Saturday, May 19
1 p.m.
Boston College
vs
Stony Brook
BC-Stony Brook Ready for Saturday Showdown
May 17, 2018 | Lacrosse, #ForBoston Files
Two identical teams match up when BC hosts Stony Brook in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
For both Boston College and Stony Brook, Saturday's NCAA Quarterfinal matchup must be something of a looking glass.
The two teams, after all, are virtually identical. Both went undefeated during the regular season, and they spent time next to each other as the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked teams. Both have superstar athletes in the conversation for the Tewaaraton Award, and both of them have a legitimate claim for winning.
Both teams also have a chip on their shoulder. Both were likely snubbed a little bit by their postseason ranking, even though BC and Stony Brook each received a bye. They likely thought they would meet up in this tournament, but they didn't think it would happen now or in this setting.
This matchup won't have a shortage of storylines when Newton Campus blows the whistle on the opening draw on Saturday. The Seawolves are looking to advance to the Final Four for the first time in program history, and it's a game they would play on home soil at LaValle Stadium. It would avenge last year's Quarterfinals exit to Maryland, and it would prove the thought that an undefeated team could use its underrating as nothing more than a speed bump-type challenge.
But the No. 4-ranked Eagles stand in Stony Brook's way. BC finished the regular season as undefeated (17-0) as the Seawolves and earned a higher seed largely due to its strength of schedule. Like Stony Brook, BC's 2018 postseason quest would redeem a loss last year to Maryland. The only difference is that its loss came in the national championship game.
Over the course of the regular season, no teams separated themselves quite like Boston College and Stony Brook. It's a national championship-caliber matchup happening two rounds too early for the right to play for the Final Four.
It simply doesn't get any better than that.
Game Day Storylines
Battle of the best
Saturday will feature a matchup between two of the best offenses in the nation with two of the best individual players. Fans will have a real treat when BC's Sam Apuzzo goes head-to-head with Stony Brook's Kyle Ohlmiller, both of whom are finalists for the Tewaaraton Award, given annually to the top player in collegiate lacrosse.
Ohlmiller is a more prolific scorer with 7.60 points per game, but Apuzzo is regarded as one of the most clutch players in the game. She has 21 goals in her last six games, including five against Syracuse in the regular season finale. In the ACC Tournament, Apuzzo scored 11 goals and notched back-to-back four-goal games against Notre Dame and North Carolina. Apuzzo has 80 goals, one away from the program record for goals in a single season, which she set last year. Behind her, Dempsey Arsenault (56 g, 32a, 88 points) and Kaileen Hart (51g, 27a, 78 ppoints) continue to rack up points for a BC offense that's rattled some of the best of the best.
The Seawolves counter with both Ohlmiller and Courtney Murphy, seniors who rank No. 1 and No. 2 nationally in scoring. Ohlmiller has 152 points, but while it's 25 more than Murphy, the latter has 93 goals on the year. Murphy scored eight goals earlier this year in a win over UMBC, and Ohlmiller's added two seven-goal outputs.
Both offenses can shellshock an opposing defense. Stony Brook opened the season with 96 goals in six games, a span that included four-straight wins over nationally-ranked teams. The Seawolves later dropped 19 goals on Cornell and 21 on Penn State, both of whom had shiny numbers next to their names.
BC, meanwhile, did much of the same. The Eagles scored 109 goals in their first six games of the year, including a 20-goal game against No. 11 Navy.
The "big time players" will likely play the largest role in establishing baseline scoring, but the difference in the game could be from the depth. Taryn Ohlmiller and Ally Kennedy combined for an additional 94 goals this year, with the former producing a 100-point season. Arsenault and Hart, meanwhile, combined for 107 goals and 166 points, though neither is within striking distance of the century mark, and Tess Chandler had 41 goals of her own as a scoring specialist.
Defenses under fire
That's going to put a premium on defense and goaltending. Both have elite units, with Stony Brook having an edge - though that's to be expected statistically from the No. 1-ranked unit. The Seawolves allowed an average of 6.85 goals per game, a number that's approximately two goals less than any other team in all of Division I.
Like the Eagles, the Seawolves have a knack for shutting down opposing defenses. They outshot opponents this year by approximately a 2:1 margin, allowing an average of less than 19 shots per game. But that's nearly equaled by BC, who allowed three more shots per game. Over a 20-plus game season, the number differential is negligible.
Both of these defenses will have their statistical prowess tested, and it'll put a premium on making the right play at the right time. SBU goalkeeper Anna Tesoriero is slightly better than BC's Lauren Daly in save percentage, but Daly played 200 more minutes and therefore faced 100 more shots.
But there is one major advantage for BC. The Eagles averaged 20.24 ground balls per game, a number that allowed them to control possession time over its opponents. Stony Brook won more ground balls than all of its opponents, but BC has been dominant in restricting opponents on clears. Though some of these aspects are usually out of a team's control, watching the chess match in how a team succeeds or fails on clear attempts could be a difference-maker as to who wins.
The elephant in the room
No team gets to within a game of the Final Four by accident. No player ever wants to talk about the next step until the current step is cleared. So neither team is probably talking a whole lot about playing for a national championship because it's anything but assured.
