No. 1 Boston College lacrosse’s game against Robert Morris University on Thursday was a day of firsts for the Eagles.
The game marked the first time that the two programs had ever played each other, Lacey Downey and Elizabeth Kirk scored their first collegiate goals, and freshman Kylee Colbert had her first collegiate multi-goal game. It was also the first time the Eagles had ever scored more than 10 goals in a single quarter, tallying 13 in the opening frame.
“The whole team came in really focused today.” BC head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. “We’ve been talking a lot about controlling all the things we can control and really trying to come out with a good start.”
The Eagles (4–0) rode their 13-goal first quarter all the way to a 23–2 domination of the Colonials (0–3) to earn their fourth straight win of the season and maintain a perfect record.
The Eagles came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, scoring four goals before the Colonials even possessed the ball. Even after Robert Morris had a chance to control the ball, they only managed to put up one shot to Boston College’s 15, 14 of which were on goal.
The first of these 13 first quarter goals came less than a minute into the match, set up by a drive into the 12 meter fan by Belle Smith. Smith’s drive drew defenders towards her, and she passed the ball to Andrea Reynolds. Reynolds lobbed a pass inside to an unguarded Mckenna Davis, who spun around and ripped a shot into the top left corner of the net.
Passing has characterized the Eagles’ offense this year, and the team’s unselfishness has allowed them to score at such an efficient clip, according to Walker-Weinstein.
“The main ingredient of our offensive is unselfishness,” Walker-Weinstein said. “When you share the ball, when you make extra passes instead of shooting or scoring it just displays the unselfish ingredient that is really important to the offense.”
Davis added one more goal to her total in the first quarter, and Rachel Clark led the team with three first quarter goals. Smith and Kayal Martello also added a pair of goals each to contribute to the Eagles dominant first quarter.
Despite the Eagles dominant offensive showing, they were equally as dominant on the defensive side. The Eagles forced 14 turnovers, were 10-10 on clears, and restricted the Colonials to just two goals, the lowest opponent goal total of the season for BC.
“Today, Emily English, our goalie, she was like an absolute rockstar.” Walker-Weinstein said. “I think [the defense] was anchored by her play and I’m really proud of her.”
The second quarter saw a slower pace of scoring for the Eagles, who only added three more scores to make the score 16–0 before the Colonials scored a goal of their own. Two fouls on the Colonials gave the Eagles two free-position goals, both scored by Smith.
The start of the second half stood in contrast to the first half for the Eagles, who struggled to score and didn’t reach the back of the net until there were less than four minutes left in the third quarter. Abbey Herod’s transition goal, which saw her run a full field sprint and score the subsequent goal, marked an important point of emphasis for the Eagles.
“I think we’re really focusing on cherishing the ball and making good things happen after the defense makes a really good play,” Walker-Weinstein said. “I think that effort is just them respecting the hard work of the defense and the goalies and saying you guys did our part now let’s honor that hard work and do our part”
The fourth quarter continued with the slower pace established in the second and third quarter, as the Eagles recorded four goals to the Colonials one. A last-minute goal by BC’s Kylee Colbert added the cherry on top of a dominant game for BC.
A total of 13 different Eagles scored a goal in the lopsided affair.
Despite the result, Walker-Weinstein sees value in games like these.
“I think it allows these hard-working girls that don’t always get into the game, it gives them a chance to go in and showcase that these guys are really powerful players too,” Walker-Weinstein said. “They’ve worked so hard every single day. To see them go out and execute at such a high level and remain unselfish and following the game plan I was just really proud of them.”
