations and the highly visible target on its back.
Facing Virginia Tech had its own set of challenges. The Hokies ran a zone defense, which limited attacking opportunities, and they supplemented it with strong goaltending to give the Eagles all they could handle on Saturday. BC went into halftime only leading 5-2, and the Hokies scored twice in the second half to cut the lead to 5-4. The teams traded goals over the next few minutes, but the Hokies scored an equalizer, tying the game at 7-7 with under 15 minutes remaining.
But Sam Apuzzo, who already had three goals on the day, scored with 12:26 remaining to give BC an 8-7 lead. It produced a frantic race to the finish where the defense and midfield had to elevate to the occasion. Schurr eventually clinched the game with an insurance goal with less than 50 seconds remaining, after which BC won the final draw, ticked off the clock and ran onto the Newton Campus turf in celebration.
"I thought about a bad play I made earlier and that I had to make up for it," Schurr said. "I looked at the clock and knew with 47 seconds left that our draw is really good, that they've done an amazing job all season. I knew if they got the draw that we would win the game. Then you saw the celebration afterwards."
It was the first time an opponent kept BC under 10 goals in 2018.
"Virginia Tech is the real deal," Walker said. "They're so good, and they're well-coached. Our defense was a stabilizer in the way they've been every game. They rallied around (assistant coach Jennifer Kent), and they all work so well together."
It was a performance indicative of the team's style. An offense among the best in the nation combined with timely defense and goaltending. On attack, Apuzzo finished with four goals to push her season total over 60, bringing her within 10 points of breaking 100 for the second straight season. She currently leads all of Division I, and her and teammate Dempsey Arsenault are the two juniors in the top 10 in scoring.
Arsenault, meanwhile, scored a goal to keep alive a streak of her own. She's now scored in every game this year except for Holy Cross, and her two assists kept alive a separate, nine-game streak in which she's had at least three points. Both her and Apuzzo are among the top three scorers in the ACC, and both earned First Team Midseason All-America selections earlier this year. Both are also on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List as the nation's best players.
They can have a tendency to overshadow Kaileen Hart, without whom the Eagles wouldn't have beaten the Hokies. She scored twice in the first half to pull within a point of a 60-point season. She's potted at least one goal in every game this year and would likely be considered the best player on any other team other than BC - which is just fine with her.
"Every time we score, we just got onto the next stage," Hart said. "We knew (Virginia Tech) was going to be a tight game. We knew we'd have to be aggressive, and they'd be coming after us, especially after they crushed us last year."
It's combined with a steadily improved defense that's allowed 12 or fewer goals in all except for two games this year. It's allowed the Eagles to beat teams in a number of ways; they can run the score up in a shootout but can bear down against teams when the situation calls for it in front of goaltender Lauren Daly.
"They handle everything really well," Walker said. "We throw 10-15 adjustments at them for every game and they handle every single one of them. (Our defense is) different every game, and that makes it hard for (opponents') preparation."
Saturday's win awarded the Eagles at least a share of an ACC championship. Women's lacrosse is the first ACC regular-season championship in any sport since women's soccer in 2009 and BC's second since joining the league in 2005. The conference is arguably at its peak in competitiveness, and it provides a watershed and breakthrough moment for the entire institution.
"This is exciting, and I'm just happy for our girls because they work so hard," Walker said. "We're fighting to get on the map and stay on the map. It's exciting to represent this school so strongly and to rock the ACC boat, which is always awesome."
Winning an ACC championship can never be underscored, but this season is far from over. BC can outright clinch the conference title and complete a perfect regular season at home on Thursday night against Syracuse, and both the ACC Championships and NCAA Tournament still loom.
"We've still got a big game  on Thursday, then the ACC Tournament," Walker said. "So there's a long way to go."
The Eagles host the No. 14Â Orange at 5 p.m. in the season finale at Newton Campus. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra via the WatchESPN app and ESPN online.
Eight years later and six years into her head coaching career, BC's seen almost everything. The program has ascended into a top-ranked team, advancing to six of seven national tournaments. It's been ranked in the top five of polls, breaking and re-breaking wins records. In 2017, the Eagles won their way into the Final Four for the first time, advancing to the national championship before losing to Walker's alma mater, Maryland.
With their 9-7 win over Virginia Tech on Saturday, the Eagles can add one more accomplishment to that growing list: ACC champions.
"I think this was a long time coming," Walker said. "There were a lot of years of these girls shedding blood, sweat and tears. It takes a long time to get to this point, so I'm just grateful for all the players that got this program to this point. But we're not done. We have so much work to do."
