Eagles Returning Home As NCAA Tournament Heads To Newton
May 12, 2022 | Lacrosse, #ForBoston Files
BC awaits either Denver or Vermont on Sunday afternoon.
Of all the storylines facing Boston College's trip to the ACC Championship last week, a loss to North Carolina only marginally entered the conversation. The two teams had traded wins off one another by generating the kind of defining moments expected from instant classics, and the sheer volume and depth of talent permeating both rosters made a big win for either team a near impossibility.Â
A multi-goal loss was especially unexpected after the way the teams played their first game, but it exited the multiverse altogether after BC opened a two-goal lead into halftime. UNC was a team known for second period dominance, and the Tar Heels lost the quarter by a goal after the Eagles already possessed a one-goal lead.Â
Facing one of the best second half teams in the nation made it tougher still to imagine what happened in the third quarter when the Tar Heels used a 7-0 period to pass the Eagles and eventually open a four-goal lead on a suddenly shell-shocked defending national champion. Fifteen minutes later, another UNC quarter win ended the game with a 16-9 result and a sixth consecutive conference title for an undefeated team bound to the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
It was a disappointment, but the gravity of that situation quickly dissipated once the team returned home to Chestnut Hill. More games awaited, and as the NCAA Tournament opens this weekend, a road is opening for the No. 3 overall seed that could easily replace the conference tournament disappointment with a more national destiny.
"We just did [with UNC] what we do with every game," head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. "We got the girls back [to campus] and reviewed it as a team. The leaders evaluated, and we came together very professionally and emotionally. We figured out what we needed to take from it, but we didn't do anything that we haven't done all year. We're trying to stay the course and learn from the past, then turn the page and move on and get ready for playoffs."
That course didn't change much regardless of the outcome last week. UNC entered that game undefeated and would have earned either the No. 1 or No. 2 overall seed regardless of the outcome. Maryland likewise trampled its way through the Big Ten Tournament and finished off an undefeated conference season by dominating Johns Hopkins and Rutgers last weekend. With a 17-1 overall record, the Terrapins were really the only other team with a claim to the top overall seed since BC had two losses, including one to UNC during the season.
That left BC as the No. 3 seed in a rare case of seeding making sense at the national level. Northwestern, the second place team in the Big Ten, absorbed a bad 13-5 loss to Rutgers and slipped into the No. 4 seed, while fifth-seeded Syracuse lost to Virginia in its opening game at Notre Dame. Loyola Maryland, the No. 6 seed, then slotted into BC's bracket after it finished a trail of destruction in a mid-major Patriot League.
"The first round [bye] is obviously the biggest advantage," Walker-Weinstein said, "and then being at home is the second biggest advantage. The way we approach it, though, is like we have all these things going for us. We kind of twist the narrative a little bit to say that [whoever wins] will be in a groove because sometimes teams with byes don't have the rhythm. The people who come in and play on Friday - they're in a groove, they're fired up , they're ready to go, and they're feeling like underdogs. We know fully well how dangerous that mentality can be."
It was almost too clean, but the bracket builds a cross-section for the Eagles regardless of their future opponent. They played Denver earlier this year but had their 9-5 win cut short after the third quarter due to cold conditions in Colorado. It was the Pioneers' first loss of the season and was their only defeat until unranked Colorado shocked them with a 12-10 win that became their only four-quarter loss.
One week later, the undefeated top seed in the Big East Championship defeated UConn before beating Georgetown, 16-15, in overtime, and while a Colorado-based team in the Big East seems strange, the win marked the second consecutive league title for the Pioneers, who won the 2014 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship.
"Out at Denver, with Coach [Bill] Tierney and the men's program, there's a lot of support [for lacrosse]," Walker-Weinstein said. "It shows that out west, where it's less of a hotbed region for schools, they want their teams to be successful at the fastest growing sport in the country."
The same couldn't be said for Vermont, where head coach Sarah Dalton Graddock opened a construction project in 2017 with a 1-15 overall record and a winless finish in the America East Conference. The Catamounts have never been in the NCAA Tournament and only boasted a handful of conference tournament appearances over the past 30 years, but a magical, 14-4 season culminated last week in a one-goal win over Albany, the regular season champion.Â
"It shows how everybody's good," Walker-Weinstein said of Vermont's success. "It's not that the normal or usual suspects are winning their conference championships. It's not a guarantee or a lock anymore, and that's showcased in the women's bracket."
BC awaits the winner of that matchup in a Sunday effort scheduled for the Eagles' traditional home in Newton. Like last year, the team played the majority of its games in either Fish Field House or within Alumni Stadium, where crowds reached an excess of over 6,000 spectators for home games. But setup for commencement activities required the team to move back to its traditional home for the first time since last year's NCAA Tournament wins over Fairfield, Temple and Notre Dame.
"We love it," Walker-Weinstein said. "It feels like home. Just [this week] when I pulled in, it was warm outside, and it's spring, and I pulled into the stadium. It reminded me of so many good memories of the teams and players that built this program, that paved the way and didn't get the luxury that the team has now [in Chestnut Hill]. So I really, really love bringing this team back to our Newton stadium [for the NCAA Tournament]."
The NCAA Tournament kicks off on Friday from the Newton Campus Lacrosse & Soccer Field in Newton, Massachusetts when Denver plays Vermont in the First Round. The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+ with the winner advancing to play the third-seeded Eagles on Sunday at 1 p.m. That game will also be seen on ESPN+ as part of the ACC Network Extra package.
