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The 2002 season was becoming a burden for the Boston College men's lacrosse team, as it seemed as if nothing would go the Eagles' way on the field. Each time out, no matter whom the opponent, BC would suffer another beating. Although the athletes were working as hard as other varsity programs, they were not reaping any of the rewards. For the Eagles, hard work and determination was not bringing glorious comebacks and one-sided victories; instead BC was faced with hard luck losses and opponents that seemed invincible.
Their struggles began to affect them mentally, as well as physically. No matter how hard they practiced, every one of the opposing programs was growing and improving, while the Eagles were in the unfortunate twilight of their varsity tenure.
Despite all this, BC finally broke the unfortunate streak on Saturday that has hampered its players all year long. The athletes knew that this would be the last varsity lacrosse game any man would play in Alumni Stadium and BC came out firing to collect their first win of the season in authoritative fashion. In the end, the many losses this team endured bound them together for this last collective effort in Chestnut Hill.
The Eagles defeated Green Mountain College Saturday night, by a convincing score of 26-9. Before the win, BC had not recorded a victory in any of its seven games. It was the last home game of the season for the Eagles, and they showed that they wanted to bid goodbye to the friendly confines of Alumni Stadium with their first win of the 2002 season.
"It really was an amazing game," said senior Sean Connelly. "It was a beautiful night, and the crowd was there to support us. It felt fantastic to come out in our last home game and really play as a team."
Nearly every player made a contribution to the win, as 12 Eagles found the back of the net against Green Mountain. Seniors Matthew Safaii and Rory Smith scored four goals apiece to lead BC to the victory. Alex Gschwend tallied a hat trick to help the Eagles' cause, while Bryan Albano, Ted Cella, John Cella, Dave Dauphinais, Donnie Dicarlo, and Rich Colucci each recorded two goals on the night. Chris Black, Mike Mucciolo, and Pat Connelly netted a goal apiece.
"The whole team showed up," said Connelly. "Everyone just played really well. There was not one person who didn't contribute, and that made this game special."
The Eagles jumped off to a remarkable start as they scored 10 times in the first quarter of play. Safaii got things started with a goal less than a minute into the game. BC led by a score of 17-0 at the half riding a seven-goal second quarter. This was one of the first comfortable sustained leads the Eagles held all season.
The Eagles of Green Mountain finally penetrated the BC defense in the third quarter when they came out shooting. They scored five goals in the third quarter and looked like they could make a game of it at the end. BC answered with four third-quarter goals to stall Green Mountain's comeback. The third quarter was the only period in which BC was outscored.
The fourth quarter was also played relatively evenly, as BC scored five goals and Green Mountain compiled four tallies to finish out the contest. The first half cushion that the Eagles provided themselves with proved to be enough to carry them through two competitive periods in the second half.
The goaltending was outstanding for the Eagles, and Head Coach David Curnick made use of three goalies in the match-up. The trio recorded a combined total of 10 saves on the night, and stifled the Green Mountain offense in the second half when it became the most crucial. Senior James Karambay led BC with five saves. Sophomore Michael Tait had four saves and freshman William Deluca had one save on the night.
Green Mountain's Matt Weihl led his team in its attempted second half comeback, as he tallied five goals in the game. Four other Green Mountain athletes found the back of the net once.
It was Senior Night at Alumni Stadium, which made the Eagles' first win in 2002 even better. The team is graduating eight players this year, and these athletes will be the last to play four seasons of lacrosse at BC, as the program is being reduced to a club sport next year because of Title IX regulations. The win on Senior Night bid farewell to a corps of players that persevered through many struggles throughout their career, but still came out on the winners' side.
The Eagles will take their 1-7 record on the road for the last game of the season against Holy Cross on Saturday at 1 p.m. BC hopes that their winning ways will continue against the Crusaders, and that their varsity tenure will be completed on an upswing.
"I wish we could have put a win like this together earlier," said Connelly. "But, it still felt really good to put together a game where we played so well and played like a team. This game showed that we know how to win. Hopefully, we can put one more together to wrap up our season."
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