Another blowout win for lacrosse, two more road losses for men’s basketball, and a wild season-ending tie for women’s hockey. It’s all covered in the latest edition of our weekly roundup, where we go around campus to check out what’s happened in the past week for the Eagles. Here are some of the biggest headlines from the past seven days.
Lacrosse Continues to Dominate
The train just keeps on rolling for lacrosse, as the Eagles netted a program-record 25 goals against Massachusetts on Thursday, en route to a comfortable 25-14 win before opening up a 6-0 lead after just eight minutes of play against Harvard on Saturday and cruising from there. Sam Apuzzo scored a game-high four goals against the Crimson, while her partner in crime Kenzie Kent notched a goal and six assists for the Eagles, who have now outscored opponents, 76-38, on the season and have won an astonishing 71.2 percent of draw controls in the process. Simply put, BC continues to look like the No. 1 team in the country. If you want a more detailed recap of the win over Harvard, take a look here.
Men’s Basketball Falters Late on the Road
It was another story of poor execution down the stretch for the Eagles this week, as they traveled to North Carolina State and Clemson for a pair of road games. First, a 15-0 run against the Wolfpack in the second half gave BC a 66-64 lead with 7:15 to play, but after Ky Bowman missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer, the Eagles faltered in overtime. N.C. State rattled off seven straight points to start the period and never looked back, winning, 89-80. Then, after two free throws from Jared Hamilton knotted the contest against the Tigers at 60 with four minutes left, BC again went cold, as Clemson scored 10 consecutive points over the next two minutes and pulled away for a 76-66 win. For a more detailed recap of that game, check out our summary here.
Women’s Basketball Continues to Struggle Defensively
The defensive woes continued for women’s basketball, which lost, 93-78, to North Carolina on Thursday before falling to No. 2 Louisville, 87-51, on Sunday. The Eagles have now lost seven straight games, given up more than 85 points in six of those seven contests, and allowed their last five opponents to shoot greater than 50 percent from the field. Emma Guy continues to be an offensive star—she has now reached double figures in scoring in eight of the past nine contests, and leads BC in points per game—but it simply hasn’t been enough for the Eagles to keep up recently. For more about BC’s defensive woes, check out my latest column.
Men’s Hockey’s Skid Hits Six
A disappointing ending to the season continues for BC, which has now lost six straight after a pair of losses at Maine over the weekend. First, the Black Bears jumped out to a 2-0 lead after two periods on Friday before holding off a frantic Eagles comeback to win, 2-1. Then on Saturday, David Cotton tallied his Hockey East-leading 18th goal of the season, and BC looked dominant in the first period. The Eagles outshot Maine, 15-2, in the frame, but they couldn’t make the most of their shot advantage. The Black Bears equalized in the second period and then won with one minute to play in overtime, thanks to a goal from Mitchell Fossier. For a summary of the defeat, click here.
Women’s Hockey’s Regular Season Comes to a Close
The Eagles’ last game of the regular season saw them travel to the Whitmore Center to take on New Hampshire. Lindsay Agnew kicked off the scoring under a minute into the contest before Kali Flanagan doubled the lead with four minutes to go in the first period, but the Wildcats scored three consecutive goals of their own to take the lead with one frame remaining. A loss would have been a momentum-killer for a BC team that entered the game having won 10 of 11 contests, but Erin Connolly averted disaster by answering with a goal late in the third period, and the Eagles left with a tie.
Women’s Tennis Falls to ACC Foes, But Breaks Program Records
It was a weekend of mixed results for women’s tennis, as the Eagles lost 5-2 to No. 2 North Carolina and 5-2 to No. 23 N.C. State but didn’t go down without a fight. Yufei Long recorded a win over Makenna Jones, the No. 2 singles player in the country, which broke the program record for highest-ranked opponent beaten in singles play. Coincidentally, that record had been set by Kylie Wilcox earlier in the match, as Wilcox beat No. 6 Sara Daavettila in the second singles slot. For more coverage of the team, check out our recap here.
Bullpen Struggles Cost Baseball Two of Three in Weekend Series at Bethune-Cookman
Fresh off an opening-weekend sweep of Jackson State, the Eagles hit the road again to take on Bethune-Cookman. BC’s offense continued to click—scoring 25 runs over the course of the series—but the Eagles’ bullpen faltered late in the first two contests. Joey Walsh conceded four earned runs in the eighth inning of Friday’s game, allowing the Wildcats to break open a 4-4 tie and walk away with an 8-4 victory. The following day, Thomas Lane, Sean Hughes, and Michael Marzonie gave up four runs in the ninth inning, allowing Bethune-Cookman to turn a 7-4 deficit into an 8-7 walk-off victory. BC rebounded on Sunday with a 14-5 win that featured Joe Mancini’s first career start. The freshman was excellent and left having conceded just one run in five innings.
Softball Splits a Pair at the Pirate Invitational
Softball left the Pirate Invitational with mixed results. Susannah Anderson made her second start of the season on Friday and spun a gem, throwing seven shutout innings as BC escaped with a 1-0 win, courtesy of an RBI fielder’s choice from Ellie Mataya in the third inning. Saturday, however, the offense remained stagnant, and the pitching wasn’t nearly as good. Camryn Dolby was battered for five runs in three and a third innings, and the Eagles couldn’t keep up, slumping to a 9-0 defeat to No. 18 James Madison to end the weekend 1-1. For a summary of the weekend, click here.
Moment of the Week:
Women’s lacrosse remains perfect with dominant wins over in-state rivals Harvard and Massachusetts. You still have to go back to the 2016-17 season to find the last time the Eagles lost in the regular season, which speaks to just how good this team has been over the past two seasons.
Stat of the Week:
After the weekend sweep at Maine, BC men’s hockey dropped to 10-18-3 on the season. The last time the Eagles had that many losses in a season? 2001-02, when BC’s season ended, interestingly enough, with a pair of losses to the Black Bears in the Hockey East quarterfinals.
What’s Next?
Lacrosse looks to stay unbeaten as it welcomes Dartmouth and Southern California to Chestnut Hill on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. Men’s basketball also stays home and plays Louisville on Wednesday, while women’s basketball looks for revenge against Syracuse at home on Sunday. Men’s hockey plays a home-and-home series with Northeastern, while women’s hockey kicks off the Hockey East tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against Connecticut. Softball heads to the Madeira Beach tournament for five games, spanning Friday to Sunday, while baseball takes on Evansville and Kentucky in Richmond, Ky., over the weekend. Men’s tennis heads to the Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship, while women’s tennis has ACC encounters with Wake Forest and Clemson.
Featured Image by Bradley Smart / Heights Editor
