BC Coasts Past Virginia Tech After Runaway First Quarter
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
So much for the slow starts. Boston College lacrosse stormed out to an 8-1 lead Saturday afternoon against Virginia Tech and never let the Hokies get closer than seven goals, coasting to an 18-8 victory in Alumni Stadium.
Charlotte North tied a season high with seven goals. Caitlynn Mossman continued to brand herself as more than just a feeder with her fourth straight hat trick. And, in addition to extending her goals streak, Jenn Medjid contributed three assists to round out a five-point day.
No. 2 BC (11-1, 4-1 ACC) couldn’t have asked for a better first quarter. The Eagles outshot Virginia Tech (8-6, 2-4), 14-3, and 12 of those strikes were on target. What’s more, BC won 7-of-9 draws in the period. Not only did Acacia Walker-Weinstein’s team dominate possession, but the Eagles dominated when they had possession, too.
Sophomore middie Kayla Martello put the wheels in motion with a shot fake and rip inside the eight-meter arc. After that, though, it was the North show. After scoring just once against Dartmouth, North exploded for three consecutive goals in the opening frame Saturday.
The first came on a free-position shot. It was one of three free-position scores for North against the Hokies. As a team, the Eagles cashed in on 7-of-12 free-position attempts. It’s nothing new for BC, which ranks first in the country in free-position goals (57) and fifth in free-position percentage (53.8%).
After Sarah Lubnow, Virginia Tech’s leading scorer, got the Hokies on the board, Mallory Hasselbeck restored the Eagles’ four-goal advantage by slipping past Virginia Tech defender Sydney Golini, catching a pass from Medjid—who was drawing heaps of attention—and firing a shot past goalie Morgan Berman.
North dipped into her bag of tricks for her next goal. She did her best Derek Jeter impression with a jump fake and then sniped a shot into the bottom-left corner of the cage, just past the outstretched leg of Berman.
Mossman and Martello capped the one-sided first quarter, but North resumed her clinic less than two minutes into the next frame. Her fifth goal was a rocket to the top-right corner of the net on a free-position shot. Berman actually guessed where North was going, however, she couldn’t match the speed of the graduate attacker’s laser.
Medjid pushed the Eagles’ lead to 10-1. That’s when Virginia Tech started to push back a little bit. Sophie Student rattled off back-to-back unassisted goals, the first of which saw her switch her stick to her left hand, dodge past Cassidy Weeks, charge inside the eight-meter arc and hurl a shot by BC netminder Rachel Hall.
Student led the Hokies with four goals. Her second-quarter work, though, didn’t move the needle. Because, right after her surge, Andrea Reynolds and Annie Walsh tacked on unassisted goals of their own to put the Eagles back up nine.
North reestablished the Eagles’ nine-goal cushion twice more: first with a free-position shot toward the end of the first half, then with a behind-the-back goal at the beginning of the third quarter. More than nine minutes later, Belle Smith increased BC’s lead to 15-5, triggering the running clock.
Virginia Tech had something to say about that. Olivia Vergano and Student both found the back of the cage in the waning minutes of the third frame.
And, to start the fourth quarter, Vergano beat Hall again.
BC’s defense buckled down the rest of the way, and the Hokies shot themselves in the feet with seven turnovers in the period. Eagles defenders Hollie Schleicher, Sydney Scales and Courtney Taylor all finished with three ground balls and a caused turnover.
BC added three more scoring strikes in the final frame and won its 39th straight game while allowing fewer than 10 goals.
Virginia Tech has knocked off both James Madison and Notre Dame this season. Except, on Saturday, the Eagles made the Hokies look unthreatening.
When North is scoring like she was Saturday, that’s par for the course.