The winner of Sunday's game advances to the quarterfinal. Should BC advance, the Eagles would host the winner of sixth-seeded Loyola's bracket. The Greyhounds are hosting that bracket this weekend and start their journey on Friday at 3 p.m. against Mount St. Mary's, while UConn and James Madison start at 7 p.m. Winners will advance to Sunday, also hosted by Loyola regardless of who wins, and will also start at 1 p.m.
A multi-goal loss was especially unexpected after the way the teams played their first game, but it exited the multiverse altogether after BC opened a two-goal lead into halftime. UNC was a team known for second period dominance, and the Tar Heels lost the quarter by a goal after the Eagles already possessed a one-goal lead.Â
Facing one of the best second half teams in the nation made it tougher still to imagine what happened in the third quarter when the Tar Heels used a 7-0 period to pass the Eagles and eventually open a four-goal lead on a suddenly shell-shocked defending national champion. Fifteen minutes later, another UNC quarter win ended the game with a 16-9 result and a sixth consecutive conference title for an undefeated team bound to the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
It was a disappointment, but the gravity of that situation quickly dissipated once the team returned home to Chestnut Hill. More games awaited, and as the NCAA Tournament opens this weekend, a road is opening for the No. 3 overall seed that could easily replace the conference tournament disappointment with a more national destiny.
"We just did [with UNC] what we do with every game," head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. "We got the girls back [to campus] and reviewed it as a team. The leaders evaluated, and we came together very professionally and emotionally. We figured out what we needed to take from it, but we didn't do anything that we haven't done all year. We're trying to stay the course and learn from the past, then turn the page and move on and get ready for playoffs."
That course didn't change much regardless of the outcome last week. UNC entered that game undefeated and would have earned either the No. 1 or No. 2 overall seed regardless of the outcome. Maryland likewise trampled its way through the Big Ten Tournament and finished off an undefeated conference season by dominating Johns Hopkins and Rutgers last weekend. With a 17-1 overall record, the Terrapins were really the only other team with a claim to the top overall seed since BC had two losses, including one to UNC during the season.
That left BC as the No. 3 seed in a rare case of seeding making sense at the national level. Northwestern, the second place team in the Big Ten, absorbed a bad 13-5 loss to Rutgers and slipped into the No. 4 seed, while fifth-seeded Syracuse lost to Virginia in its opening game at Notre Dame. Loyola Maryland, the No. 6 seed, then slotted into BC's bracket after it finished a trail of destruction in a mid-major Patriot League.
"The first round [bye] is obviously the biggest advantage," Walker-Weinstein said, "and then being at home is the second biggest advantage. The way we approach it, though, is like we have all these things going for us. We kind of twist the narrative a little bit to say that [whoever wins] will be in a groove because sometimes teams with byes don't have the rhythm. The people who come in and play on Friday - they're in a groove, they're fired up , they're ready to go, and they're feeling like underdogs. We know fully well how dangerous that mentality can be."
It was almost too clean, but the bracket builds a cross-section for the Eagles regardless of their future opponent. They played Denver earlier this year but had their 9-5 win cut short after the third quarter due to cold conditions in Colorado. It was the Pioneers' first loss of the season and was their only defeat until unranked Colorado shocked them with a 12-10 win that became their only four-quarter loss.
One week later, the undefeated top seed in the Big East Championship defeated UConn before beating Georgetown, 16-15, in overtime, and while a Colorado-based team in the Big East seems strange, the win marked the second consecutive league title for the Pioneers, who won the 2014 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship.
"Out at Denver, with Coach [Bill] Tierney and the men's program, there's a lot of support [for lacrosse]," Walker-Weinstein said. "It shows that out west, where it's less of a hotbed region for schools, they want their teams to be successful at the fastest growing sport in the country."
The same couldn't be said for Vermont, where head coach Sarah Dalton Graddock opened a construction project in 2017 with a 1-15 overall record and a winless finish in the America East Conference. The Catamounts have never been in the NCAA Tournament and only boasted a handful of conference tournament appearances over the past 30 years, but a magical, 14-4 season culminated last week in a one-goal win over Albany, the regular season champion.Â
"It shows how everybody's good," Walker-Weinstein said of Vermont's success. "It's not that the normal or usual suspects are winning their conference championships. It's not a guarantee or a lock anymore, and that's showcased in the women's bracket."
BC awaits the winner of that matchup in a Sunday effort scheduled for the Eagles' traditional home in Newton. Like last year, the team played the majority of its games in either Fish Field House or within Alumni Stadium, where crowds reached an excess of over 6,000 spectators for home games. But setup for commencement activities required the team to move back to its traditional home for the first time since last year's NCAA Tournament wins over Fairfield, Temple and Notre Dame.
"We love it," Walker-Weinstein said. "It feels like home. Just [this week] when I pulled in, it was warm outside, and it's spring, and I pulled into the stadium. It reminded me of so many good memories of the teams and players that built this program, that paved the way and didn't get the luxury that the team has now [in Chestnut Hill]. So I really, really love bringing this team back to our Newton stadium [for the NCAA Tournament]."
The NCAA Tournament kicks off on Friday from the Newton Campus Lacrosse & Soccer Field in Newton, Massachusetts when Denver plays Vermont in the First Round. The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+ with the winner advancing to play the third-seeded Eagles on Sunday at 1 p.m. That game will also be seen on ESPN+ as part of the ACC Network Extra package.
The winner of Sunday's game advances to the quarterfinal. Should BC advance, the Eagles would host the winner of sixth-seeded Loyola's bracket. The Greyhounds are hosting that bracket this weekend and start their journey on Friday at 3 p.m. against Mount St. Mary's, while UConn and James Madison start at 7 p.m. Winners will advance to Sunday, also hosted by Loyola regardless of who wins, and will also start at 1 p.m.
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