Eagles show Four-titude
Apuzzo, BC topple Princeton
During her illustrious four-year career at Boston College, Sam Apuzzo has come through time and again for the Eagles.
COLLEGES
So when BC found itself in a rare scoring drought against a strong Princeton team in yesterday’s NCAA tournament quarterfinals, it was only fitting that the senior attack, playing in her final game on her home field in Newton where she’s become arguably the greatest player in program history, had one more special moment.
The Eagles trailed by two goals late in the first half when Apuzzo went on a tear. She scored three consecutive times in a span of two minutes and 15 seconds to give BC the lead, and her team seized the momentum as it pulled away for a 17-12 victory over the Tigers, clinching a spot in the Final Four for the third consecutive year.
“It definitely doesn’t get old,” said fifth-year attack Kenzie Kent, who scored twice and added six assists in the victory.
BC will face North Carolina in the national semifinals Friday in Baltimore in a rematch of the ACC championship, which was the Eagles’ lone defeat this season.
BC (21-1), which entered yesterday with the fourthranked scoring offense in the country, had problems early against Princeton’s defense, and couldn’t seem to solve Tigers goalkeeper Sam Fish as it fell behind 6-4 into the late stages of the first. Eagles coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein noticed the problem was in their tempo — she said they were playing “too fast, too rushed” — and so they slowed the game down.
Things started clicking again when Kent found Apuzzo for a goal that ended BC’s scoring drought at 16:10. Apuzzo won the ensuing draw control and scored an unassisted goal to tie the game, and 50 seconds later, she gave the Eagles the lead on a feed from Kent.
It was a much-needed lift for BC. Princeton (16-4) scored the first goal of the second half to tie it again, but the Eagles responded with five consecutive goals and never looked back. Apuzzo scored another goal in the second half to give her 89 for the season, breaking the school record she set last season when she was named the Tewaaraton Award winner as the nation’s best player.
“Sam is on a mission,” Walker-Weinstein said. “She is fearless, she’s a fearless leader, and she’ll do whatever it takes and do whatever the team needs. She and the rest of her teammates, they really stepped up and changed the pace of the game.”
The Eagles were strong again defensively, limiting the explosive Princeton trio of Kyla Sears, Tess D’Orsi and Elizabeth George to just one goal apiece. BC goalkeeper Abbey Ngai was big in net, making seven saves.
The ultimate prize of a national championship again is within reach for the Eagles, who have lost the last two title games, and they certainly are savoring another opportunity that they don’t take for granted.
“It’s a dream come true,” Walker-Weinstein said. “These girls work so hard, they sacrifice so much. They do so much for each other and for the program, for them to go back to a Final Four, it’s amazing. Very few student-athletes get to do it and this will be our third time. We’ll focus on Friday and getting ourselves down there and getting prepared and getting better.”
North Carolina 14, Virginia 7 — Jamie Ortega had three goals and two assists, Scottie Rose Growney and Gianna Bowe added three goals each and the Tar Heels (16-3) topped the Cavaliers (13-6) in Chapel Hill, N.C., to set up the rematch with Boston College.
Northwestern 18, Syracuse 14 — Selena Lasosa (two assists), Lindsey McKone (assist) and Megan Kinna each had three goals and the Wildcats (15-4) outlasted the Orange (16-4) in Evanston, Ill.
Maryland 17, Denver 8 — Caroline Steele had seven goals and an assist and the top-seeded Terrapins (19-1) crunched the Pioneers (16-3) in College Park. Md.
Tufts 17, TCNJ 13 — Emily Games had five goals and out two assists and the Jumbos (18-2) toppled the Lions (14-6) in an NCAA Div. 3 matchup in Medford.
Amherst 9, Catholic 6 — The Mammoths (14-5) got balanced scoring and used a five-goal first half to prevail in the NCAA Div. 3 regionals in Salisbury, Md.
Men’s lacrosse
Merrimack 15, Le Moyne 14 — Dom Thomas scored the tying goal with four seconds left in regulation, then Christian Thomas won it 29 seconds into overtime as the Warriors (15-3) stunned the Dolphins (16-2) in Syracuse, N.Y. to advance to the Division 2 championship.
Virginia 13, Maryland 12 — Matt Moore scored the deciding goal 45 seconds into overtime and the Cavaliers (14-3) stunned the Terrapins (12-4) in a Division 1 quarterfinal in Hempstead, N.Y.
Duke 14, Notre Dame 13 — Joe Robertson’s third goal of the game 1:27 into overtime lifted the Blue Devils (12-4) past the Fighting Irish (9-6) in Hempstead, N.Y.
Softball
Stanford 13, Boston University 2 — The Terriers (37-19) were limited to single hits by A.J. Huerta-Leipner, Emily Morrow and Maddie Killebrew and were eliminated by the Cardinal (32-19) in the Gainesville (Fla.) Regional.
Colorado State 6, Harvard 0 — The Crimson (25-19) managed only three hits and gave up six runs in the sixth inning to the Rams to be knocked out of the Tucson (Ariz.) Regional.
Baseball
UMass-Boston 12, Wheaton 2— Nick Cotraro went 3-for-4 with six RBI and the host Beacons (32-11) scored nine runs in the first two innings and pounded the Lyons (28-11) in an NCAA Div. 3 regional.
Wheaton 7, St. Joseph (Maine) 3 — Brody Ashley went 3-for-4 and the Lyons (29-11) stayed alive, beating the Monks.
Babson 4, Trinity 1 — Michael Genaro allowed just one run over eight innings and Jake Oliger drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth as the Beavers (35-7) advanced to the final of the NCAA Div. 3 Hartford Regional, beating the Bantams (28-8).
Tufts splits — Peter DeMaria went 3-for-5 with two RBI and the Jumbos stayed alive in the NCAA Div. 3 Cortland Regional with a 7-4 victory against Penn StateHarrisburg. Earlier in the day, Tufts (31-10) fell to Cortland, 10-5, and will need to beat the hosts twice today to advance.
MIT swept — The Engineers (23-19-1) gave up three runs in the eighth inning and fell to New England College, 6-5, in an NCAA Div. 3 game in Gorham, Maine. MIT then was eliminated with a 14-5 loss to Southern Maine.
Westfield State swept — The Owls (28-16) were eliminated from the NCAA Div. 3 Union (N.J.) Regional, falling 7-1 to Shenandoah after dropping a 9-1 decision to Kean earlier in the day.