Vol. 9: Boston College Stays the Course for National Seed, Still Controls Holy War
BC has won five straight games and is 6-1 in the ACC, maintaining its run of excellence even without Charlotte North. The latest triumph? A thrilling comeback at Notre Dame.
BC celebrates a come-from-behind victory at Notre Dame, which culminated in a Cassidy Weeks game-winning goal. Photo courtesy: Kelly Coughlan/BC Athletics.
Cassidy Weeks did it again. Only this time, her identical twin sister, Courtney, was there to help.
Last year, Weeks capped a 4-0, game-ending Boston College run with a last-second goal to beat Maryland in the Final Four. Saturday, in a pivotal No. 7/No. 8 matchup against Notre Dame, Weeks delivered eerily similar heroics. She put the finishing touches on a 5-0, game-ending surge that saw the Eagles—at one point scoreless for 16 minutes—turn an 11-7 deficit with under 10 minutes to go in the final frame into a thrilling 12-11 victory.
Courtney, sidelined last season with an ACL tear, triggered the restart behind the cage with less than 20 seconds to go in South Bend. Then she flicked a pass to Cassidy, who promptly charged to the crease’s doorstep, where, despite being sandwiched by a pair of Fighting Irish players, got a shot off.
And not just any shot, either.
She went five-hole on Notre Dame netminder Lilly Callahan. Cassidy scored in traffic to beat Maryland, and she fired another game-winner from the phone booth versus Notre Dame.
While Saturday’s come-from-behind win doesn’t carry the same weight as last year’s Final Four victory, its importance can’t be understated. For one, it marked BC’s fifth straight win against the Irish. The Eagles still have a stronghold over their Holy War rival. More significantly, however, it keeps BC in line for a national seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Following Tuesday’s domination of Boston University, the Eagles have rattled off five consecutive wins and are 11-3 and 6-1 in the ACC.Â
But a loss to Notre Dame last weekend would have likely flip-flopped the schools in the Inside Lacrosse Top 25. That result would have done wonders for an Irish team that already knocked off then-No. 3 North Carolina earlier this month. Meanwhile, it would have put BC in a tough spot, considering the Eagles still have games against No. 12 Virginia and No. 1 Syracuse remaining.
BC freshman goalie Shea Dolce has posted a .531 save percentage over the last four games. Graphic courtesy: BC Athletics.
A win was critical for head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein’s squad. The Weeks sisters completed the comeback, except it was a team effort that included a five-point outing from Jenn Medjid, who moved into second-place all-time for goals in program history. Standout defender Sydney Scales recorded three caused turnovers and a team-leading five ground balls.Â
Then, of course, there’s freshman goalie Shea Dolce, the ACC Defensive Player of the Week who has replaced Rachel Hall as BC’s starter between the pipes. Dolce notched a season-high 13 saves, none more impressive than her final stop in the last 70 seconds of play that kept things tied at 11 goals apiece.
That set the stage for another storybook finale for a program that’s been full of those finishes during its now six-year run of excellence.
Other Storylines to Know:
The two remaining unbeatens avoid defeat. Syracuse and Denver have dominated headlines this year, going a combined 27-0 with just two weeks left in the regular season. Last week, they kept on winning. ’Cuse won its first-ever matchup against No. 19 Clemson, 19-10. Denver crushed Butler, 19-4, and got a ranked win of its own versus then-No. 25 UConn, 14-9.
Syracuse star middie Emma Tyrrell runs in open space during an Orange home game. She is fourth on the team in scoring with 44 points. Photo courtesy: Syracuse Athletics.
Let’s start with the Orange. Clemson’s Chloe Willard netted the opening goal of the ACC tilt Saturday, but Syracuse responded with a 9-2 run. Sophomore attacker Olivia Adamson and graduate star Meaghan Tyrrell each scored two goals before halftime, and junior attacker Emma Ward had a first-half hat trick. Adamson finished with a game-high seven points, and Ward had six. The 19 goals were the most scored against Clemson all season. The Orange are first in the nation in assists per game (9.9), second in scoring margin (+8.4) and third in scoring offense (17.07 goals per game).
Denver’s 2-0 week looked equally dominant. An 8-1 first quarter against Butler Wednesday was all the Pioneers needed to cruise to a 15-goal win. Denver controlled the first-half shot count, 26-9, and caused 16 turnovers. Freshman attacker Ryan Dineen had a career-high eight points (6 goals, 2 assists) off the bench. Against UConn, Denver used another strong first quarter to stake itself to a 7-3 lead. Dineen finished with another hat trick, and junior attacker Sloane Kipp led all scorers with four points (3 goals, 1 assist). Star goalie Emelia Bohi made 12 saves and allowed 12 goals across the pair of games.
