Boston College Athletics
BC Begins Unprecedented Chapter In Friday's Debut
February 05, 2026 | Lacrosse, #ForBoston Files
For the first time in eight years, BC begins a quest as a team that didn't play in the national championship game.
Perhaps it's most fitting that the start of the 2026 college lacrosse season begins in a state where 2025 ended, with an opponent that caused the premature completion of Boston College's annual race to a national championship game. Perhaps it's equally as fitting that it occurs on a weekend in which the resident team from that national championship weekend is competing for its own title, and maybe it's even more proper that this year's title weekend is scheduled at the exact stadium housing last year's runner-up, the opponent in last year's Final Four and this year's opening weekend adversary.
Perhaps there's an alignment in the cosmos, or maybe it's all just a coincidence. No matter the reason, few opening games in college lacrosse match the star power of the annual game between No. 3 Boston College and No. 2 Northwestern, and none carry the immediate storylines available for an opening round salvo to start the charge to Memorial Day Weekend and the crowning of this year's lacrosse queens.
"I think to have the success [of BC lacrosse] really speaks to the culture that trickles down year-to-year," said head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein after last year's one-goal semifinal loss to the Wildcats. "I give my coaching staff so much credit. Having Sam [Apuzzo] year after year and Jen [Kent] year after year, and Callahan [Kent] stick around and having those guys stay by my side has allowed us to work on the culture. It allows for consistency when we're coaching, [and] the girls know exactly what they are going to get. I think we've been able to help contain the culture, I hope that we always can because culture is everything at BC."
For eight years, Boston College began its college lacrosse season with the same storylines and same questions that wouldn't change under normalized conditions. At the risk of a double negative, the Eagles hadn't not-defended a spot in the national championship game since an unseeded run through the 2017 season ended with a First Round, 11-9 loss to Stony Brook. The fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth at the time, a one-year gap in 2012 separated the first-ever trip to the national scene from its subsequent lineage. An upstart program with an upstart coach hadn't won more than 15 games in a season and failed to finish better than a two-loss campaign through either the Big East or the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Walker-Weinstein was a first time head coach with little more than a few years of associate head coaching on her resume. She was from lacrosse's royal grounds in Maryland and won national championships as an assistant to Amonte Hiller's Northwestern program after finishing a world championship-caliber playing career, but both she and BC lacked the household recognition afforded to North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia and the Ivy League institutions.
Eight years later, BC is a world class powerhouse with alumni capable of dominating every step of the NCAA record book. Two national championships hang in Alumni Stadium because the team's popularity spilled overflow crowds away from its initial home on Newton Campus. An indoor practice facility normally reserved for the university's football program is a secondary home during winter's cold spell, and Walker-Weinstein - and her Eagles - churned out national championships, 20-win seasons, undefeated regular seasons, and the school's first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference title.
"I think that our program and a lot of programs contribute to [the growth of lacrosse]," said Walker-Weinstein in May. "I think that's something that I"m really proud of. The girls in our program play the right way. They play unselfishly. They play really gritty. They play really tough, and I think they have captured the hearts of a lot of young lacrosse players. I think that's a tribute to the kind of people that we have in our program. Playing unselfishly is not always easy when the sport is growing, and there's a lot of limelight and a lot of social media. But our girls have been true to our standard to be unselfish. And I think because of that, the game is electric and fun to watch, and I think we've captured a lot of fans."
Yet BC still enters unprecedented ground on Friday afternoon when the defending national runners-up arrive in Fish Field House for the first matchup of the 2026 season. Eight years since that first season as a defending national championship game participant arrived, the Eagles are entering a year with an exit from the semifinal round. Rachel Clark and Mckenna Davis are gone after setting program records for goals and assists, respectively, and Emma LoPinto is in a basketball uniform after exhausting her eligibility on the lacrosse field. Incoming transfers Mia Mascone and Maria Themelis are being replaced by an incoming transfer trio from nationally relevant programs, and inherent unknowns exist around a seven-player recruiting class that included three five-star players.
Under normal circumstances, those removals and variables would cause a team to backslide on the national radar, but BC is still the No. 3 preseason team with enough recognition to warrant national championship consideration. Where the team is likely to find new stars up front, the back end duo of goalie Shea Dolce and defender Shea Baker gained recognition as a Preseason All-American selection, and Lydia Colasante is a secondary defender who would rank among any team's top options in the back.Â
And within that transfer class, redshirt junior attacker Marissa White scored 95 goals in 43 career games at North Carolina with 49 goals and 56 points for last year's national champion. The No. 2 overall recruit in her high school class, years of eligibility remaining give her the necessary runway to gain inclusion into BC's system while concurrently forcing Walker-Weinstein and the Eagles to evolve to their current and changing personnel.
"The team [last year] had come a really long way," said Walker-Weinstein in May. "I'm proud of the standard that they held, the leaders that they became, and they are leaving BC lacrosse in a great place for us to be proud of…I'm so very proud of our team and all of the leaders, and the [younger players] got experience on such a big stage that we can take that into [2026]."
