It took Boston College lacrosse more than 14 minutes to find its first goal during its game against California on Saturday.
But that was not a sign of what was to come, as the Eagles (3–4, 3–2 Atlantic Coast) scored four or more goals in each of the remaining three quarters and beat the Golden Bears 15–8. The win puts BC back above .500 in conference play.
Avery Hudson led BC with six points, while Giulia Colarusso added five points and four goals.
The game started slowly for both sides. With 5:54 left in the first quarter, Willow Cyr opened up the scoring with a free-position shot to give Cal (3–5, 1–3) a 1–0 lead. Exactly five minutes later, Hanna Davis scored the Eagles’ first goal of the game to tie things up 1–1 at the end of the first quarter.
The opening 15 minutes featured suffocating defense from both teams. The Eagles forced four Golden Bear turnovers while also coughing the ball up twice themselves, and the teams combined for eight total shots.
The second quarter was the exact opposite, with the teams trading goals back and forth throughout the frame.
Maddie Willkomm earned Cal’s lead back with a goal just 2:09 into the period, but a pair of goals by Colarusso and Kaitlyn Cole gave BC its first lead of the game less than two minutes later.
Cal controlled the next five minutes—holding BC scoreless while finding two goals of its own—before BC took over during the final stretch of the first half. Marissa White found the back of the net to tie things up, and goals from Hudson and Lily Kondas gave BC a 6–4 lead heading into the half.
The third quarter combined the trends from the first two frames. After each team scored just one goal each in the opening 12 minutes, Davis kicked off an offensive explosion for BC over the last 2:56. She scored a quick goal, and was followed up by Colarusso and Caroline Chisholm’s first collegiate goal to give BC a 10–5 lead at the start of the fourth.
The fourth quarter saw the continuation of BC’s offensive explosion. Hudson opened the scoring to stretch the lead to six goals, and 3:40 later, Shea Baker scored her first goal of the year to make things 12–6.
Cal scored to cut the BC lead to five, but BC responded with a trio of goals over the span of 2:08 to get its lead up to eight. The Golden Bears got one back in the closing minutes, but BC held on for a 15–8 win.
