Boston College Athletics
Sunday Looms as Second Season Kicks Off in Newton
May 08, 2018 | Lacrosse, #ForBoston Files
No. 4 Boston College will host NCAA Tournament action this weekend in lacrosse.
On Sunday night, Boston College's athletics teams celebrated the Golden Eagles. It's the annual year-end event where the best and brightest student-athletes are honored for their respective contributions to the Maroon and Gold. It's one of the year's capstones, something to formalize all that's been accomplished before the year officially ends.
It celebrated the end, but there was one small problem. Lacrosse season hadn't ended yet. In fact, it's just getting started.
"(Sunday) was a really cool night because the Golden Eagle awards bled right into the selection show (for the NCAA Tournament)," head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. "We received the first-ever team award that the school gave. That was really inspiring, and it led right into the selection show."
The NCAA announced the 2018 NCAA Tournament draw later that night with the Eagles learning their fate for this upcoming weekend. Boston College, by virtue of its 19-1 record, earned the No. 4 overall seed and the right to host its way through to the Final Four.
"It's definitely really exciting," junior Sam Abuzz said. "We've never been more confident going into the tournament. We usually know we can get in with an at-large bid, but this year we were so much more confident. It's exciting that we can be the No. 4 team and have home games and to have home field advantage is really awesome."
The road begins when Boston College hosts Syracuse and Ivy League champion Princeton on Friday. The Eagles await the winner on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Newton Soccer & Lacrosse Complex.
"I think we're just fired up to be hosting and to have a bye," Walker-Weinstein said. "Everyone is talking about how our bracket is really hard, but we don't care. We're hosting and we're home. We're fired up to watch Princeton and Syracuse on our home turf. That's going to be a really cool experience because we can sit back and study to get our scout teams prepared."
"We'll be able to watch that game, but I don't know how much we're going to enjoy it," junior Dempsey Renault said with a laugh. "We'll have to see what we have to prepare for and be studying the game to see what we're getting to ready to play."
"We love watching lacrosse in general, but we're all business," senior attacker Kaileen Hart agreed. "We'll probably be taking notes in our notebooks (during the Syracuse-Princeton game). But we're all still really excited just to watch a good game."
It's part of a bracket full of deep storylines. Syracuse-Princeton is a rematch of a one-goal game from earlier this season. The Orange won that game, 17-16, despite the Tigers scoring 11 second-half goals. A win in the first round would earn a rematch with the Eagles, that rallied to finish an undefeated season with less than two seconds left in the second half.
But Princeton isn't a pushover by any stretch. The Ivy League champions are peaking at the right time with six straight wins. In the last two games of the season, the Tigers beat Penn and Columbia by a combined, 43-24, advantage before doubling up the programs in the tournament. After beating the Lions, 17-7, Princeton bumped off Penn, who also made the NCAA tournament, with a 13-10 victory.
It's a fun contrast in potential opponents. Syracuse is BC's ancient rival with 19 previous meetings, but the Eagles have never played the Tigers.
"Syracuse is a very storied program, and they know how to win when it's important," Walker-Weinstein said. "They've improved over the course of the season, so they could be a really tough matchup. And if it's Princeton, they just won the Ivy League championship, and the Ivy League is tougher than it's ever been. We've also never played Princeton, so that also would be a very exciting matchup for us. Right now, we're just trying to be our best selves, but at the end of the week, we can start tailoring our practices to a potential opponent."
BC likely will find itself as the favorite on Sunday regardless of which team wins on Friday. The Eagles finished the regular season with a perfect 17-0 record, one of only two teams nationally with undefeated records. But after beating both Louisville and Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament, North Carolina won the conference crown with a victory in the final game.
The UNC loss dropped BC to No. 4 overall and paired it opposite No. 5 Stony Brook, who at 19-0 is the only undefeated team in the nation. Though BC would host a potential matchup in the quarterfinals, the Seawolves are the host institution for the national championship weekend. Looking down the road, a potential matchup could loom in Newton against a team looking to play for a national championship at home.
"(The team is) angry," Walker-Weinstein said of the team's one loss. "They're angry they lost (to UNC). They're not upset or questioning themselves. They're just angry. This team is so competitive it sort-of lit a different fire. Our staff doesn't wait for a loss to have a teaching moment, but it definitely lit a different fire. It didn't break us, and it's just one loss. But it sort-of lit that fire."
All of that, however, is an unknown and very distant future. The national tournament is a series of one-game seasons with no margin for error. Only one team earns the right to end the year with a win. It's as high pressure as it comes, and it's a pressured tax understood only by those fortunate enough to play in it.
"For freshmen, the process is exciting because you see your team's name on the selection for the first time," Hart said. "As a senior, it's now the culmination of the hard work we've put in. We knew we'd have a bye and we hoped for a home game, but seeing it and actually having an opponent to focus on is really exciting. We all have friends on other teams too, so it was exciting to see where they are and think about where everyone can end up. It's a celebration of what we've put in. It's a good experience to be together for."
That's something the Eagles know about. BC is readying for what it hopes will be the ride of its life. The second season - the real season - is beginning now. And for the Eagles, that means sticking together and basking in what it hopes will be a home field advantage for the ages.
"Our families are the glue that hold the program together," Walker-Weinstein said. "Some programs keep families out of the team, but we're the polar opposite. We want families to be the glue. We love it. The parents rejuvenate the kids. There's nothing like having family love right around the corner. Because of that, we want to feel their support in the program.
"They're not just out there supporting their daughter," she continued. "They come out to support the whole program. It's not financial support; it's emotional and spiritual support. They're as dedicated as the kids are. We want them to feel ownership in this program's successes so we're all in it together."
