For the second year in a row, the Eagles walked away from Championship Sunday as national runner-ups, but it’s what they accomplished before the final—recording a program-best 22 wins, claiming their first-ever ACC regular season championship, and returning to the title game—that will define the 2018 campaign.
Sam Apuzzo, who recorded 129 points this season, became the first player in program history to earn National Player of the Year honors when she was named the 2018 Tewaaraton Award winner on Thursday night.
BC was deadlocked with James Madison at halftime and even took a two-goal lead in the second half, but the Dukes came roaring back to hand the ACC regular season champions their second title game loss in as many years.
In a rematch of the 2017 National Championship game, the Eagles rewrote the script, becoming just the third team in the past six years to defeat Maryland, punching their ticket to their second-straight title game.
In order to advance to its second-straight title game, BC will have to get past Maryland—a program that has won more NCAA Tournament games and championships than every other team in the country, essentially the Goliath of the sport.
The Eagles will host undefeated Stony Brook on Saturday afternoon in their third-ever Elite Eight appearance with a trip to its second-consecutive Final Four on the line.
Tess Chandler and Kaileen Hart scored a career-high five goals apiece, guiding BC past Princeton in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, en route to the national quarterfinals.
North Carolina bounced back from an early deficit with a 9-2 run—a stretch that ultimately propelled the Tar Heels to their third-consecutive ACC Tournament title, snapping BC’s season-long, 19-game win streak.
Game after game, BC has made its case for the top spot in the weekly Inside Lacrosse Poll. Now outright ACC regular season champions, it’s clearer than ever that the undefeated Eagles should be recognized as the best team in the country.
The Eagles will host Syracuse—one of two winless teams in the conference—seeking a perfect 17-0 record and sole possession of the ACC regular season title.
