Boston College halts Navy’s run
Mids’ first trip to final four ends with 16-15 setback
FOXBOROUGH, MASS. — Kenzie Kent is an NCAA tournament veteran, more so in ice hockey than lacrosse.
Boston College’s two-sport standout has appeared in the Frozen Four three straight years, reaching the championship game in 2016. Kent’s big-game experience showed through Friday as she rallied the Eagles to a 16-15 victory in the NCAA women’s lacrosse final four.
Kent scored five goals and assisted on another to lead Boston College to a come-from-behind win over Navy in the Division I semifinals at Gillette Stadium. Kent, who did not join the lacrosse team until March 29, sparked the comeback that saw the Eagles erase a four-goal, first-half deficit.
Senior attack Kate Weeks scored two
goals and dished off three assists for unseeded Boston College (17-6), which will make its first appearance in the championship game Sunday against top-seeded Maryland (22-0).
Sophomore midfielder Sam Apuzzo totaled two goals and two assists for BC, which outscored Navy 10-6 in the second half. Junior midfielder Kaileen Hart added two goals and an assist while senior attack Kayla O’Connor contributed two goals for the Eagles, who had never advanced past the quarterfinals.
Freshman attacker Kelly Larkin scored a career-high six goals for Navy (18-5), which was also making its first appearance in the final four. Junior attacker Julia Collins had two goals and an assist while twin sister Jenna Collins, a midfielder, had a goal and two assists.
Sophomore attacker Meg O’Donnell also had two goals and an assist for Navy, which led 9-5 with 1:36 remaining in the first half, but was outscored 11-6 the rest of the way. Junior goalie Ingrid Boyum made 10 saves for the Midshipmen, who outshot the Eagles (40-34) and won the draw controls (18-14).
Boston College raced to a 3-1 lead, but Navy was not fazed. Larkin scored unassisted off a restart, then point-blank from the doorstep to spark a 3-0 run that gave Navy its first lead.
Jenna Collins made a great look off a free position, finding Larkin wide open on the crease, one-on-one with the goalie. Freshman midfielder Kayla Harris leaped and reached high to snare a pass from Young and used a quick stick to score to put Navy ahead, 4-3.
Weeks retied the score with a quick-stick shot of her own, but Navy responded with a 4-0 run over the span of 10 minutes to take an 8-4 lead. Julia Collins scored unassisted then assisted O’Donnell. Larkin scored unassisted and Andie O’Sullivan made scored on a sidearm shot from just inside the 8-meter arc, and suddenly the Mids had a four-goal lead with 6:35 remaining.
Apuzzo found Emma Schurr cutting to the crease for a goal that stopped the Navy onslaught. Larkin restored the advantage to four goals by blowing past her defender and scoring with a sidearm shot, but Kent worked her way to the front of the cage for a goal that made it 9-6 at halftime.
Young appeared to score a goal at the final buzzer, but officials ruled the ball crossed the goal plane after time expired.
Goalie Zoe Ochoa kept Boston College within striking distance by making nine saves, several of the spectacular variety, in the first half as Navy got off 26 shots. Boyum made five saves with three coming off point-blank attempts.
Boston College scored two goals in the final 3:30 of the first half and carried that momentum into the second half. Weeks scored a goal and assisted on three others as the Eagles began the half by scoring five straight times to take an 11-9 lead.
Boston College coach Acacia Walker found something by positioning Weeks just to the right of the goal and facing the field so she could find cutters with clear vision and she proceeded to deal off three consecutive assists. Kent scored two of of those goals off well-timed cuts into open space out front.
Meg O’Donnell took a pass from O’Sulli- van and scored from right on top of the goal to halt the BC run and get Navy within one at 11-10.
However, Apuzzo beat defender Blake Smith from behind with a determined move and Kent scored her fifth goal of the game to give the Eagles their largest lead, 13-10 at 19:31.
Larkin and Jenna Collins scored for Navy while Apuzzo and Dempsey Arsenault promptly answered for Boston College with the back-and-forth trading of goals resulting in no change in the margin. The Midshipmen still trailed by three, 15-12, with 15:25 remaining and desperately needed to make a run.
Molly O’Sullivan scored just her fourth goal of the season off a nice inside feed from Jenna Collins to cut the deficit to two, but Navy could not follow with another goal to get closer.
Boston College backup goalie Lauren Daly and Boyum both made a couple difficult saves as the two teams went scoreless for the next six minutes, 19 seconds. Hart ended the dual drought by scoring off a free position opportunity to give the Eagles a 16-13 lead with 6:42 to go.
Julia Collins cut hard to the crease, took a short flip from O’Donnell and finished to put Navy back within striking distance, 16-14 with 5:35 remaining in the game. This time, the Mids did manage to make it a one-goal game as Larkin scored off a free position opportunity with 1:10 left on the clock.
Larkin was fouled while driving hard to the cage and was given a free position from directly out front. The left-hander ran in three steps then whipped a shot into the top corner. But Navy lost the ensuing draw.