Molly Driscoll opened up the scoring quickly for No. 1 Boston College lacrosse with a close-range shot on the Louisville goal just over three minutes into the game.
The Eagles (10–0, 4–0 Atlantic Coast) welcomed the Cardinals (4–5, 1–3) to Alumni Stadium on Saturday afternoon for an ACC matchup, coasting to a dominant 18–5 victory.
“It’s so fun to be back in Alumni,” Driscoll said. “I think we’ve had a real turning point in our season, and this is the start of a new season. All of our top players, like the defenders, are so focused, and they really open up all those lanes to go to the ball. We owe it all to each other.”
BC’s defense continued to hold strong until the Cardinals earned their first goal at the 8:30 mark in the first quarter. Defensemen Shea Baker, Lydia Colasante, and Morgan Smith each registered one forced turnover in the first.
The Eagles’ offense found the back of the Louisville net five more times before the end of the quarter, with a goal from Maria Themelis, two from Rachel Clark, and two more from Driscoll.
The Eagles finished the first quarter leading 6–1 and quickly opened the scoring again in the second quarter.
Clark scored her fourth goal of the game 1:47 into the second frame to push the Eagles further ahead. Driscoll then landed a shot in the Louisville net at 13:30 from a free-position shot for a career-high four goals.
“Molly coming out of the gates from the beginning and getting our team a huge spark,” BC head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said about Driscoll’s career game.
The Cardinals were able to sneak past the BC defense to earn their second goal of the game, ending the second quarter with a 13–2 score. Goaltender Shea Dolce had six saves going into halftime with only two goals allowed.
Off the draw in the third quarter, the Eagles attacked, looking to increase their comfortable lead and deny any hopes Louisville had of decreasing its deficit.
The Cardinals retaliated and pressured BC, though, finding an opening and landing back-to-back shots for their third and fourth goals of the game. Driscoll, however, snuck past the Louisville goaltender soon after for another goal and kept BC at a 10-goal lead with only four minutes left in the third quarter.
Clark added one more goal to the Eagles’ count with just 31 seconds left in the third quarter to push the score to 15–4.
“I think the team itself is just so inspiring,” Smith said. “I feel like I go out there every single time and just want to play for my teammates.”
BC defense held strong, fending off the Cardinals’ attacks as they searched for any hope of coming back before the end of the game.
Clark, Giulia Colarusso, and Emma LoPinto each tacked on another goal for the Eagles with a few minutes remaining to further increase BC’s comfortable lead.
Walker-Weinstein praised the team’s defensive efforts, keeping Louisville to only five goals.
“Morgan went in there, and she absolutely did her job,” Walker-Weinstein said. “There’s just so many people that are just doing such a great job in their role and getting better and better and better that it’s just exciting to see—it’s so good for our team.”
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