The fifth-seeded Boston College women's lacrosse team's trip to this year's ACC Tournament in Durham was, unfortunately, a short one. The Eagles were bounced by fourth-seeded Virginia 13-8 in the first round of the ACC Tournament hosted by Duke.
Despite falling behind 8-1, the Eagles were able to battle back to cut the deficit to three in the second half.
"We challenged this team to start going harder to goal, to question things less as to whether they could or could not do something and to trust their instincts," Eagles coach Bowen Holden said. "And on top of that, we had to take care of the ball, which was not happening earlier in the game."
Kristin Igoe, Mikaela Rix and Covie Stanwick paced the Eagles' offensive effort with two goals apiece. Brittany Wilton and Brooke Blue each added a goal.
As a team, BC actually outshot Virginia, 28-26.
The loss gives the Eagles a 1-7 record all-time in the ACC Tournament. It's the sixth season where BC has failed to reach the ACC Tournament Semifinals. Last year, the Eagles were finally able to break through in the ACC Tournament, defeating Virginia Tech 17-3 in the first round before falling to Maryland, 5-8, in the semifinals.
The Eagles (8-8) have two regular season games remaining -- vs. Yale on 4/28 and vs. New Hampshire 5/1 before learning their NCAA Tournament fate. Despite having just a .500 record overall, the Eagles are still ranked 17th nationally and have strong computer numbers. BC is probably on the outside looking in at this point, but with two more victories could earn one of the NCAA Tournament's final at-large berths.
Go Eagles!