But it's there, and everyone knows it's there. These teams are arguably the two best teams in the nation, and they finished the season with the only two undefeated records in Division I. Stony Brook won the America East Conference postseason tournament, but BC lost in the ACC Championship to North Carolina.
The NCAA's seeding then turned fickle. The BC loss dropped the Eagles to the No. 4 seed, and Stony Brook was the only America East team in the bracket as the No. 5 seed. 2018 was a season with a razor-thin margin of error, and both teams had to hold serve at home before advancing to play one another.
It's what can be expected of this time of year. No. 1 Maryland is still lurking in the wings, but it would have to get through Navy, a team that lost to BC in the Final Four last year, to continue its title defense. On the other side of the bracket sits a matchup between No. 3 James Madison and No. 6 Florida, while No. 2 North Carolina plays a Northwestern program that won five straight national championships and seven out of eight between 2005-2012.
Meteorology 101
Saturday would be the perfect day in the perfect setting except for one thing: the weather. Forecasts are increasingly looking like Mother Nature isn't going to cooperate.
There's a current threat for rain that will likely hit right during Saturday's game. Temperatures will be in the 50s, and it will probably feel much colder with the wind and wetness.
That shouldn't deter any of the Eagle faithful from going to the game, but all of the fans will likely need to bring a poncho to stay dry.
Prediction Time/Pregame Zen
You're playing in a game. Whether it's Little League or Game Seven of the World Series, it's impossible to do well unless you're having a good time. People talk about pressure. Yeah, there's pressure. But I just look at it as fun. -Derek Jeter
This is Stony Brook's sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Joe Spallina, and the Seawolves have never advanced to the Final Four. They have the chance to do it this year with the added bonus of hosting the games in their own proverbial barn. For Coach Spallina, it's a chance to win a national title in Division I, something he accomplished at Adelphi in Division II.
Boston College head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein has participated in 14 of the last 15 NCAA Tournaments as a coach or player and was part of that aforementioned Northwestern run as an assistant coach. She helped lay the foundation for the Eagles' success as an associate head coach and hasn't missed a national tournament since becoming head coach in 2012.
Both coaches know a thing or two about pressure situations. But they also know that these games are what everyone plays for year-in and year-out. Both of these teams have risen to the occasion, and both have somehow gotten better and built more upon previous success.
That's what will make Saturday's game so much fun. It's a game between identical programs looking to ascend to the ultimate hill. It's literally everything that makes college sports great. May winds the year down and ultimately gets it ready for summer break. But for one more day, the anticipation makes this what college sports are made for.
BC and Stony Brook will play at 1 p.m. on Newton Campus. The game can be seen via ESPN3 and on mobile devices on the WatchESPN app.
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The two teams, after all, are virtually identical. Both went undefeated during the regular season, and they spent time next to each other as the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked teams. Both have superstar athletes in the conversation for the Tewaaraton Award, and both of them have a legitimate claim for winning.
Both teams also have a chip on their shoulder. Both were likely snubbed a little bit by their postseason ranking, even though BC and Stony Brook each received a bye. They likely thought they would meet up in this tournament, but they didn't think it would happen now or in this setting.
This matchup won't have a shortage of storylines when Newton Campus blows the whistle on the opening draw on Saturday. The Seawolves are looking to advance to the Final Four for the first time in program history, and it's a game they would play on home soil at LaValle Stadium. It would avenge last year's Quarterfinals exit to Maryland, and it would prove the thought that an undefeated team could use its underrating as nothing more than a speed bump-type challenge.
But the No. 4-ranked Eagles stand in Stony Brook's way. BC finished the regular season as undefeated (17-0) as the Seawolves and earned a higher seed largely due to its strength of schedule. Like Stony Brook, BC's 2018 postseason quest would redeem a loss last year to Maryland. The only difference is that its loss came in the national championship game.
Over the course of the regular season, no teams separated themselves quite like Boston College and Stony Brook. It's a national championship-caliber matchup happening two rounds too early for the right to play for the Final Four.
It simply doesn't get any better than that.
Game Day Storylines
Battle of the best
Saturday will feature a matchup between two of the best offenses in the nation with two of the best individual players. Fans will have a real treat when BC's Sam Apuzzo goes head-to-head with Stony Brook's Kyle Ohlmiller, both of whom are finalists for the Tewaaraton Award, given annually to the top player in collegiate lacrosse.
Ohlmiller is a more prolific scorer with 7.60 points per game, but Apuzzo is regarded as one of the most clutch players in the game. She has 21 goals in her last six games, including five against Syracuse in the regular season finale. In the ACC Tournament, Apuzzo scored 11 goals and notched back-to-back four-goal games against Notre Dame and North Carolina. Apuzzo has 80 goals, one away from the program record for goals in a single season, which she set last year. Behind her, Dempsey Arsenault (56 g, 32a, 88 points) and Kaileen Hart (51g, 27a, 78 ppoints) continue to rack up points for a BC offense that's rattled some of the best of the best.
