Eagles following win over Navy

BC’s women’s lacrosse team plays for the national championship on Sunday. They meet #1 and undefeated Maryland at 8 am PT in Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass., and the game can be seen on ESPNU.

The Eagles (17-6) came back from a 9-6 halftime deficit and then hung on to beat Navy, 16-15, at Gillette Friday night to advance. Navy (18-5) outshot BC 26-14 in the 1st half and BC goalie Zoe Achoa had 9 saves while allowing 9 goals. The Eagles opened the 2nd half with 5 straight goals and 2nd-half goalie Lauren Daly held on for the 1-goal victory.

Kenzie Kent, scoring star of BC’s Elite Eight win over USC, was once again the scoring leader against Navy. Her first 5 shots netted 5 goals. Kent now has a career-best 67 points this season, in only 11 games following her joining the team after hockey season ended. Senior Kate Weeks led the Eagles with 3 assists.

Back in March, BC trailed Maryland by only 1 goal, 8-7, at the end of the first half, but the Terps scored 5 straight goals to open the 2nd half and took the game 21-13.

Maryland beat Penn State, 20-10, in the other national semifinal.

BC’s women’s lacrosse team makes its first visit to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament next weekend at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough. The #14 Eagles (16-6) punched their ticket to the national semifinals with a 20-14 win today over #7 Southern California (18-4).

Eagles storm the field to join teammates in celebration.

USC entered the game with the nation’s 2nd-best defense, allowing an average of only 7.5 goals per game. The Eagles’s offense was in high gear early and often, starting out with a 3-0 lead at the Newton Campus Fields. The first half ended with BC up 10-5. USC twice cut the Eagles’ lead to 3 (10-7 and 15-12), but BC outscored the Trojans 5-2 over the last 14:10 of the game to reach the final tally.

Kenzie Kent

This was BC’s 3rd consecutive 20-goal game in this year’s NCAA tournament and the Eagles scored more goals than the Trojans had ever allowed. The Eagles outshot USC 38-25. Junior Kenzie Kent led BC with 6 goals (2 assists). Seniors Kate Weeks and Kayla O’Connor and junior Kaileen Hart added  3 goals each, with Weeks assisting on 6 goals, O’Connor 1, and Hart 4. BC’s top scorer this season, sophomore Sam Apuzzo, had 2 goals, bringing her BC single season record to 109, and 2 assists.

Senior goalie Zoe Ochoa had 2 saves in the opening half and sophomore Lauren Daly had 6 in the second half.

The Eagles meet unranked Navy Friday at Gillette. The Midshipmen defeated #3 North Carolina Saturday.