Looking to continue its spotless record, No. 1 Boston College lacrosse handled Albany on Wednesday afternoon in BC fashion—winning and winning big.
BC (9–0, 3–0 Atlantic Coast) cruised past the Danes (1–6) 20–4 thanks to a total team effort. The offense recorded its fifth 20-goal game, while the defense allowed fewer than five goals for the fourth time this year.
The game started sluggishly as the Eagles did not get off to a hot star`t, though. The Great Danes beat BC into putting the first points on the board with 9:48 remaining in the first frame.
But that didn’t last long. Just 22 seconds later, Rachel Clark responded for the Eagles by netting her 37th goal of the season—before going on to score four more goals in the matchup.
“I think we just played as a team, and we played for each other,” Clark said. “The offense, draw, and defense were all connected, and I think that’s what led to our success today.”
BC started to pull away throughout the rest of the first half. After Clark’s tying goal, the Eagles outscored the Danes 9 to 1, with Mia Mascone, Maria Themelis, Devon Russell, Emma LoPinto, Molly Driscoll, and Emma Claire Quinn all contributing.
The balanced scoring effort highlighted the team’s collective performance and unselfish play, allowing the Eagles to take a 10–2 lead into halftime.
“I just think teamwork, it was pure teamwork, and I’m just happy to see everyone sharing in the success and everyone having fun,” BC head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. “And, you know, it’s just good to see people’s hard work pay off.”
Unlike other games this season, Albany started the second half by scoring the opening goal off a Mikaela Rooney assist turned Courtney Rowe goal a little under three minutes into the matchup.
But, yet again, the Great Danes’ offensive success would be shut down almost immediately. And BC responded by launching a dominant 9–0 that spanned the latter end of the third quarter and nearly the entire fourth frame.
This run was ignited by BC’s defense, which shut out Albany for 26 minutes of game time. Anchoring the Eagles’ defense, Shea Baker came up big in limiting any chance of a Great Danes’ comeback.
“We got the shots we wanted them to get, and Shea was able to make incredible saves,” Walker-Weinstein stated. “The big contributor to the defense was the ability to get the draws as well, so we weren’t asking the defense to play a ton of minutes.”
With its 20–4 victory, it marks BC’s second-largest win of the season, with nine different goal scorers.
Capping a total team performance on defense, Baker forced three turnovers against Albany.
When asked about the team’s performance, Baker praised her teammates.
“We’re just so aggressive in just moving as a team, playing with each other and for each other, and just having each other’s back,” Baker said. “I think that’s what made us so successful.”
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