While Chestnut Hill was still emerging out of a slumber caused by a record-breaking blizzard, No. 12 Boston College lacrosse was red hot down in Tallahassee.
The Eagles (1–3, 1–1 Atlantic Coast) shook off their rough start to the year to secure a 19–7 win over Florida State (2–4, 0–2) for their first victory of the season. Giulia Colarusso and Molly Driscoll led the way with five goals each, while Marissa White added on three goals and two assists.
Driscoll and Colarusso matched and set their career highs in goals, respectively.
Sophomore Colarusso seems to be on her way to a breakout season—she was a highly-touted recruit coming out of high school, but scored just six goals in her freshman season. She nearly matched that total in today’s game alone.
“I had a little bit of a slower start, but I just told myself to play how I know how to play,” Colarusso said. “I felt like I could take every shot I wanted and make any play I wanted, and like everyone’s gonna have my back.”
After about seven scoreless minutes to open the game, White scored a goal with 8:06 left in the first quarter to kick off a BC run. In the next 3:10, the Eagles scored three straight goals—two coming from Hanna Davis—to give BC a 4–0 lead.
Florida State responded by controlling the final four minutes of the frame, finding the back of the net three times to cut BC’s lead to 4–3 at the end of the first quarter.
The Eagles opened up the second quarter strong like they did the first, scoring three straight goals in the opening 5:39.
“I think our team plays best when we just turn our heads off and go, full head of steam, to the net,” Colarusso said. “We got the ball off the draw, and we went for it, and that really showed.”
After a pair of Seminole goals that made the score 7–5, Driscoll tallied her first score of the day to make it 8–5 BC as the half came to a close.
Draw controls were key to BC’s first-half lead. The Eagles dominated the Seminoles 11–3 inside the circle, allowing them to play make-it-take-it for much of the first 30 minutes. BC outdrew Florida State 24–4, led by Abbey Herod’s nine draw controls.
“Abbey to me was, like, our most valuable player by far,” BC head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. “I think she just came in with a really strong mindset that she needed to take control as a senior—very experienced, championship player.”
White started the third quarter with her third goal of the game, and Driscoll followed that up with back-to-back goals, securing her first hat trick of the season and giving BC an 11–5 lead with 8:26 left in the third. About two minutes later, Colarusso scored again, picking up her first career hat trick.
“Just teamwork, pure teamwork,” Walker-Weinstein said. “It’s all an indication of teamwork, and I think they’re buying into that.”
After a quick goal from the Seminoles, Lily Kondas responded with the first goal of her college career to give BC a 13–6 lead.
Driscoll and Colarusso continued their strong days in the final quarter, both scoring their fourth goals of the day to give BC a 15–6 lead. Driscoll added on her fifth goal with 12:30 left in the game to match her career high and start the running clock, because BC was up 10.
The Eagles continued to pour it on in the waning minutes of the game, highlighted by Colarusso’s fifth and final goal of the day. The Eagles closed the game with a 19–7 advantage to secure their first win of the year.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Colarusso said. “It was really great to just see things come together in such a way that it was like absolute domination from start to finish.”
