Heavyweight Hype Lives Up To Billing

There's a great scene in Rocky II that comes in the early rounds of the rematch between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed. Creed had pounded Balboa in the first couple of rounds, but towards the end of a round, Rocky started fighting back. He laid some big blows on Apollo, and they continued to hit each other after the bell. When they finally separated, Rocky sat on his stool and put his gloves on his trainer, Mick.

"I ain't goin' down no more," Rocky said through the bruises and the already-prevalent fatigue.

It took just 14 minutes for North Carolina to hang a crooked number on the Boston College defense in Friday's national semifinal. The Tar Heels opened up a 6-0 lead and battered the Eagles, chasing one goalie from the game. BC called timeout, and in the huddle, the team circled its wagons.

"Our whole motto has been one day at a time," Cara Urbank said. "(So) the offense and defense came together and said, 'One play at a time.' We kept our composure and took everything play-by-play."

It wasn't going down anymore. The anticipated battle between the two powerhouse titans of women's lacrosse had only just begun.

"North Carolina makes us play our very best," Walker-Weinstein said. "They have an incredible team and incredible coaches. It takes that many people to beat North Carolina in a semifinal game."

The Eagles chipped away at the lead, cutting it first to four before going on a 5-1 run by halftime. UNC still led, but BC's momentum spilled over into the start of the second half. It scored four of the first five goals to take a 10-9 lead, maintaining control and opening up a 12-10 advantage as the game led into its latter stages.

UNC rallied, and the teams traded a hot potato lead through the last four minutes of regulation. There were two lead changes in the last four minutes punctuated by the Tar Heels' 13-12 advantage. Dempsey Arsenault and Jordan Lappin pushed the game to 14-13, but Jamie Ortega tied things up to send the game to sudden victory overtime.

"We really have had a mentality of taking things one game at a time and one day at a time," Lauren Daly said. "The mentality of taking it one play at a time pushed us forward."

Daly understood that meaning better than anyone on the field. The senior goalie became the centerpiece of the BC comeback when she entered the game with the 6-0 deficit. It was a callback of sorts to the ACC Tournament final, when BC chased UNC goalie Taylor Moreno with a similar offensive explosion, necessitating a change.

UNC head coach Jenny Levy talked about that change prior to Friday's game. She pulled Moreno for Elise Hennessey in that game at Alumni Stadium and mentioned how goalies and defenses sometimes just don't have their best stuff in a given game. It's never a knock, but the change becomes a necessity in order to provide a spark. In the national semifinal, BC's move became a callback to that exact moment, especially when Daly made a game-changing save in the first overtime.

"There was a pretty hard line decision with the coaches that was led by (assistant coach) Tommy Connelly," Walker-Weinstein said. "It was a gut instinct. Lauren has been in these moments. Abbey helped get us here."

The save set up Sam Apuzzo's knockout blow in the second overtime, which itself provided a glimpse into her time machine. The senior had been in a day-long battle with defender Emma Trenchard, who had, to that point, held her to one goal over almost three hours. But Apuzzo got the final word, cradling to her right, then changing direction back to her left and delivering a laser beam right by Hennessey.

"North Carolina's defense is really strong and has really good 1-v-1 defenders," Apuzzo said. "Emma Trenchard is really strong, so I had to stay patient. I know the other attackers around me were doing their job, so when it was my turn, I just was able to finish, thankfully."

The marquee billed the BC-UNC game as an absolute battle between two virtually identical teams. Behind the thick respect burned a desire for both teams to claim victory. BC wanted to exorcise the last three ACC Championship losses to the Tar Heels, while UNC wanted to reestablish itself as the conference's top team. A national championship game appearance hung in the balance.

For almost three hours, two heavyweights punched with everything they had. They battered each other and left everything on the field before the 10,000 people in attendance and those watching at home on ESPN. The sports world is often filled with games that fail to live up to the hype. On Friday, the two teams did exactly that, and the outcome was exactly what Boston College dreamed about.

"It's right where we want it to be," Walker-Weinstein said. "ESPN stepped up and put the game on television. UNC and Boston College put on a really good show. They showed what good lacrosse is all about. They showed little girls everywhere what it means to compete at a high level. The (lacrosse universe) should be proud because lacrosse is growing, and tonight was proof of that."

Players Mentioned

Sam Apuzzo

Dempsey Arsenault

Lauren Daly

Jordan Lappin

Cara Urbank

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