Boston College lacrosse has reached the NCAA Championship every season since 2016. One might think there would be some pressure at hand to do so again, given that streak.
But the NCAA’s newest single-season goal-scorer record holder doesn’t think so.
“I think it’s just every single year, the players coming through this program are so hungry and want it every single year,” BC’s Rachel Clark said. “I don’t even think it’s a pressure. I think it’s more of a want, and a hunger.”
As time winded down and BC held onto a comfortable lead over No. 7 Yale with just over two minutes remaining, Clark received a centering pass from Kylee Colbert and rifled in her eighth goal of the game.
Teammates engulfed her and smiles took over the scene. Not only had Clark scored her 103rd goal to pass Charlotte North’s previously held record from 2021—the Eagles now held an 18–10 victory, and their eighth-straight Final Four appearance was on the brink.
“I think just fighting for one more day is the only thing on my mind right now,” Clark said “My eight goals are a result of Emma being the spark, of Morgan locking it down on defense—like, my job is easy because of my teammates.”
Clark’s eight goals and BC’s (19–2, 8–1 Atlantic Coast) six-goal third quarter fended off any hopes of a Yale (16–4, 5–2 Ivy League) upset and earned an 18–11 win for the Eagles in the NCAA Championship quarterfinal.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for BC. In fact, it saw something only encountered a few times this season: a deficit.
Yale’s Fallon Vaughn notched a first-quarter hat trick with 4:25 left in the first quarter to give her team a 4–3 lead and leave BC fans biting their nails.
Goals from Clark and Mackenna Davis would tie the game at 4–4 and 5–5. But the Bulldogs wouldn’t let up, and continuously jumped the Eagles’ defense, getting a 6–5 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half.
But Lane Taylor’s score for Yale’s sixth goal of the game was the last time the Bulldogs would control the game. That’s because Emma LoPinto single-handedly stole the spotlight.
The senior attack closed out the second quarter with four consecutive goals, and she opened up the second half with her fifth straight unanswered score. Only one of those goals was assisted.
“I just think our girls knew that we had to play the long game, that it was going to be four quarters,” BC head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. “And I just think they dug in towards the end of the second and the third. I think there was a lot of adrenaline in the first quarter.”
LoPinto’s scoring frenzy highlighted the tide-turning second quarter, but goaltender Shea Dolce recorded five saves to hold the defense together and allowed the offense to flourish.
Yale wouldn’t get on the board again until 3:45 remained in the third quarter. And by then, the Eagles had far surpassed the double-digit goals mark thanks to three straight goals from Clark.
“We knew this was going to be a really good game going into it, so we knew we were just going to have to trust our preparation,” Morgan Smith said. “Our big theme was trust, so I feel like we really leaned into that in the second half.”
Molly Driscoll scored two goals of her own in the final quarter, including a free-position goal with 4:06 remaining that gave BC a 17–10 lead.
But Clark credited the win to more than just shots finding the back of the net.
“If you score, it doesn’t mean, like, you’re the only one that did that,” she said. “I think we talked a lot about off-ball movement and cutting as hard as you can to, you know, help your teammate out. And I think, like, you know, that’s just so important.”
And Walker-Weinstein emphasized the importance of the unsung heroes doing small tasks that often go unnoticed, such as controlling draws.
“They’ve been putting a lot of work into figuring out our draw chemistry, and now it feels like we have a lot of people who are capable of stepping up to it,” she said.
With an eighth-straight championship appearance on the line, the BC community has some responsibility laying on its shoulders, as well. Gillette Stadium is the forefront of Boston sports, and it awaits another huge milestone for Walker-Weinstein and co.
“We’re playing in Boston, so we need the city to show up,” Walker-Weinstein said. “They showed up for us eight years ago—that was the beginning of our neon tradition, and it needs to be bigger and better.”
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