It took nine games for Boston College lacrosse to record its first loss of the 2022 season. This year, it took just three games.
“Yeah, I think, you know, limiting eight meters is a major part of our plan and then also finishing on eight meters is usually a big part of our focus,” BC head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. “Unfortunately, we failed to execute on them.”
Late fouls plagued No. 3 BC (2–1) as it dropped its first game of the season to No. 5 Northwestern (2–1) in a heartbreaking 15–14 defeat. The Wildcats capitalized on scoring opportunities and recorded seven free position goals in comparison to BC’s one.
Belle Smith notched BC’s first goal of the game 3:56 into the first quarter off an assist by Jenn Medjid, who missed the previous game with a leg injury.
Less than 30 seconds later, Smith tallied her second goal on the Eagles’ second possession of the game, handing BC an early 2–0 lead.
Northwestern, however, found the back of the net just over two minutes later, sending the ball past Rachel Hall to make it 2–1. But BC responded with four goals and conceded just one to the Wildcats, and it entered the second quarter up 5–2.
The second quarter featured a constant exchange of goals.
After three goals were scored in the first 3:07 of the second quarter, Smith found Medjid in front of Northwestern’s net, and Medjid made her return to the scorer’s circle with a behind-the-back, no-look goal, putting the Eagles up 7–4. Northwestern got the best of Hall two more times, but the Eagles got one back.
In the final minute of the second quarter, Kayla Martello potted two last-minute goals with 55 and 15 seconds left, respectively, to extend BC’s lead to 10–6 going into the second half.
BC outshot Northwestern 15–12 in the first half, and Hall recorded a .500 save percentage compared to Molly Laliberty’s .333 save percentage in the first half.
Northwestern flipped the script to start the third quarter, however, as the Wildcats netted three goals to bring the score to 10–9.
BC stopped the bleeding with 5:39 left to play in the quarter, as Weeks scored and Martello extended the Eagles’ lead back to three a minute later. But Northwestern’s 10th goal of the game prompted Walker-Weinstein to replace Hall with freshman goalie Shea Dolce.
“Rachel and Shea are excellent goalies and I think they allow us to have kind of a dual threat,” Walker-Weinstein said. “And so we just needed a different look.”
Dolce conceded a goal just 2:33 after she entered the game, but the Eagles entered the fourth quarter up 12–11.
“Northwestern was shooting really well and we just needed a different look and shape that provides, you know, the same type of stability that Rachel does and the two of them are awesome,” Walker-Weinstein said. “So you know, it’s just a little bit of a proactive switch to kind of change up what you know, Northwestern was shooting at.”
With 9:02 left to play in the fourth quarter, Sydney Scales picked up a foul call, and Izzy Scane took advantage of the free position attempt to bring Northwestern within one goal. Less than two minutes later, Northwestern knotted the game at 13 apiece.
The Wildcats tallied yet another goal from a free-position attempt and gained the lead for the first time in the game with 6:23 left to play.
A BC turnover with just under four minutes remaining allowed Northwestern to march down the field at the 3:19 mark and extend its lead to two goals. Despite a late Medjid goal that cut BC’s deficit to one, Northwestern finished the game and downed the Eagles 15–14.
“No, I don’t think the road has anything to do with it,” Walker-Weinstein said. “We just have to execute better on gameday.”