The Seawolves counter with both Ohlmiller and Courtney Murphy, seniors who rank No. 1 and No. 2 nationally in scoring. Ohlmiller has 152 points, but while it's 25 more than Murphy, the latter has 93 goals on the year. Murphy scored eight goals earlier this year in a win over UMBC, and Ohlmiller's added two seven-goal outputs.
Both offenses can shellshock an opposing defense. Stony Brook opened the season with 96 goals in six games, a span that included four-straight wins over nationally-ranked teams. The Seawolves later dropped 19 goals on Cornell and 21 on Penn State, both of whom had shiny numbers next to their names.
BC, meanwhile, did much of the same. The Eagles scored 109 goals in their first six games of the year, including a 20-goal game against No. 11 Navy.
The "big time players" will likely play the largest role in establishing baseline scoring, but the difference in the game could be from the depth. Taryn Ohlmiller and Ally Kennedy combined for an additional 94 goals this year, with the former producing a 100-point season. Arsenault and Hart, meanwhile, combined for 107 goals and 166 points, though neither is within striking distance of the century mark, and Tess Chandler had 41 goals of her own as a scoring specialist.
Defenses under fire
That's going to put a premium on defense and goaltending. Both have elite units, with Stony Brook having an edge - though that's to be expected statistically from the No. 1-ranked unit. The Seawolves allowed an average of 6.85 goals per game, a number that's approximately two goals less than any other team in all of Division I.
Like the Eagles, the Seawolves have a knack for shutting down opposing defenses. They outshot opponents this year by approximately a 2:1 margin, allowing an average of less than 19 shots per game. But that's nearly equaled by BC, who allowed three more shots per game. Over a 20-plus game season, the number differential is negligible.
Both of these defenses will have their statistical prowess tested, and it'll put a premium on making the right play at the right time. SBU goalkeeper Anna Tesoriero is slightly better than BC's Lauren Daly in save percentage, but Daly played 200 more minutes and therefore faced 100 more shots.
But there is one major advantage for BC. The Eagles averaged 20.24 ground balls per game, a number that allowed them to control possession time over its opponents. Stony Brook won more ground balls than all of its opponents, but BC has been dominant in restricting opponents on clears. Though some of these aspects are usually out of a team's control, watching the chess match in how a team succeeds or fails on clear attempts could be a difference-maker as to who wins.
The elephant in the room
No team gets to within a game of the Final Four by accident. No player ever wants to talk about the next step until the current step is cleared. So neither team is probably talking a whole lot about playing for a national championship because it's anything but assured.
But it's there, and everyone knows it's there. These teams are arguably the two best teams in the nation, and they finished the season with the only two undefeated records in Division I. Stony Brook won the America East Conference postseason tournament, but BC lost in the ACC Championship to North Carolina.
The NCAA's seeding then turned fickle. The BC loss dropped the Eagles to the No. 4 seed, and Stony Brook was the only America East team in the bracket as the No. 5 seed. 2018 was a season with a razor-thin margin of error, and both teams had to hold serve at home before advancing to play one another.
It's what can be expected of this time of year. No. 1 Maryland is still lurking in the wings, but it would have to get through Navy, a team that lost to BC in the Final Four last year, to continue its title defense. On the other side of the bracket sits a matchup between No. 3 James Madison and No. 6 Florida, while No. 2 North Carolina plays a Northwestern program that won five straight national championships and seven out of eight between 2005-2012.
Meteorology 101
Saturday would be the perfect day in the perfect setting except for one thing: the weather. Forecasts are increasingly looking like Mother Nature isn't going to cooperate.
There's a current threat for rain that will likely hit right during Saturday's game. Temperatures will be in the 50s, and it will probably feel much colder with the wind and wetness.
That shouldn't deter any of the Eagle faithful from going to the game, but all of the fans will likely need to bring a poncho to stay dry.
Prediction Time/Pregame Zen
You're playing in a game. Whether it's Little League or Game Seven of the World Series, it's impossible to do well unless you're having a good time. People talk about pressure. Yeah, there's pressure. But I just look at it as fun. -Derek Jeter
This is Stony Brook's sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Joe Spallina, and the Seawolves have never advanced to the Final Four. They have the chance to do it this year with the added bonus of hosting the games in their own proverbial barn. For Coach Spallina, it's a chance to win a national title in Division I, something he accomplished at Adelphi in Division II.
Boston College head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein has participated in 14 of the last 15 NCAA Tournaments as a coach or player and was part of that aforementioned Northwestern run as an assistant coach. She helped lay the foundation for the Eagles' success as an associate head coach and hasn't missed a national tournament since becoming head coach in 2012.
Both coaches know a thing or two about pressure situations. But they also know that these games are what everyone plays for year-in and year-out. Both of these teams have risen to the occasion, and both have somehow gotten better and built more upon previous success.
That's what will make Saturday's game so much fun. It's a game between identical programs looking to ascend to the ultimate hill. It's literally everything that makes college sports great. May winds the year down and ultimately gets it ready for summer break. But for one more day, the anticipation makes this what college sports are made for.
BC and Stony Brook will play at 1 p.m. on Newton Campus. The game can be seen via ESPN3 and on mobile devices on the WatchESPN app.
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Players Mentioned
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