*****
Friday's game will begin at 4 p.m. with the winner advancing to the play the Eagles on Sunday at 1 p.m. All games will be played at the Newton Campus Lacrosse & Soccer Field and will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Tickets to the games can be purchased at the gate or online.
It celebrated the end, but there was one small problem. Lacrosse season hadn't ended yet. In fact, it's just getting started.
"(Sunday) was a really cool night because the Golden Eagle awards bled right into the selection show (for the NCAA Tournament)," head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. "We received the first-ever team award that the school gave. That was really inspiring, and it led right into the selection show."
The NCAA announced the 2018 NCAA Tournament draw later that night with the Eagles learning their fate for this upcoming weekend. Boston College, by virtue of its 19-1 record, earned the No. 4 overall seed and the right to host its way through to the Final Four.
"It's definitely really exciting," junior Sam Abuzz said. "We've never been more confident going into the tournament. We usually know we can get in with an at-large bid, but this year we were so much more confident. It's exciting that we can be the No. 4 team and have home games and to have home field advantage is really awesome."
The road begins when Boston College hosts Syracuse and Ivy League champion Princeton on Friday. The Eagles await the winner on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Newton Soccer & Lacrosse Complex.
"I think we're just fired up to be hosting and to have a bye," Walker-Weinstein said. "Everyone is talking about how our bracket is really hard, but we don't care. We're hosting and we're home. We're fired up to watch Princeton and Syracuse on our home turf. That's going to be a really cool experience because we can sit back and study to get our scout teams prepared."
"We'll be able to watch that game, but I don't know how much we're going to enjoy it," junior Dempsey Renault said with a laugh. "We'll have to see what we have to prepare for and be studying the game to see what we're getting to ready to play."
"We love watching lacrosse in general, but we're all business," senior attacker Kaileen Hart agreed. "We'll probably be taking notes in our notebooks (during the Syracuse-Princeton game). But we're all still really excited just to watch a good game."
It's part of a bracket full of deep storylines. Syracuse-Princeton is a rematch of a one-goal game from earlier this season. The Orange won that game, 17-16, despite the Tigers scoring 11 second-half goals. A win in the first round would earn a rematch with the Eagles, that rallied to finish an undefeated season with less than two seconds left in the second half.
But Princeton isn't a pushover by any stretch. The Ivy League champions are peaking at the right time with six straight wins. In the last two games of the season, the Tigers beat Penn and Columbia by a combined, 43-24, advantage before doubling up the programs in the tournament. After beating the Lions, 17-7, Princeton bumped off Penn, who also made the NCAA tournament, with a 13-10 victory.
It's a fun contrast in potential opponents. Syracuse is BC's ancient rival with 19 previous meetings, but the Eagles have never played the Tigers.
"Syracuse is a very storied program, and they know how to win when it's important," Walker-Weinstein said. "They've improved over the course of the season, so they could be a really tough matchup. And if it's Princeton, they just won the Ivy League championship, and the Ivy League is tougher than it's ever been. We've also never played Princeton, so that also would be a very exciting matchup for us. Right now, we're just trying to be our best selves, but at the end of the week, we can start tailoring our practices to a potential opponent."
BC likely will find itself as the favorite on Sunday regardless of which team wins on Friday. The Eagles finished the regular season with a perfect 17-0 record, one of only two teams nationally with undefeated records. But after beating both Louisville and Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament, North Carolina won the conference crown with a victory in the final game.
The UNC loss dropped BC to No. 4 overall and paired it opposite No. 5 Stony Brook, who at 19-0 is the only undefeated team in the nation. Though BC would host a potential matchup in the quarterfinals, the Seawolves are the host institution for the national championship weekend. Looking down the road, a potential matchup could loom in Newton against a team looking to play for a national championship at home.
"(The team is) angry," Walker-Weinstein said of the team's one loss. "They're angry they lost (to UNC). They're not upset or questioning themselves. They're just angry. This team is so competitive it sort-of lit a different fire. Our staff doesn't wait for a loss to have a teaching moment, but it definitely lit a different fire. It didn't break us, and it's just one loss. But it sort-of lit that fire."
All of that, however, is an unknown and very distant future. The national tournament is a series of one-game seasons with no margin for error. Only one team earns the right to end the year with a win. It's as high pressure as it comes, and it's a pressured tax understood only by those fortunate enough to play in it.
"For freshmen, the process is exciting because you see your team's name on the selection for the first time," Hart said. "As a senior, it's now the culmination of the hard work we've put in. We knew we'd have a bye and we hoped for a home game, but seeing it and actually having an opponent to focus on is really exciting. We all have friends on other teams too, so it was exciting to see where they are and think about where everyone can end up. It's a celebration of what we've put in. It's a good experience to be together for."
That's something the Eagles know about. BC is readying for what it hopes will be the ride of its life. The second season - the real season - is beginning now. And for the Eagles, that means sticking together and basking in what it hopes will be a home field advantage for the ages.
"Our families are the glue that hold the program together," Walker-Weinstein said. "Some programs keep families out of the team, but we're the polar opposite. We want families to be the glue. We love it. The parents rejuvenate the kids. There's nothing like having family love right around the corner. Because of that, we want to feel their support in the program.
"They're not just out there supporting their daughter," she continued. "They come out to support the whole program. It's not financial support; it's emotional and spiritual support. They're as dedicated as the kids are. We want them to feel ownership in this program's successes so we're all in it together."
*****
Friday's game will begin at 4 p.m. with the winner advancing to the play the Eagles on Sunday at 1 p.m. All games will be played at the Newton Campus Lacrosse & Soccer Field and will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Tickets to the games can be purchased at the gate or online.
Players Mentioned
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