This weekend, Syracuse faces No. 5 North Carolina, and Denver takes on Stanford and Xavier.Â
Duke loses to UVA and is in serious trouble. The Blue Devils are on the outside looking in right now. A bounce-back 20-10 win over High Point returned them to .500, meaning they are once again eligible for the NCAA Tournament. But they still have No. 5 UNC on the schedule, meaning that Saturday’s game at Louisville—their only other regular season matchup remaining​​—is absolutely a must-win.
Duke’s latest ACC setback came at No. 12 UVA. The Cavaliers used a 6-1 run in the fourth quarter, fueled by a combined five goals from their top-two scorers Rachel Clark and Ashlyn McGovern, to fend off the Blue Devils. Duke, which dropped to 1-6 in league play with the loss, was trailing by just one goal entering the final frame.
Following a 3-0 start, head coach Kerstin Kimel’s team has gone 4-7 with a trio of one-goal defeats, including a triple-overtime loss to Virginia Tech. The Blue Devils have advanced at least one round in each of the last two NCAA Tournaments. In 2021, they were the No. 7 seed and upset Maryland, en route to the Elite Eight. This year, they might not even make it into the field.
Penn dominates Yale, handing Bulldogs their first Ivy loss. Don’t let Penn’s 7-4 record fool you. Because the Quakers are one of the best teams in the nation outside of a power conference. After defeating then-No. 16 Johns Hopkins, 13-12, in overtime in late February, Penn has suffered four losses to ranked teams. The Quakers fell by one to Jacksonville, by four to Maryland and Florida, and by eight to Loyola. Not bad, right? Well, on Saturday, Penn got its biggest boost to its resume yet—a 16-6 win over then-No. 13 Yale.Â
Penn sophomore attacker Gracie Smith powers toward goal through Yale’s defense. Smith finished with a career-high four goals. Photo courtesy: Michael Nance/Penn Athletics.
Yale led, 4-3, after the opening quarter, but Penn took over the next two frames. Over the second and third quarters, the Quakers outshot the Bulldogs, 19-6, won the ground ball battle, 11-4, and were a perfect 10-of-10 on clears. Oh, and they outscored Yale, 11-0. The run featured six different scorers, including sophomore attacker Gracie Smith, who finished with four goals. Senior defender Izzy Rohr picked up Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honors after her game-high five caused turnovers and four ground balls.
Penn now stands alone in first in the Ivy League with a 3-0 conference record. The Quakers face Cornell and Princeton at home this week.Â
St. Joe’s upsets Princeton, extends its win streak to four in A-10 race. St. Joe’s has been a mainstay in the top four of the A-10 standings for more than half a decade. Last year, the Hawks shocked everyone by unseating the league’s top-two seeds, Richmond and UMass, for their first-ever Atlantic 10 Tournament title. But this year, despite a 4-6 start, they have a chance to win the conference regular season title.
St. Joe’s has now won four games in a row after a 13-11 triumph over St. Bonaventure Saturday. That followed the Hawks’ biggest win of the season, a 19-17 upset over then-No. 18 Princeton, which saw them build a six-goal halftime lead and a seven-goal fourth quarter advantage before staving a Tigers comeback. It was a youth movement for head coach Alex Kahoe’s team. Freshmen attackers Alexa Capozzoli and Kate Fuhrman led the way with a combined 12 points, each registering a career-high four goals and two assists. But you have to hand it to junior goalie Jorden Concordia, who logged 18 saves—one off her career high.
St. Joe’s now has four ranked wins in program history. All of those have come in the last three years under Kahoe. The Hawks are 5-1 in the A-10, tied with Davidson and No. 21 Richmond and one game back from No. 14 UMass. Davidson and UMass are still on the schedule.
BU upsets Navy, pushing Mids to the edge of the tournament picture. The turnaround season continues for the Terriers. After just two wins in 2022, head coach Lauren Morton has guided her team to a 7-7 record with three games remaining in the regular season. BU captured its first ranked win since 2014 Saturday, downing then-No. 20 Navy, 12-11.Â
A 4-0 scoring run in the opening quarter gave the Terriers an early lead, and Navy could never even the score. Sophomores ruled for BU—attacker Matty Spaeth had four goals, and attacker Hannah Tillier as well as middie Abby Cotraro each had two goals and two assists. Junior goalie Reilly Agres protected the lead, finishing with 11 goals allowed and 10 saves. She was named Patriot League Goalie of the Week for her performance.
For Navy, five different players tallied multiple points, but a 10-4 deficit in draw controls made it tough for the Midshipmen to gain possession. The loss pushes Navy out of the NCAA Tournament Field, according to USA Lacrosse Magazine. The Mids will have two chances for big wins when they play No. 15 Army and No. 11 Loyola to close the regular season. BU plays at Lehigh this coming Saturday.
Weekly Focus:
A LOOK AT RPI: WILL APRIL POWERS EARN MAY FLOWERS?
