Boston College Athletics
"Day By Day" in 2019
January 15, 2019 | Lacrosse, #ForBoston Files
Lacrosse's focus is on getting better today with the goal to be better tomorrow.
There would be good reason if the Boston College lacrosse team commenced its 2019 preseason with an air of confidence. The Eagles are, after all, a two-time defending national runner-up and opened this season at the No. 1 team in the nation. They have a star-studded roster that includes last year's Tewaaraton Award winner and a core culture designed to sustain success at the highest level.
But the team kicked off its first practice this week with a simple message to improve before it plays its first game in three weeks against Boston University.
"It feels good (to get back on the field)," head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. "I was just excited to get back out and see the girls. They all seem really focused, and we're all just taking everything one day at a time. We want to prepare as best as we can today (for the next day), so this was just a good start."
It's a definitive message for a team that's accomplished almost everything in the past two years. BC's success is well-documented as a national finalist in each of the last two seasons. The two-time defending national finalist has a slew of individual accomplishments, including last year's Tewaaraton Award winner, Sam Apuzzo.
Everyone is aware of that history because they live in the culture it established. Success is built by a compilation of each individual day, and each season began in training camp. It's an approach that lives for the day and savors the moments where the team gets together and dedicates itself to work.
"It's a great feeling to get back together with the team," Apuzzo said. "Everyone worked hard over break, but now it's just getting started, day-by-day. We started preparing (on Tuesday) to get ready for (the first game), and we've already started preparing really hard."
"The nature of BC lacrosse is that these guys were preparing all break (for preseason)," Walker-Weinstein said. "When we got back, we hit the ground running. We started by competing and brushing up on what we did in the fall. It's about getting that one percent better."
It's a culture designed to create a new team and style every season, even as it continues and builds upon prior years. The Eagles return its top two scorers in Apuzzo and Dempsey Arsenault, and Kenzie Kent returns after redshirting last season. But the team will likely change and adjust through a season's ebb and flows, especially as players continue competing against one another in each practice.
"I expect everyone to compete for their spots every day," Walker-Weinstein said. "They're not going to be safe. They either have to be competing for a position, keeping their position or taking a position every second of every practice. (The coaches) will see what we evaluate and get ready for (the next day).
"We're just accelerating things," she said. "We want to tweak different systems that already existed. It lets us create new things around new weapons. We will want to evaluate how people compete, and we make decisions at night based on how those people practiced."
"I think everything is a continuation of what we're building," Apuzzo said. "We're kind of the same (collective) person. Everyone has this hard working attitude that we have to bring every day. We have to do what we do, and we need to take that into the season through the rest of preseason."
It's a process, but it begins with virtually immediate urgency. The Eagles open their season at home on February 9 against Boston University before heading to Syracuse for their ACC opener a week later. It's part of an early-season schedule that includes a UMass team that missed the NCAA Tournament last season but qualified in the previous seven consecutive brackets and eight of the last nine.
"We'll be outside the second BC allows us," Walker-Weinstein said. "We're only inside because of weather rules. We'd be outside every day if we could. We have the same challenges that we always do (with the weather), but that doesn't stop us from focusing on executing and competing at a high level."
"Every practice gives us a new opportunity to accomplish a goal that we set for the day," Arsenault said. "We don't have a set goal for our preseason; we are setting goals for each day."
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But the team kicked off its first practice this week with a simple message to improve before it plays its first game in three weeks against Boston University.
"It feels good (to get back on the field)," head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. "I was just excited to get back out and see the girls. They all seem really focused, and we're all just taking everything one day at a time. We want to prepare as best as we can today (for the next day), so this was just a good start."
It's a definitive message for a team that's accomplished almost everything in the past two years. BC's success is well-documented as a national finalist in each of the last two seasons. The two-time defending national finalist has a slew of individual accomplishments, including last year's Tewaaraton Award winner, Sam Apuzzo.
Everyone is aware of that history because they live in the culture it established. Success is built by a compilation of each individual day, and each season began in training camp. It's an approach that lives for the day and savors the moments where the team gets together and dedicates itself to work.
"It's a great feeling to get back together with the team," Apuzzo said. "Everyone worked hard over break, but now it's just getting started, day-by-day. We started preparing (on Tuesday) to get ready for (the first game), and we've already started preparing really hard."
"The nature of BC lacrosse is that these guys were preparing all break (for preseason)," Walker-Weinstein said. "When we got back, we hit the ground running. We started by competing and brushing up on what we did in the fall. It's about getting that one percent better."
It's a culture designed to create a new team and style every season, even as it continues and builds upon prior years. The Eagles return its top two scorers in Apuzzo and Dempsey Arsenault, and Kenzie Kent returns after redshirting last season. But the team will likely change and adjust through a season's ebb and flows, especially as players continue competing against one another in each practice.
"I expect everyone to compete for their spots every day," Walker-Weinstein said. "They're not going to be safe. They either have to be competing for a position, keeping their position or taking a position every second of every practice. (The coaches) will see what we evaluate and get ready for (the next day).
"We're just accelerating things," she said. "We want to tweak different systems that already existed. It lets us create new things around new weapons. We will want to evaluate how people compete, and we make decisions at night based on how those people practiced."
"I think everything is a continuation of what we're building," Apuzzo said. "We're kind of the same (collective) person. Everyone has this hard working attitude that we have to bring every day. We have to do what we do, and we need to take that into the season through the rest of preseason."
It's a process, but it begins with virtually immediate urgency. The Eagles open their season at home on February 9 against Boston University before heading to Syracuse for their ACC opener a week later. It's part of an early-season schedule that includes a UMass team that missed the NCAA Tournament last season but qualified in the previous seven consecutive brackets and eight of the last nine.
"We'll be outside the second BC allows us," Walker-Weinstein said. "We're only inside because of weather rules. We'd be outside every day if we could. We have the same challenges that we always do (with the weather), but that doesn't stop us from focusing on executing and competing at a high level."
"Every practice gives us a new opportunity to accomplish a goal that we set for the day," Arsenault said. "We don't have a set goal for our preseason; we are setting goals for each day."
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