On a chilly afternoon at the Newton Campus Lacrosse and Soccer Field, No. 14 Boston College lacrosse (4-2. 0-2 Atlantic Coast) looked to hit a program milestone by adding win No. 200 to the record books when taking on the United States Naval Academy. Navy (5-2) came into Newton, Mass. in hopes of handing BC its first nonconference loss of the season. But while the game was close at the beginning, BC proved how good it could be and cruised to a comfortable victory by a score of 17-9.
While the first half featured a stronger performance by the Eagles than the second, the team kept the intensity high throughout, echoing head coach Acacia Walker’s message from last week’s win over UMass that it needs to play a full 60-minute game. This was the first-ever matchup between these two schools, and BC now leads the all-time series at 1-0. BC had full control of this one throughout, and is now riding a two-game win streak.
The scoring began three minutes into the game with Kate Rich scoring her second goal of the season for the Eagles. A minute later, Navy tied the game at 1-1. But Sarah Mannelly and Sam Apuzzo scored back-to-back goals, giving the Eagles a two-goal edge. Jenna Collins would respond for Navy to set the score at 3-2, but BC would go ahead and steal all of the game’s momentum. After an eight-minute scoring drought plagued both teams, Tess Chandler scored her seventh goal of the season to break the silence. The Eagles would then go on a 5-0 run over nine minutes to grow their lead to 8-2. From that point on, BC was in the driver’s seat. After Apuzzo scored her second goal of the game 26 seconds after a Navy score, the halftime score was set at 9-3. But BC would not take its foot off of the pedal in the second half, as it would nearly double its goal total en route to a big win.
The second half featured more of the same from the Eagles offensively, but the Navy offense came out swinging as well, making its case for a comeback. The Midshipmen scored two quick goals, the second coming only 12 seconds after the first in a speedy opening to the half. BC would respond with two goals of its own, coming from the sticks of Kaileen Hart and Mannelly. Navy would again respond with two goals in this back-and-forth, but BC would produce three more goals, courtesy of two Kayla O’Conner goals and Apuzzo’s third of the game. Navy would tack on two more goals in the last 10 minutes of the game, but BC would add an exclamation point to the day with three more goals from Mannelly, Kate Weeks, and Apuzzo. Though the second-half box score was tight at 8-6 in favor of the Eagles, BC would ride its early lead on to victory, tallying 17 total goals.
For the Eagles, the win over Navy marks the 200th win in program history, dating back to 1992. In the short term, and perhaps more importantly, it gives BC a two-game win streak and some momentum as it prepares for more nonconference play when it heads down south for a tour through Florida. While unbeaten in nonconference play, BC has yet to collect its first ACC win. The Eagles must use these nonconference games as opportunities to practice playing a full 60 minutes before returning home in mid-March to resume conference play.
This marks its second loss of the season for Navy. The Midshipmen showed great resilience in the second half against BC, and will look to keep that tough mentality as they enter conference play. But that doesn’t change the fact that the BC offense had itself a day, putting on an offensive clinic with five players scoring multiple goals, and showing how good it can be at home.
Featured Image by Julia Hopkins / Heights Editor
