Welcome back to the latest edition of our weekly roundup, where we take a look at all the biggest storylines in the past week of Boston College Athletics. The past week was action-packed, featuring matchups with ranked teams and the end of postseason play for men’s hockey. Here are some of the things we’ve seen in the last seven days.
Lacrosse Locks Down No. 3 North Carolina on the Road
A dominant start to the season continued for the Eagles, who faced their biggest test yet against the Tar Heels and passed with flying colors. UNC entered the game with the seventh-best offense in the country, but BC’s defense put on its best performance of the season in a rematch of last year’s ACC title game. Led by Abbey Ngai’s nine saves, the Eagles held the Tar Heels to just eight goals, while Sam Apuzzo spearheaded the offensive effort with five goals. BC never trailed in the second half and moved to 11-0 with a 14-8 win.
In addition, check out five more takeaways from the game here and read about why the Eagles are even better than they were last year.
Men’s Hockey Falls One Game Short of the NCAA Tournament
For the second time in three seasons, BC fell just one game short of the NCAA Tournament with a loss in the Hockey East Tournament final. After a quarterfinal series win over Providence, the Eagles earned a semifinal date at TD Garden with No. 3 Massachusetts—which they had lost to twice earlier in the season. Despite this, BC put on its best defensive performance of the season, holding the Minutemen—who finished the regular season as the top-scoring team in Hockey East—off the scoreboard. David Cotton opened the scoring with 16 seconds to play in the first period, and Christopher Grando and Julius Mattila added insurance goals in the third period, as the Eagles won, 3-0, to book a spot in the Hockey East final.
Unfortunately for BC, it could not repeat the feat the next day against No. 6 Northeastern. The Huskies were explosive out of the gate, scoring three times in the first 12 minutes to build a commanding advantage. The Eagles responded with power-play goals from Oliver Wahlstrom and David Cotton in the first two minutes of the second period to narrow the deficit to one goal, but couldn’t find a third goal and fell, 3-2. For more coverage of the defeat, check our our summary here.
The contest versus the Huskies was also marked by a scary moment early in the third period, where Logan Hutsko was checked into the boards and fell hard onto the ice. The forward was stretchered off and taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, and his condition was uncertain following the game. Fortunately, the team announced on Monday morning that Hutsko was expected to make a full recovery.
Softball Takes Two of Three From Syracuse, Splits Midweek Games
The week started off well for the Eagles, who got strong pitching performances from Susannah Anderson and Camryn Dolby and a grand slam from Gianna Boccagno in an 8-0 win over Quinnipiac on Tuesday. Yet BC was the victim of a pitching gem a day later, as Providence’s Daniela Alvarez threw seven strong innings, allowing just one hit and striking out 11 batters as the Friars eked out a 1-0 win over the Eagles. Anderson was also strong in a losing effort, going the distance, striking out three batters, and giving up just one run.
Then over the weekend, BC welcomed Syracuse to town for a weekend series. On Friday, it was Emme Martinez who played hero, lacing a single to right field in the seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie and give the Eagles a walk-off win. Saturday, however, BC’s entire lineup came to life. Four separate Eagles hitters—Allyson Moore, Ellie Mataya, Boccagno, and Martinez—drove in two runs apiece, and BC scored seven runs in the second inning and never looked back, winning, 10-2. The Orange were able to salvage the series finale on Sunday, stranding seven Eagles runners on base and hitting three home runs to grab an 8-3 victory.
Baseball Beats Siena, Loses an ACC Weekend Series to Clemson
BC also had a busy week on the baseball diamond, playing games at home against Northeastern and Siena before welcoming Clemson to town for a weekend series. Against the Huskies on Tuesday, the Eagles’ lineup went cold at the wrong time, batting just 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Ultimately, the lack of situational hitting was too much for BC to overcome, and it lost, 4-2. The next day, though, the Eagles rebounded to snap a three-game losing streak with a solid 7-5 win over the Bulldogs. Gian Martellini was superb in the victory, going 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs, while Jack Nelson picked up the win after two innings in relief of Michael Marzonie, who made his first career start.
The weekend series, for the most part, was marked by BC simply being unable to keep up with the Tigers offensively. Friday, Clemson’s Davis Sharpe effectively limited the Eagles batters, pitching seven scoreless innings while allowing just three hits. Meanwhile, the Tigers tagged BC starter Dan Metzdorf for seven runs and were never seriously tested in an 8-1 series-opening win. Saturday, the Eagles managed more offensive production, as Brian Dempsey, Lucas Stalman, and Sal Frelick all delivered multi-hit performances, but starting pitcher Matt Gill lasted just 2 1/3 innings and allowed five runs, giving Clemson all the cushion it needed in a 9-5 win.
Sunday, in the series finale, Mason Pelio was the star for the Eagles, continuing an impressive freshman campaign by allowing just one unearned run in 6 2/3 innings of work. Martellini provided some power for BC, hitting a home run in the second inning, and the Eagles took one game off the Tigers by holding on for a 3-2 win.
Men’s Tennis Sweeps Sacred Heart but Continues to Struggle in the ACC
The weekend did not start well for men’s tennis, which played host to No. 20 North Carolina State on Friday but couldn’t secure a victory against the Wolfpack. The Eagles lost the doubles point and never recovered, losing all four singles matches in what ended up being a 4-0 defeat.
BC flipped the script on Saturday against Sacred Heart, winning all three doubles matches to take the doubles point, before Max Mendelsohn kickstarted the Eagles’ singles efforts with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Seiji Hosokowa. In the end, BC recorded a bounce-back 7-0 sweep over the Pioneers. It wouldn’t help much against No. 2 Wake Forest, though. Markus Nordby won a superbreaker at the No. 2 singles spot, but the Eagles couldn’t come up with a win elsewhere, dropping the match, 6-1. For a more complete recap of the weekend, check out our article here.
Women’s Tennis Comes Up Short Against Florida State, Georgia Tech
BC nearly had a victory to remember on Friday against the No. 15 Seminoles but couldn’t get the job done. After falling behind, 3-0, the Eagles rallied, and Jackie Urbinati, Kylie Wilcox, and Elene Tsokilauri all recorded singles victories to knot the match at three. But Laura Lopez dropped the third set of the game-deciding match and BC fell to FSU, 4-3.
The story was much the same against Georgia Tech on Sunday, as the Eagles were competitive with the No. 37 Yellow Jackets but couldn’t get the job done. BC won the doubles point, and Natasha Irani gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead with a singles win, but GT rallied from there, taking the final five singles ties to hand BC a 5-2 defeat. For a summary of that match, click here.
Moment of the Week: BC Shuts out No. 3 UMass
Entering the Hockey East semifinals, the Minutemen had failed to score a goal in just two of 36 games this season. But the Eagles foiled their plans of a tournament title with a determined defensive performance led by Joseph Woll’s 36 saves. The effort turned out to be all for naught as BC lost in the final a day later, but it was still the Eagles’ biggest win of the season.
Stat of the Week: Lacrosse has outscored opponents, 200-107, this season.
It’s not like BC has been playing an easy schedule either. Six of the Eagles’ 11 games this season have been against ranked opponents.
What’s Next?
Lacrosse takes on No. 7 Virginia at home on Saturday.
Baseball has a road game at Connecticut on Tuesday before flying down to Tallahassee to take on ACC foe FSU.
Softball stays home for a Wednesday game against UMass before welcoming N.C. State to Chestnut Hill for a weekend series.
Men’s Tennis has matches at Virginia Tech on Friday and at Harvard on Sunday.
Women’s Tennis plays at Louisville on Sunday.
Featured Image by Bradley Smart / Heights Editor
