Women's Lax Takes Home Four End-Of-Year ACC Awards
The back-to-back ACC Champions got some more good news on Wednesday ahead og the NCAA selection show this Sunday.
The ACC announced its players and coaches of the year and the Eagles had four winners.
Belle Smith was named Midfielder of the Year, Sydney Scales was named Defender of the Year, Shea Dolce was named Goalie of the Year and head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein took home Co-Coach of the Year along with Virginia's Sonia LaMonica.
This is back-to-back Midfielder of the Year awards for Smith after potting 37 goals in the regular season with 14 assists. Not only is she one of the team's most dangerous offensive threats, but she also racked up 39 draw controls and 15 caused turnovers this year. Smith is just is a steady presence when things get crazy.
Scales is arguably the team's MVP. A relentless defender in the open field and a ground ball machine, she was in fact the MVP in this year's ACC Championship. BC's scoring defense is No. 2 in the country thanks in large part to Scales. She's third in the ACC in caused turnovers per game (2.13) and had 32 in 15 games.
Behind her of course is BC's superstar sophomore Shea Dolce. Dolce was huge in the first half of the ACC title game and in the semis against Notre Dame. She also made a key stop in overtime against Syracuse in the regular season finale that ultimately sparked the ACC title run. Dolce had a league-leading 8.17 goals against average this season which was also third nationally. If BC is going to make another run at a national title, Dolce will be the one to lead them there.
Last but certainly not least is Walker-Weinstein, who has had quite a few weeks after being named the U.S. National team head coach. Year in and year out. Walker-Weinstein has her team playing at an elite level this time of year. Players win games, but the ability she has to recruit the finest talent and motivate her players better than any head coach in the country with so much consistency is remarkable. She demands excellence daily but knows how to ease off at times too. There's no better coach in the nation right now and that's not hyperbole.
BC should be a lock to host games in the NCAA tournament again starting next week, but official word won't come out until Sunday night.