On April 26, 2023, Boston College lacrosse defeated Duke 15–9 to reach the ACC Tournament semifinals.
364 days later, No. 3 Boston College did it again.
The Eagles (14–3, 7–2 Atlantic Coast) dominated in all facets of the game en route to a 19–5 win against the Blue Devils (10–8, 4–5) to advance to their seventh straight ACC Tournament semifinals appearance.
“I feel like we executed offensively on a lot of our game plan,” Mckenna Davis said. “We were able to connect the defensive and offensive end together, and it was a very good connected team win.”
Davis got off to a quick start, tricking Margaret Anne Warner with a misdirection and slotting it past Kennedy Everson giving the Eagles a 1–0 lead.
Katie Keller evened it up 2:23 later, putting it through Shea Dolce’s legs but the Eagles were back in the lead on the next possession with Kayla Martello scoring an uncontested goal from right in front of the net.
The back-and-forth game continued when Molly Driscoll added a third for the Eagles before the Blue Devils quickly cut the lead back to one, with Caroline DeBellis collecting a cross-crease pass and pushing the ball into the empty net.
The Eagles, however, dominated the Blue Devils in the draw-control battle, winning it 6–1 which helped them secure a 4–2 lead after the first frame.
“We have such an emphasis placed on our draw team and I think they were huge sparks for us,” Hunter Roman said. “I think we had some changes on the draw and I think that was really awesome and it carried into our offensive and defensive end.”
Emma LoPinto upped the lead to three goals just three minutes into the second frame by slipping a shot past Everson’s short side after receiving a no-look pass from Davis along the goal line.
Davis picked up her third and fourth points of the night on back-to-back possessions, providing an assist on Rachel Clark’s power-play goal before she rolled from the corner and put it through the legs of Everson to give the Eagle a 7–2 lead with 8:10 remaining in the half.
Davis credited the trust in the team with her success in the offensive end.
“I just find my friends,” Davis said. “I’m friends with every single person on this team and in my unit and I think that’s something really special is that I trust anyone and everyone with the ball.”
Despite all the goals, arguably BC’s biggest strength of the first half was its ability to win the 50/50 battles, giving the Eagles more possessions and a 16–5 shot-on-goal advantage.
After sustaining a wrist injury early in the second quarter, Cassidy Weeks returned to score the Eagles 10th goal after rolling out from the corner before assisting LoPinto’s second of the game to give the Eagles a 11–3 lead going into halftime.
Week’s determination in the game was a spark for the team to continue pushing, despite the big lead, according to Roman.
“She’s the hardest worker on our team, on and off the field,” Roman said. “I think it was just inspiring, and we knew we had to have her back after that.”
The Eagles picked up right where they left off to start the third quarter with Belle Smith and Clark potting goals, both assisted by LoPinto.
Bella Goodwin pulled one back for the Blue Devils off of a free-position attempt making it 14–4 and marking their first goal in 12:36 of gametime.
DeBellis got her hat trick with the score, scooping the ball up after it popped out of Dolce’s stick on the previous save. But Weeks restored the Eagles’ 10 goal lead with 10 seconds left in the third, running through the middle of the Blue Devils’ defense and firing it past Madison Drebing.
BC coasted through the fourth quarter with long possessions to limit the Blue Devils’ opportunities at launching any kind of a comeback.
“Everyone’s fighting for their lives at the end of the day,” Davis said. “So being able to put your foot on the gas and really put the teams away is really important.”
Martello added two more and Smith added her third of the game before Kit Arrix scored her second goal of the season, giving the Eagles a 19–5 win over the Blue Devils.
“I just think from top to bottom, we executed everything that we wanted to,” Roman said. “We came out on fire and I think we just carried it through the entire game, just a really good, feel good win.”
