Boston College Lacrosse Defeats Denver 13-8, Advances to NCAA Quarterfinals

Boston College defeated the Denver Pioneers 13-8 in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday afternoon, advancing to the quarterfinals.

Charlotte North — who else? — started the scoring off two minutes into the game, scoring her 342nd career goal and becoming the NCAA all time leader in goals scored. She quickly scored her second of the game not too long after, putting the Eagles up 2-0. BC held the two-goal lead for most of the first quarter, both teams having a strong defensive effort before the Pioneers scored to cut the lead to 2-1. Caitlynn Mossman restored the Eagles’ two-goal lead, putting them up 3-1 going into the second quarter.

Cassidy Weeks scored quickly in the second quarter, putting the Eagles up 4-1, but the Pioneers scored 2 quick goals to cut the lead to 4-3. Jenn Medjid scored her first goal of the game to put the Eagles up 5-3, and then North scored her third goal of the game to make it 6-3. Denver cut the lead to 6-4, before the Eagles scored 2 more goals to take a 8-4 lead. The Pioneers scored one more goal in the half, and BC went into halftime up 8-5.

Medjid scored in the third quarter, though it was unclear if the ball actually went into the net. There’s no replay technology available to the officials on the field, so the ruling was a goal and play continued on. Belle Smith made it 10-5, and that remained the score heading into the fourth quarter. The Eagles held Denver off the board for the entire third quarter, shutting them out for 20+ minutes.

Denver scored twice to begin the fourth quarter, cutting the BC lead to 10-7, but Mossman completed her hat trick to put the Eagles up 11-7. Denver then scored to make it 11-8, but North and Medjid scored to put the Eagles ahead 13-8 to end the game.

A huge part of this game was the defense and Rachel Hall, as the Eagles had 22 turnovers this afternoon but were able to stave off the Denver offense. Hall made some key saves to keep the Eagles’ lead, and overall had a strong game.

Next, the Eagles will play Loyola Maryland on 5/19 for a spot in the Final Four.