Charlotte North scored seven goals Saturday afternoon. She slid an underhand shot past Northwestern goalie Madison Doucette in the first quarter, muscled the ball into the net after not one but two spins in the second frame and used her patented windup to rip a heat-seeking missile into the top-left corner of the cage in the final period.
None of those were her favorite goal from Boston College lacrosse’s 18-9 win over No. 4 Northwestern.
“Honestly, it was Andrea Reynolds’ pass off the eight-meter to Annie Walsh,” the reigning Tewaaraton Award winner said, when asked to pick. “That was an unbelievably smart play. It’s something we’ve been working on. To see that come to fruition on the eight-meter was sick.”
It was a fitting answer from the selfless North, who was yet again the star but undoubtedly received a high-end effort from the rest of her teammates in an impressive, season-opening victory.
No. 1 BC (1-0) won the first three draws and scored the first three goals. Caitlynn Mossman, who had a hat trick in the first quarter, nabbed the first two, the second of which came on a wraparound. And Belle Smith, last year’s ACC Rookie of the Year, cashed in a behind-the-back goal to make it 3-0.
The Eagles dominated No. 4 Northwestern (0-1) in the opening frame. If it wasn’t for Doucette’s four saves, things could have gotten out of hand. BC scooped up eight of the game’s first 10 ground balls and put up 10 shots on goal while the Wildcats had just four, not to mention them being 1-of-4 on clears.
“Northwestern, you can’t give them an inch,” 10th-year Eagles head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. “They'll take a mile. So we just really wanted to come out strong and put all of our focus in the preparation behind the draw. And I think they did a really good job of doing that.”
North was up against two-way middie Jill Girardi in the circle. Walker-Weinstein called the graduate student a “competitor,” and it showed. Girardi won three of the last five draws of the first quarter and netted Northwestern’s lone goal in the period. She actually scored all four of the Wildcats’ first-half goals.
Girardi hit the Fish Field House turf hard a handful of times. She got back up, though. Just like Northwestern, which cut its 6-1 first-quarter deficit to three goals twice in the second frame.
The Wildcats’ defense upped the ante, committing just two fouls, winning the ground ball battle and holding BC’s high-powered attack to six shots on goal. Northwestern repeatedly forced the Eagles deep into the shot clock, even causing a violation, and Doucette continued to flash, at one point stopping a spike attempt from North at the net’s doorstep.
“She’s a star,” Walker-Weinstein said of Doucette. “She ate us up in the first half. And she made some really big saves and prevented us from building the momentum we were looking for.”
It was the Eagles’ defense, however, that led to offense at the end of the half. Northwestern midfielder Carleigh Mahoney couldn’t corral a ground ball, and BC sophomore defender Sydney Scales stepped in to grab it and lead the break, which ended with North finding Kayla Martello in front of the cage for goal.
The Eagles took an 8-4 lead into intermission and maintained that four-goal advantage throughout a low-scoring third quarter. That didn’t tell the story of the period, though.
Northwestern had the ball in BC’s half most of the frame. The Wildcats drew nine fouls, including two BC yellow cards, but frequently passed out of its free-position opportunities. In fact, they attempted a mere three free-position shots Saturday and missed all of them.
Northwestern, sorely missing 2021 Tewaaraton finalist Izzy Scane—who suffered a season-ending ACL tear a few months back—couldn’t put the ball in the cage. Part of that was because of BC’s back line and goaltender Rachel Hall, who piled up eight saves.
“They’re studs,” Hall said of her defense. “They’re some of my best friends. I think we’re one of the best units in the nation. They show up to practice every day, they show out and they make my job pretty easy.”
The turning point of the game came in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Wildcats graduate attacker Lauren Gilbert—who ranked 11th nationally in goals per game last year but was held to one score Saturday—saw her shot ding off the pipe, and BC pushed the ball in transition, leading to a Cassidy Weeks goal.
Instead of 10-7, it was 11-6 Eagles. The two-goal swing was the start of an 8-2 BC run. Half of those Eagles goals were logged in the span of 2:53 midway through the period. Walker-Weinstein’s team controlled possession, posting an 8-3 advantage in the circle.
North and Smith combined for five goals during the offensive clinic.
BC, which led the country in shot percentage in 2021, was doing its thing. And the Eagles, who will have a target on their backs all season, got their first win of the season.
Despite all the returning talent, Walker-Weinstein wants this BC group to have a new identity.
“I think a lot of people think we may be the same version of last year,” Walker-Weinstein said. “We don't want to be that at all. We want to be different. We have a lot of new systems we're putting in, we have a lot of really good young players.
She continued: “I think it's just attack mode. We're not defending the championship. We're not reigning champs. We're in attack mode.”
