NEWTON - Given the circumstances and what was at stake on Thursday, the BC women's lax team may have put together one of the greatest performances in the history of the Holy War rivalry - in any sport.

On a perfect day for lacrosse and another standing room only crowd once again decked out in neon packing the stands, the Eagles hammered Notre Dame 20-6 in a nationally-televised quarterfinal game to earn the program's sixth straight Final Four berth.

BC (18-3) has now won 12 straight and beat the Fighting Irish for the third time this season. The Eagles will face Syracuse in a semifinal next Friday in Cary, NC. BC handed Cuse its only ACC loss in the final game of the regular season to earn a share of the regular season ACC crown before going on to win the tournament.

Simply put, Thursday wasn't a game as much as it was a 60-minute showcase. The standard of excellence that BC is setting and reaching or surpassing each season is now legendary type stuff. After she was disappointed with the team's second round performance against Penn, head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein called her players out.

The response was a testament to what she and her staff have built.

"The girls were far more focused. Far more committed to each other.. Far more committed to the Boston College lacrosse standard, and today they did everything they needed to do to play at a high level, beat a very good team and secure a spot in the Final Four," she said.

This one was only close for just under 10 minutes.

Kayla Martello got the scoring started, but both Dolce and Needham's Lilly Callahan(3 saves) had to make a few big saves soon thereafter. Notre Dame got a sick behind-the-back goal from Madison Ahern to make it 1-1 and then the Fighting Irish took a 2-1 lead with 6:54 left in the first. Walker-Weinstein called timeout, and the rest is history.

Jenn Medjid (4 G, 3 A) scored back-to-back goals, one while falling down and another lefty while backing down a defender to put BC back in the lead for good. Dolce (5 saves) made another big save that soon turned into a free position goal for Belle Smith, her first of five on the day. The biggest play of the first half came when Dolce went pipe-to-pipe to make an off-hip save with 1:42 to go. The teams ramped up physicality and traded yellow cards. With just four seconds left, Courtney Weeks finished off a great quick-stick feed from Medjid for a 5-2 lead.

"It never gets old," said Smith. "It's the same feeling every time. if anything, it's better. We're pumped, we're ready to go and this is a place we've been in before. We're locked in and ready for next week."

Martello scored two more goals to start the second quarter, pushing it to 7-2. Sydney Scales was relentless and made life difficult for Notre Dame's offense in transition, disrupting things quite often. Notre Dame scored at the 7:27 mark, but the chaos and activity defensively soon turned into goals for Cassidy Weeks (2) and Medjid. Notre Dame added a late goal, but the Eagles were in complete control up 10-4 at the half.

From that point on, it was lockdown time for the BC. Dolce could have probably set up a hammock in-between the pipes as Scales, Hunter Roman and others refused to let Notre Dame breathe. Meanwhile, McKenna Davis, Annabelle Hasselbeck, Smith (2) and Ryan Smith all scored in the third, giving BC a 15-5 lead at the end of third while also forcing running time to be implemented.

"It's just such a special thing to have such great connections with the whole defensive unit," Roman said. "From the middies, to our defense, obviously our star goalie...I think we just always play for each other. At the start of every quarter, we try to stay locked in. We keep notes on if we're winning the quarter or losing the quarter and that's kind of how we stay dialed in the whole game."

"I have an amazing goalie coach (Callahan Kent), she's talking to me throughout the whole game," Dolce said when asked how she stays locked in without much action. "The second half I didn't see a lot of shots. The third and fourth quarter I got some shots, but I kept communicating with my teammates. Even though I wasn't getting shots, I was trying to do everything I could on the clear (BC was 17-17 on clears) with communication and just stayed locked in."

With the clocking ticking away, Smith and Courtney Weeks each added two more goals to make it 20-5. Notre Dame scored in the final minute, but Dolce was soon mobbed by her teammates as the "Final 4! Final 4! Final 4!" chants rang out.

All year long, BC has never been shy about talking national championship. It's been the goal and really, the expectation from day one. Now, the Eagles are two wins away from bringing another one back to Chestnut Hill.

"It's definitely a long journey, but I think it's only a long journey if you get yourself there," said Smith. "Something we like to do at BC is break the season into different parts. Once you get to the Final Four, it's a completely different ballgame. I don't think we're looking at it as the end of the season, we're looking at it as the start of something new and we're so ready for it."

"We have incredible human beings that come to Boston College to play lacrosse," added Walker-Weinstein. "I think the common denominator is that these guys are unselfish competitors. They love each other. They play for their families. They play for their school and we dream big. That's what we do here."