After being selected by Boston College lacrosse to wear the No. 19 Welles Crowther jersey in the Red Bandanna Game, Elizabeth Kirk made just as much of an impact, if not more, during her Senior Day against No. 11 Virginia.
With 3:12 left in the matchup, Kirk scored her second goal of the season off an Emma LoPinto behind-the-back feed.
But she wasn’t done yet. A little less than a minute and a half later, off a Shea Baker draw control and Mckenna Davis assist, Kirk notched her third goal of the season by juking her defender and sending the shot into the upper-right-hand corner of UVA’s net, making the crowd go wild.
“How amazing is that?” BC head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. “Elizabeth is just one of those players that everyone wants to see her do well, and when she has the ball on the field and success like that, she is incredible, and I am really happy for her.”
Despite losing its first game of the season against No. 1 North Carolina last weekend, No. 2 BC (14–1, 7–1 Atlantic Coast) did what they usually do against opponents—win and win big. Although they started the matchup neck-in-neck with the Cavaliers (10–5, 4–4), the Eagles coasted past UVA with a 24–11 win in Alumni Stadium.
The Eagles knew exactly what needed to be done on a rainy and snowy Saturday in Chestnut Hill.
“After UNC, our motto was to respond, and I think every single one of us our goal was to play together and to play for each other,” Rachel Clark said. “We think we beat ourselves against UNC. We didn’t play BC lacrosse. We had a lot to learn, but again, our goal was to respond. We didn’t think our preparation was good enough going into UNC, so we just wanted to respond.”
BC did just that.
It only took Maria Themelis 18 seconds to put the first points on the board, marking her 14th goal of the season off a Davis assist. Davis, who recorded nine assists in the matchup, tied a BC assist record, propelling her offense to a smooth-sailing victory.
Less than two minutes later, LoPinto tallied her 51st goal of the season off another Davis assist, rattling a shot through the legs of Mel Josephson, who couldn’t come up with the save.
BC’s offensive showing only continued as the Eagles maintained a 6–3 lead going into the second frame.
During the second period, though, the performance was rather sloppy for BC, as UVA inched back from down three goals to only being down by one. Though UVA diminished the Eagles’ lead to 7–6, that was the last time UVA’s offense had any footing.
After the first half, where the Eagles led 10–6, it was the BC show.
“I thought our performance was well-rounded defensively, in the midfield, and I was just really happy,” Walker-Weinstein said. “I just think they prepared really well, and it reflected in the game.”
Beginning the third quarter up 10–6, BC extended its lead to an eight-goal edge by the end of the frame, featuring five different goal scorers.
What defined the Eagles’ performance was an aspect of the game that received less attention, though: the draw control.
Junior Abbey Herod had a career-high 13 draw controls against UVA, allowing the Eagles’ offense to dominate nearly every aspect of the matchup.
“Abbey has just been really dialed in,” Walker-Weinstein said. “I think she is really demonstrating a lot of focus and a lot of hard work, and I think she is getting better, which is really cool because that’s what we want to see at this point, we don’t want to see anyone plateau, and I am really happy with her. She’s getting even better, and I think that is dangerous and good for our team.”
The final frame was when BC really showcased the entirety of its senior class’ talent. Five of BC’s seven goals in the last quarter came from seniors.
And that didn’t come without some emotions from Walker-Weinstein.
“This group, all of them, the kids I have known since they were young, and over the years bringing in Emma and Rachel and bringing in Mia, Morgan, and Maria, this is a really special group,” Walker-Weinstein said. “I love that they have the personality and hearts to blend all different groups coming in at all different times and mentoring the team to such an amazing season so far.”
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