We’re counting down the top 11 BC sports moments of the year, continuing today with #1 -
To catch you up:
#11: MBB win over Notre Dame on Senior Day under interim coach Scott Spinelli
#10: Men’s hockey’s first game with fans since March 2020 is a sellout win
#9: MBB wins in Earl Grant’s ACC opener
#8: Phil Jurkovec’s surprise return sparks football to win over VT
#7: Lacrosse makes the Final Four
#6: Fans return to Alumni Stadium for BC football’s win over Colgate
#5: BC baseball completes an insane, historic comeback to beat Auburn
#4: Drew Helleson’s buzzer beater boosts BC men’s hockey to an overtime win over BU
#3: BC football tops Missouri in OT in front of a sold-out, homecoming crowd
#2: BC lacrosse tops UNC in the national semifinal at the Final Four in Towson, MD.
#1: BC lacrosse wins the national championship
Pure joy pic.twitter.com/vmKEp1N27c
— BC Interruption (@bcinterruption) May 30, 2021
Winning a national championship in anything, under any circumstances, would of course be the highlight of the year.
But there was also so much that made this one extra memorable:
- It was BC’s first NCAA championship of any kind in 9 years, and its first ever in something other than men’s hockey
- It came on the heels not only of the team’s three straight National Championship game heartbreaks, but also BC as a whole having teams make their sport’s final four in eight straight years, only to end in heartbreak every time - until this one
- BC topped two ACC rivals en route to the title
- Charlotte North broke the NCAA goal scoring record in the win
- A great crowd of BC fans - both family members of the team and a general crowd of fans and alumni - were able to enjoy it, at one of the only events of the 2020-21 BC athletics year open to the public
- It was the culmination of doing one of the hardest things for any program to do in college athletics - go from good to great. It’s what we want to see for so many of our BC programs, but it actually happening is rare. The same teams usually dominate the hardware every year. To break through in such a big way - not just for one year, but year after year - is a testament to the incredible work done by Acacia Walker-Weinstein, her staff, and the players who laid the groundwork over many years to make BC a lacrosse power.
It was a beautiful day and ultimately a fairly comfortable win for the Eagles; Syracuse matched them blow-for-blow in the first half, but in the second, BC hit the gas and pulled away. Everything went right, and the final minutes were a celebration for the players and coaches.
The title started a whirlwind summer of celebration and honors for the team that brought them to the Massachusetts State House, a banner in downtown Boston, a TV documentary, and media attention around the country (including Charlotte North being honored in her home state of Texas by ‘throwing out’ the first pitch at a Rangers game, and team captains opening up a Sox game at Fenway).
That’s three strikes to start this one at Fenway! pic.twitter.com/6WBpdCT4uu
— BC Women's Lacrosse (@BCwlax) June 7, 2021
Had to go visit the banner at the Boston Harbor Hotel as a team pic.twitter.com/84BmUzzSh6
— BC Women's Lacrosse (@BCwlax) September 22, 2021
Charlotte North just doing Charlotte North things
— QuickStick (@quickstickblog) August 18, 2021
like a casual btb for the first pitch at the Rangers game pic.twitter.com/dZmhrt4IUu
Congratulations to the 2021 National Champion Boston College Eagles lacrosse team - a special group whose run was the highlight of not just this year, but many years on the Heights.
The most amazing moment ever pic.twitter.com/MN9kBIYTYs
— BC Women's Lacrosse (@BCwlax) July 3, 2021
"Don't be afraid if you fall short. Because we did. We fell flat on our face, in front of the world, three years in a row. But we got back up on our feet, we picked up the pieces and we did it the fourth year." pic.twitter.com/jojHpovmM5
— BC Women's Lacrosse (@BCwlax) July 3, 2021