With tournament season fast approaching, we want to take this week to look at the RPI rankings. We look at the movement in the Inside Lacrosse Poll every week in Quick on the Draw, but the polls won’t have the same impact on national seeding and the bubble conversation come May. The rating percentage index, used across most other college sports, takes into account wins, losses, strength of schedule and other factors to determine team rankings.
While there are plenty of similarities between the Inside Lacrosse and RPI rankings, there are seven teams in the RPI top 30 that are unranked in the most recent poll.
Let’s start with the RPI top 10: Syracuse, Northwestern, Denver, UNC, Maryland, James Madison, Stony Brook, BC, Florida and Loyola.Â
Looks about right, no? The top three are exactly the same in both rankings, while the RPI puts UNC in the four spot. Maryland is ranked No. 10 in the poll but No. 5 in the RPI. Teams 6-10 in the RPI are within one spot of their national poll number.
Maryland attackers Eloise Clevenger and Hannah Leubecker celebrate during a win over Rutgers. The Terrapins are ranked No. 5 in the RPI and No. 10 in the most recent polls. Photo courtesy: Maryland Athletics.
The next 10 in the RPI is where it gets interesting: Notre Dame, UVA, UConn, Michigan, Yale, UMass, Drexel, Army, Marquette and Duke.
Notre Dame is the first team in this set to be ranked three or more spots higher in the polls than they are in the RPI. The Irish are ranked No. 8 by Inside Lacrosse, even with an 8-4 record. Their 0-3 road record hurts them in the RPI. The algorithm loves UConn, ranking the Huskies No. 13 and 11 spots higher than their Inside Lacrosse mark. Drexel (8-4), Marquette (12-1) and Duke (6-7) are the RPI’s highest rated teams outside of the poll’s top 25. The Golden Eagles are 6-0 on the road but still have not gotten much love from pollsters.
The No. 21-30 teams, according to the RPI: Johns Hopkins, Villanova, Penn, Penn State, Liberty, Navy, UAlbany, Richmond, Clemson and Fairfield.
Villanova (9-4), Liberty (7-5), UAlbany (7-6) and Fairfield (9-3) are unranked by Inside Lacrosse but have good numbers this season. Unfortunately, it will still be very tough for these teams to make NCAAs without winning their conference tournament.
Notice, too, that Clemson is No. 29 in the RPI but No. 19 in the Inside Lacrosse poll. No other team is ranked that much higher than its RPI mark.Â
As the regular season wraps up and conference tournaments get going, keep your eye on the RPI. You’ll have a much better idea of what the NCAA Tournament bracket will look like if you do.
Numbers to Know:
1,649 – No. 1 Syracuse leads the nation in average attendance, as a total of 16,491 fans have attended the team’s 10 games at JMA Wireless Dome. Maryland, UNC and Loyola are the only other schools to average more than 1,000 fans per game.
12.85 – San Diego State senior goalie Sam Horan is first in the country in saves per game, and she is one of two goalies with at least 150 saves on the year. Horan has made double-digit stops in 11 of her 13 starts, including a season-high 18 saves against Marquette on Feb. 12.
71.4% – Loyola has won north of 70% of its draws this year, putting the Greyhounds nearly 10% above second-best team in that department, Maryland (62.8%). The NCAA single-season record for team draw control percentage is 65.7% by Duke in 2019. The stat was not officially kept prior to that season.
Tewaaraton Watch:
POINTS LEADERS
GOALS LEADERS
NOTE:Â Stats correct through April 11.
Inside Lacrosse Poll
Screenshots pulled from insidelacrosse.com.
The only movement in the Week 9 poll came in the bottom half, as the top 12 stayed put. No. 17 Penn is the week’s big winner, jumping five spots, thanks to a decisive conference win over Yale. Michigan is back in the top 15 after defeating a ranked rival in Penn State. No. 14 UMass, No. 20 USC, No. 21 Richmond and No. 24 UConn all moved up one or two places. John Hopkins reenters the poll for the first time since Week 4.
Army and Penn State each fell one rung, and No. 16 Yale is down three spots following its loss to Penn. Navy dropped three places, too, and head coach Cindy Timchal’s squad is now on the edge of the NCAA Tournament picture. No. 22 Princeton is at risk as well. Now 5-5 on the year, the Tigers have their lowest ranking of the season.
What’s Ahead?
No. 11 Loyola @ No. 22 Princeton, April 12, 7 p.m.
No. 10 Maryland @ No. 18 Penn State, April 13, 7 p.m.
Stanford @ No. 3 Denver, April 14, 9 p.m.
No. 15 Army @ No. 11 Loyola, April 15, 12 p.m.
Duke @ Louisville, April 15, 1 p.m.
No. 1 Syracuse @ No. 5 UNC, April 15, 1 p.m.
No. 16 Yale @ Harvard, April 15, 4:30 p.m
Davidson @ St. Joe’s, April 16, 12 pm.
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