The victory provided the first tangible, concrete accomplishment in a season nothing short of magical. The No. 2 Eagles improved to 16-0 by defeating a ranked opponent for the fifth consecutive game and ninth time this season. They improved to 11-0 in arguably the nation's best conference, all while continuing home field mastery with a 16-1 record over the past two seasons.
"There's really no better feeling (than a championship)," senior Carly Bell said. "This is a huge win for our program, and it's something we've never done before. I'm just excited to be a part of it."
"I never thought anything would match what happened last year," fellow senior Emma Schurr said. "But this has been pretty cool."
The 2018 season hasn't always been the easiest path. Last year's Eagles were something of an underdog story that rode a cresting wave to end up as the national runner up. This season's preseason national poll placed BC at No. 6, and the Eagles received two first place votes in the conference's rankings. It highlighted this year's team's heightened expectations and the highly visible target on its back.
Facing Virginia Tech had its own set of challenges. The Hokies ran a zone defense, which limited attacking opportunities, and they supplemented it with strong goaltending to give the Eagles all they could handle on Saturday. BC went into halftime only leading 5-2, and the Hokies scored twice in the second half to cut the lead to 5-4. The teams traded goals over the next few minutes, but the Hokies scored an equalizer, tying the game at 7-7 with under 15 minutes remaining.
But Sam Apuzzo, who already had three goals on the day, scored with 12:26 remaining to give BC an 8-7 lead. It produced a frantic race to the finish where the defense and midfield had to elevate to the occasion. Schurr eventually clinched the game with an insurance goal with less than 50 seconds remaining, after which BC won the final draw, ticked off the clock and ran onto the Newton Campus turf in celebration.
"I thought about a bad play I made earlier and that I had to make up for it," Schurr said. "I looked at the clock and knew with 47 seconds left that our draw is really good, that they've done an amazing job all season. I knew if they got the draw that we would win the game. Then you saw the celebration afterwards."
It was the first time an opponent kept BC under 10 goals in 2018.
"Virginia Tech is the real deal," Walker said. "They're so good, and they're well-coached. Our defense was a stabilizer in the way they've been every game. They rallied around (assistant coach Jennifer Kent), and they all work so well together."
It was a performance indicative of the team's style. An offense among the best in the nation combined with timely defense and goaltending. On attack, Apuzzo finished with four goals to push her season total over 60, bringing her within 10 points of breaking 100 for the second straight season. She currently leads all of Division I, and her and teammate Dempsey Arsenault are the two juniors in the top 10 in scoring.
Arsenault, meanwhile, scored a goal to keep alive a streak of her own. She's now scored in every game this year except for Holy Cross, and her two assists kept alive a separate, nine-game streak in which she's had at least three points. Both her and Apuzzo are among the top three scorers in the ACC, and both earned First Team Midseason All-America selections earlier this year. Both are also on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List as the nation's best players.
They can have a tendency to overshadow Kaileen Hart, without whom the Eagles wouldn't have beaten the Hokies. She scored twice in the first half to pull within a point of a 60-point season. She's potted at least one goal in every game this year and would likely be considered the best player on any other team other than BC - which is just fine with her.
"Every time we score, we just got onto the next stage," Hart said. "We knew (Virginia Tech) was going to be a tight game. We knew we'd have to be aggressive, and they'd be coming after us, especially after they crushed us last year."
It's combined with a steadily improved defense that's allowed 12 or fewer goals in all except for two games this year. It's allowed the Eagles to beat teams in a number of ways; they can run the score up in a shootout but can bear down against teams when the situation calls for it in front of goaltender Lauren Daly.
"They handle everything really well," Walker said. "We throw 10-15 adjustments at them for every game and they handle every single one of them. (Our defense is) different every game, and that makes it hard for (opponents') preparation."
Saturday's win awarded the Eagles at least a share of an ACC championship. Women's lacrosse is the first ACC regular-season championship in any sport since women's soccer in 2009 and BC's second since joining the league in 2005. The conference is arguably at its peak in competitiveness, and it provides a watershed and breakthrough moment for the entire institution.
"This is exciting, and I'm just happy for our girls because they work so hard," Walker said. "We're fighting to get on the map and stay on the map. It's exciting to represent this school so strongly and to rock the ACC boat, which is always awesome."
Winning an ACC championship can never be underscored, but this season is far from over. BC can outright clinch the conference title and complete a perfect regular season at home on Thursday night against Syracuse, and both the ACC Championships and NCAA Tournament still loom.
"We've still got a big game  on Thursday, then the ACC Tournament," Walker said. "So there's a long way to go."
The Eagles host the No. 14Â Orange at 5 p.m. in the season finale at Newton Campus. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra via the WatchESPN app and ESPN online.
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