NCAA Tournament Preview: Boston College Lacrosse vs. Maryland

This Friday, Boston College women’s lacrosse will face Maryland in the 2018 NCAA Semifinals. The game will be a rematch of last year’s championship game, which the Eagles lost in a 16-13 heartbreaker. Despite superstar Kenzie Kent redshirting this year, the Eagles have been playing better than ever and both teams enter the semifinals with only one loss apiece all season. Both teams’ losses were to UNC, with Maryland’s happening early in the season and BC’s occurring in the ACC Tournament.

The Terrapins are the more storied program and senior Megan Whittle is approaching an astounding 300 career goals. But BC has 3 players with over 80 points this season (compared to Maryland’s 1). The Eagles also have the benefit of Dempsey Arsenault, who has an impressive 58 ground balls so far this season.

Maryland has BC beat in goal, with Megan Taylor’s .478 save percentage, so this game will likely come down to whose defense is having the best day and who wins more draw controls. Despite Maryland’s confidence, this year these teams are fairly evenly matched on paper, and both teams fight until the very last second. This is really anybody’s game. If the Eagles stay strong on defense, Sam Apuzzo shows up on offense, and Lauren Daly continues the solid play we’ve seen from her recently, BC has a good chance of winning.

Who:

Boston College Eagles (21-1) vs.

Maryland Terrapins (20-1)

When: Friday, May 25 @ 7:30 PM

Where: Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium, Stony Brook, NY

How to watch: ESPN3 will air the game

Live stats: ncaa.com

How to follow: Follow @bcinterruption, @Lberestecki, @salzano14, and @BCwlax.

STATS

Goals per game: BC: 15.8 Maryland: 16.3

Goals allowed per game: BC: 9.2 Maryland: 9.7

Ground balls per game: BC: 20.0 Maryland: 14.7

Turnovers per game: BC: 14.9 Maryland: 12.7

Caused turnovers per game: BC: 8.7 Maryland: 6.2

Draw controls per game: BC: 16.2 Maryland: 17.0