FOXBOROUGH – Winning back-to-back Division 1 NCAA championships is the true indicator that a program has arrived in its respective sport.
The No. 2 seed Boston College (19-2) women’s lacrosse team will look to win its second straight title and third in five years when the Eagles engage perennial Big 10 power and No. 3 seed Northwestern (18-2) in the semifinal round on Friday night (5:30) at Gillette Stadium. ACC champion and No. 1 seed North Carolina will take on emerging SEC contender and No. 4 seed Florida in the opener at 2 p.m.
“Once you get a taste of winning you can’t think of anything less and you find different ways to be better and improve,” said BC co-captain Shea Baker, a junior midfielder from Ithaca, N.Y. “It’s hard to come off that loss and get back on your horse without that chip on your shoulder.
“So yes, I think going back-to-back is a whole new landmark and a whole new testament to how bad we want this and how hard we have been working on it.”
The semi is a rematch from last year’s title game where the Eagles overcame a deep early deficit to dethrone the apex predator of women’s lacrosse in this century.
BC rallied from a 6-0 first quarter deficit and went on to defeat the reigning champion and No. 1 seed Wildcats, 14-13, on May 26 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
The Eagles finished 20-3 with the program’s second national championship in seven straight trips to the title game. Northwestern blasted BC 18-6 in the 2023 championship game, but the Eagles denied Wildcats’ head coach Kelly Amonte-Hiller a ninth national championship since 2005.
“Being a part of a comeback like that against such a great team is proof that things are possible and it’s also proof that no lead is safe,” said BC head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein, who was on Amonte Hiller’s staff when the Wildcats won three straight championships from 2006-to-2008.
“I think it just helps our girls learn lessons about game management and belief. I think the message last year spoke to the culture we tried to maintain this year. You are never out of the fight and that anything is possible.”
First Encounter
The meeting is the second between the two programs this season. BC was the No. 1 ranked team when the Eagles visited No. 2 Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., on February 15. BC dominated the key statistics, jumped to an 8-4 halftime lead, and rolled to a 13-9 victory. BC snapped Northwestern’s incompressible 47-game home win streak. BC has won 91 straight games when holding its opponent to under 10 goals.
“We have studied every game and we’ve studied the changes and the evolution of Northwestern,” said Walker-Weinstein. “There’s a lot that is different and I would say they are a lot better than they were then.
“I always think that past success and past failure never determine future success or future failure. We will look at tendencies from the beginning of the year but not schemes so much because they are so different.”
Amonte-Hiller, a Hingham native who won consecutive national championships as a player with Maryland in 1995 and 1996, feels her club is now in a different place since the middle of February.
“I would just say there is a lot more maturity,” said Amonte-Hiller. “There were some young players, some new players and I just think there has been so much growth in all areas from the back to the front. To Boston College’s credit, they have had so much growth too. Neither team is where they were before. “
The Big Three
The Eagles have scored 364 goals with 202 assists for a staggering 566 points on the season. The BC offense centers around three exceptional point-producers, attacking snipers Rachel Clark (103-22-125) and Emma LoPinto (76-32-108) and playmaker McKenna Davis (25-75-100).
The troika have combined for 204 goals and 129 assists for 333 points and are the first trio to accumulate 100 points in a season since 2006. Clark has 308 career goals and LoPinto has 259, placing them one-two in the nation among active players while Davis is second with 218 career assists.
Clark set the BC and ACC records for goals in a season with potentially two games remaining and is five points shy of Sam Apuzzo’s club record of 130 points in a season.
“The other thing that is advantageous for us is that we also have Emma LoPinto and she is third in the country for goals,” said Walker-Weinstein. “That is beneficial to Rachael, having someone like Emma LoPinto that can also bear the burden of putting the ball in the back of the net.
“I think having players with those kinds of numbers contributes to equilibrium and balance to the offense.”
On The Back End
BC All-America goalkeeper Shea Dolce was on the business end of the 18-6 beatdown the Wildcats inflicted on the Eagles in the 2023 title game.
Dolce enjoyed her vindication when she closed out last year’s win and she has taken her game to another level this season. She led the ACC with a .470 save percentage and 8.75 goals against average, impressive numbers in a top-to-bottom powerhouse conference like the ACC.
“Shay has given us so much stability over the season and those types of players are really rare,” said Walker-Weinstein. “Most games aren’t perfect but her consistency has been the most special thing about her.
“We were so lucky she is in a Boston College uniform. She makes the coaches and the players calm because there is nothing better than having a consistent goalie.”
