Boston College Athletics
Photo by: John Quackenbos
BC Passes First Test With Dominance
April 26, 2018 | Lacrosse, #ForBoston Files
The No. 1-seeded Eagles rolled through Louisville in their first ACC postseason game.
It didn't take long for Boston College to erase any doubt surrounding its first round ACC Women's Lacrosse Championship matchup. The Eagles were on the field with Louisville for a full 60 minutes of game clock, but the truth is that they ended the Cardinals' Cinderella upset bid before it ever had a chance to get started.
Scoring four times in the first three minutes of a game tends to have that effect.
BC dominated Louisville with 14 first half goals and cruised to a 19-6 victory at Koskinen Stadium on Thursday. The win advanced the top-seeded Eagles, who entered this week ranked No. 2 in the nation, to the semifinals on Friday for the second straight season and fourth time overall.
"We just followed the game plan," head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. "We pushed fast breaks. We had our strategy off of the draw, and we were just shooting well. What we put a lot of focus on this week, we executed well on game day. I was really happy for that."
The game highlighted the very best of the BC game plan. The attack buzzed all afternoon as Dempsey Arsenault and Kaileen Hart took the lead charge. Hart scored four times to lead all Eagle goal scorers, and Arsenault added a hat trick to push past 50 goals on the season while also tallying two assists. Sam Apuzzo, the team's leading scorer, also scored three times, pushing her past the 100-point mark for the second straight season.
BC found space inside of the Louisville defensive zone all afternoon. The Eagles had more shots in the first half (27) than the Cardinals had in the entire game (21), while attempting more free positions (five) than allowed over the same period (three).
"I thought we had one of the best practices of the year (on Wednesday)," Walker-Weinstein said. "Whenever that happens, there's a little bit of flow and energy. It just carried over (into this game)."
But BC's dominance went well beyond goals. The midfield controlled pace of play by winning 21 of 27 draw controls. Apuzzo set a new program record with 17 wins on the afternoon, including 12 in the first half. BC also held the Cardinals to two successful clears and five ground balls in the first half, all while executing perfectly in both areas.
The defense tended to its area with discipline in fouls, and the Cardinals only received one free position in the aforementioned first half. In goal, Lauren Daly made six saves, half of the shots she saw on goal. In the second half, Louisville scored only once as the Eagles put the finishing touches on its opening game victory.
"I don't think those are things that you're trying to accomplish because you can't really control them," Walker-Weinstein said. "But we limited our fouls, which is something that we can control. That was a huge focus for us."
BC's 13-goal margin of victory was the largest in an ACC tournament game since North Carolina defeated Virginia Tech in 2016 by the same exact score. It continued a 10-year trend of top seeds winning; no No. 1 seed has lost its first game since Maryland in 2007, though the tournament was only six teams prior to 2015.
But the last two seasons have the Eagles keenly aware of what awaits in the road ahead. No team other than the Tar Heels entered an eight-team ACC Championship tournament as the top seed until BC unseated them this year. In each of the past two brackets, UNC struggled in its semifinal game.
That includes last season's game against Boston College in which the Eagles nearly completed a comeback. Trailing by five at halftime, BC held the Tar Heels to five second-half goals and scored six times in the final 15 minutes.
It can be an important that things haven't even really gotten started at Duke. The postseason run begins anew every day, and it's made up of critically important, one-game seasons. For BC, the next one is less than 24 hours away against a Notre Dame team it last saw in the first game of the season.
In that game back in February, an evenly-played matchup saw the Eagles win by just two goals, 13-11. The Fighting Irish never really went away, trailing by one at halftime and never letting BC get too far head.
The Irish enter Friday battle tested after needing a second half comeback to defeat Virginia, 11-10. The Cavaliers led that game, 9-4, at halftime, before Notre Dame stormed back in the second half. Four goals in the first 14 minutes of the frame pulled the Irish within one before Virginia answered to take a two-goal lead. But three goals, including two within a minute's time in the latter stages of the game, pushed the Irish into a semifinal matchup.
"They have a lot of grit and fight," Walker-Weinstein said. "They have a lot of really young players doing really big things for them. We watched the (Virginia-ND) game as a team and watched it as our units so the offensive and defensive units were together.
It's a quick turnaround for both teams. BC will play Notre Dame on Friday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium just over 24 hours after both first round games concluded. The game will begin at 5 p.m. and be televised on Raycom Sports Network, which can be seen locally on NESN. The game can also be seen via online and mobile devices with the WatchESPN app, though blackouts will apply in specific markets.
