Boston College Women’s Lacrosse Defeats #11 Notre Dame, 9-4, to Advance to the ACC Championship Game

On Friday afternoon, Boston College women’s lacrosse continued their run in the 2023 ACC Tournament by defeating #11 Notre Dame by a score of 9-4. With this victory, BC advances to the ACC Championship Game to face-off against either #1 Syracuse or #3 North Carolina on Sunday.

The game was a defensive slugfest, as Boston College goaltender Shea Dolce stood tall in the net and only allowed the Fighting Irish to score twice in the 30 minutes of the 1st half. The freshman had several incredible saves and single-handedly held off ND from taking a commanding lead. BC’s offense had a slow start in the meantime, hardly registering any shots on goal in the first quarter but scoring more than ND nonetheless. The Eagles primarily found their first half offensive opportunities in transition after big defensive stops and catching Notre Dame flat-footed. They finally found some momentum in the final several minutes and after two quarters the score stood at just 5-2 BC, which was a surprise coming from two of the top-10 offenses in the nation. Notre Dame’s season-leading scorer Wolak wasn’t even able to get a shot off.

The Fighting Irish were able to get back on the board in the second half’s first possession, but then the defenses took over once again. Goalie saves and crossbar shots prevented either team from really breaking the scoring open, but BC’s Jenn Medjid was at least able to earn herself a hat trick midway through the 3rd quarter to put the Eagles up 6-3. Then both teams went scoreless for the final 9+ minutes of the 3rd quarter, so it remained 6-3 entering the 4th.

The 4th quarter saw a bit of a skirmish when Belle Smith got her goggles knocked off her head by her own BC teammate, then was checked to the ground by a Notre Dame player. No foul was assessed to the Notre Dame player and instead a green card was issued to Smith for playing without goggles. Notre Dame turned it over immediately following that questionable call and things got chippy from there. The referees warned the Notre Dame bench about giving BC proper space, then the Eagles marched down the field and Kayla Martello scored BC’s 7th goal to take a hugely important 7-4 lead with just 9 minutes remaining. Notre Dame answered with a goal of their own a minute later, but it was called back for a crease violation and BC extended their lead to 8-4 shortly after.

The Eagles rode that comfortable lead for the remainder of the contest and pulled out the eventual 9-4 victory over #11 Notre Dame. The hero of the game was the BC defense, with players like Shea Dolce (11 saves), Hunter Roman, and Sydney Scales absolutely dominating one of the nation’s best offenses and shutting them out for almost the entire second half. Senior Jenn Medjid led the Eagles in scoring with her hat trick.

Boston College will play their final game of the conference tournament on Sunday for a chance to win their first ever ACC Championship.