No. 3 Boston College hosts No. 2 Northwestern in the season-opening matchup of the 2026 NCAA women's lacrosse season on Friday, February 6, from the Fish Field House in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Games at Fish Field House are closed to the public, but television coverage is available through the ACC Network Extra coverage, streaming on the ESPN app on Internet and mobile devices.
Perhaps there's an alignment in the cosmos, or maybe it's all just a coincidence. No matter the reason, few opening games in college lacrosse match the star power of the annual game between No. 3 Boston College and No. 2 Northwestern, and none carry the immediate storylines available for an opening round salvo to start the charge to Memorial Day Weekend and the crowning of this year's lacrosse queens.
"I think to have the success [of BC lacrosse] really speaks to the culture that trickles down year-to-year," said head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein after last year's one-goal semifinal loss to the Wildcats. "I give my coaching staff so much credit. Having Sam [Apuzzo] year after year and Jen [Kent] year after year, and Callahan [Kent] stick around and having those guys stay by my side has allowed us to work on the culture. It allows for consistency when we're coaching, [and] the girls know exactly what they are going to get. I think we've been able to help contain the culture, I hope that we always can because culture is everything at BC."
For eight years, Boston College began its college lacrosse season with the same storylines and same questions that wouldn't change under normalized conditions. At the risk of a double negative, the Eagles hadn't not-defended a spot in the national championship game since an unseeded run through the 2017 season ended with a First Round, 11-9 loss to Stony Brook. The fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth at the time, a one-year gap in 2012 separated the first-ever trip to the national scene from its subsequent lineage. An upstart program with an upstart coach hadn't won more than 15 games in a season and failed to finish better than a two-loss campaign through either the Big East or the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Walker-Weinstein was a first time head coach with little more than a few years of associate head coaching on her resume. She was from lacrosse's royal grounds in Maryland and won national championships as an assistant to Amonte Hiller's Northwestern program after finishing a world championship-caliber playing career, but both she and BC lacked the household recognition afforded to North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia and the Ivy League institutions.
Eight years later, BC is a world class powerhouse with alumni capable of dominating every step of the NCAA record book. Two national championships hang in Alumni Stadium because the team's popularity spilled overflow crowds away from its initial home on Newton Campus. An indoor practice facility normally reserved for the university's football program is a secondary home during winter's cold spell, and Walker-Weinstein - and her Eagles - churned out national championships, 20-win seasons, undefeated regular seasons, and the school's first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference title.
"I think that our program and a lot of programs contribute to [the growth of lacrosse]," said Walker-Weinstein in May. "I think that's something that I"m really proud of. The girls in our program play the right way. They play unselfishly. They play really gritty. They play really tough, and I think they have captured the hearts of a lot of young lacrosse players. I think that's a tribute to the kind of people that we have in our program. Playing unselfishly is not always easy when the sport is growing, and there's a lot of limelight and a lot of social media. But our girls have been true to our standard to be unselfish. And I think because of that, the game is electric and fun to watch, and I think we've captured a lot of fans."
Yet BC still enters unprecedented ground on Friday afternoon when the defending national runners-up arrive in Fish Field House for the first matchup of the 2026 season. Eight years since that first season as a defending national championship game participant arrived, the Eagles are entering a year with an exit from the semifinal round. Rachel Clark and Mckenna Davis are gone after setting program records for goals and assists, respectively, and Emma LoPinto is in a basketball uniform after exhausting her eligibility on the lacrosse field. Incoming transfers Mia Mascone and Maria Themelis are being replaced by an incoming transfer trio from nationally relevant programs, and inherent unknowns exist around a seven-player recruiting class that included three five-star players.
Under normal circumstances, those removals and variables would cause a team to backslide on the national radar, but BC is still the No. 3 preseason team with enough recognition to warrant national championship consideration. Where the team is likely to find new stars up front, the back end duo of goalie Shea Dolce and defender Shea Baker gained recognition as a Preseason All-American selection, and Lydia Colasante is a secondary defender who would rank among any team's top options in the back.Â
And within that transfer class, redshirt junior attacker Marissa White scored 95 goals in 43 career games at North Carolina with 49 goals and 56 points for last year's national champion. The No. 2 overall recruit in her high school class, years of eligibility remaining give her the necessary runway to gain inclusion into BC's system while concurrently forcing Walker-Weinstein and the Eagles to evolve to their current and changing personnel.
"The team [last year] had come a really long way," said Walker-Weinstein in May. "I'm proud of the standard that they held, the leaders that they became, and they are leaving BC lacrosse in a great place for us to be proud of…I'm so very proud of our team and all of the leaders, and the [younger players] got experience on such a big stage that we can take that into [2026]."
No. 3 Boston College hosts No. 2 Northwestern in the season-opening matchup of the 2026 NCAA women's lacrosse season on Friday, February 6, from the Fish Field House in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Games at Fish Field House are closed to the public, but television coverage is available through the ACC Network Extra coverage, streaming on the ESPN app on Internet and mobile devices.
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