"We'll get into bed, have some more stretching and get some ice baths," Walker-Weinstein said of the quick turnaround. "Then we'll eat, have some film time and eat again before resting all day for (gametime)."
Scoring four times in the first three minutes of a game tends to have that effect.
BC dominated Louisville with 14 first half goals and cruised to a 19-6 victory at Koskinen Stadium on Thursday. The win advanced the top-seeded Eagles, who entered this week ranked No. 2 in the nation, to the semifinals on Friday for the second straight season and fourth time overall.
"We just followed the game plan," head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. "We pushed fast breaks. We had our strategy off of the draw, and we were just shooting well. What we put a lot of focus on this week, we executed well on game day. I was really happy for that."
The game highlighted the very best of the BC game plan. The attack buzzed all afternoon as Dempsey Arsenault and Kaileen Hart took the lead charge. Hart scored four times to lead all Eagle goal scorers, and Arsenault added a hat trick to push past 50 goals on the season while also tallying two assists. Sam Apuzzo, the team's leading scorer, also scored three times, pushing her past the 100-point mark for the second straight season.
BC found space inside of the Louisville defensive zone all afternoon. The Eagles had more shots in the first half (27) than the Cardinals had in the entire game (21), while attempting more free positions (five) than allowed over the same period (three).
"I thought we had one of the best practices of the year (on Wednesday)," Walker-Weinstein said. "Whenever that happens, there's a little bit of flow and energy. It just carried over (into this game)."
But BC's dominance went well beyond goals. The midfield controlled pace of play by winning 21 of 27 draw controls. Apuzzo set a new program record with 17 wins on the afternoon, including 12 in the first half. BC also held the Cardinals to two successful clears and five ground balls in the first half, all while executing perfectly in both areas.
The defense tended to its area with discipline in fouls, and the Cardinals only received one free position in the aforementioned first half. In goal, Lauren Daly made six saves, half of the shots she saw on goal. In the second half, Louisville scored only once as the Eagles put the finishing touches on its opening game victory.
"I don't think those are things that you're trying to accomplish because you can't really control them," Walker-Weinstein said. "But we limited our fouls, which is something that we can control. That was a huge focus for us."
BC's 13-goal margin of victory was the largest in an ACC tournament game since North Carolina defeated Virginia Tech in 2016 by the same exact score. It continued a 10-year trend of top seeds winning; no No. 1 seed has lost its first game since Maryland in 2007, though the tournament was only six teams prior to 2015.
But the last two seasons have the Eagles keenly aware of what awaits in the road ahead. No team other than the Tar Heels entered an eight-team ACC Championship tournament as the top seed until BC unseated them this year. In each of the past two brackets, UNC struggled in its semifinal game.
That includes last season's game against Boston College in which the Eagles nearly completed a comeback. Trailing by five at halftime, BC held the Tar Heels to five second-half goals and scored six times in the final 15 minutes.
It can be an important that things haven't even really gotten started at Duke. The postseason run begins anew every day, and it's made up of critically important, one-game seasons. For BC, the next one is less than 24 hours away against a Notre Dame team it last saw in the first game of the season.
In that game back in February, an evenly-played matchup saw the Eagles win by just two goals, 13-11. The Fighting Irish never really went away, trailing by one at halftime and never letting BC get too far head.
The Irish enter Friday battle tested after needing a second half comeback to defeat Virginia, 11-10. The Cavaliers led that game, 9-4, at halftime, before Notre Dame stormed back in the second half. Four goals in the first 14 minutes of the frame pulled the Irish within one before Virginia answered to take a two-goal lead. But three goals, including two within a minute's time in the latter stages of the game, pushed the Irish into a semifinal matchup.
"They have a lot of grit and fight," Walker-Weinstein said. "They have a lot of really young players doing really big things for them. We watched the (Virginia-ND) game as a team and watched it as our units so the offensive and defensive units were together.
It's a quick turnaround for both teams. BC will play Notre Dame on Friday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium just over 24 hours after both first round games concluded. The game will begin at 5 p.m. and be televised on Raycom Sports Network, which can be seen locally on NESN. The game can also be seen via online and mobile devices with the WatchESPN app, though blackouts will apply in specific markets.
"We'll get into bed, have some more stretching and get some ice baths," Walker-Weinstein said of the quick turnaround. "Then we'll eat, have some film time and eat again before resting all day for (gametime)."
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