Boston College, Notre Dame and North Carolina have advanced to the ACC women’s lacrosse semifinals after winning quarterfinals Thursday in Durham, N.C.
The top-seeded Eagles defeated eighth-seeded Louisville 19-6 to remain undefeated. BC, ranked No. 2 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20, improved to 18-0 and will play Notre Dame at 5 p.m. ET Friday. Sam Apuzzo, one of three Eagles named a Tewaaraton Award nominee Thursday, reined in a school-record 17 draw controls while also surpassing the 100-point mark for the second straight season in the win over the Cardinals (6-11). Kaileen Hart scored a game-high four goals.
The fifth-seeded Fighting Irish pulled the lone upset Thursday, erasing a five-goal deficit to defeat fourth-seeded Virginia 11-10. Notre Dame (10-8) held the Cavaliers to one goal over the final 35 minutes. Freshman goalie Bridget Deehan made nine saves in relief of starter Samantha Giacaolone, who allowed eight goals on 11 shots in the first 23:35 of the game. Trailing 9-4 at halftime, the Irish opened the second half with a four-goal run. Andie Aldave tied the game at 10 with 3:58 remaining, and then scored the go-ahead goal just over a minute later. Virginia (9-9), ranked No. 19 nationally, had a point-blank chance on a Sammy Mueller shot with 16 seconds remaining in the game, but Deehan made her ninth and final save to seal the victory.
A five-goal halftime deficit is no match for @NDWomensLax!
— The Fighting Irish (@FightingIrish) April 27, 2018
Andie Aldave's game-winning goal advanced the Irish to Friday's #ACCWLAX semifinal at 5 p.m. ET!#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/0Yo6h9HPiz
The second-seeded Tar Heels, two-time defending ACC champs, opened their conference title defense in impressive fashion, jumping out to a 7-1 lead and throttling seventh-seeded Syracuse 21-12. North Carolina, ranked No. 5 nationally, outshot the No. 17-ranked Orange 43-24, forced 12 turnovers and set an ACC tournament single-game record with its 21 goals. Individually, Katie Hoeg compiled five assists to tie the overall tournament record and seven points to equal the most ever in the quarterfinals. Ela Hazar (seven points) and Jamie Ortega (six goals) also tied ACC quarterfinal records. The Tar Heels (13-3) will face the winner of Thursday night’s quarterfinal between third-seeded Virginia Tech and sixth-seeded Duke. The Hokies led 6-5 at halftime before the game entered a weather delay.
Pac-12 Semifinals Set
The inaugural Pac-12 women’s lacrosse tournament got underway Thursday in Boulder, Colo. Fourth-seeded Oregon and third-seeded USC advanced easily. The Ducks thumped Cal 22-9 and will meet top-seeded Colorado, the tournament host, in a semifinal Friday at 3 p.m. ET. The Trojans dominated Arizona State 19-7 and will take on second-seeded Stanford in the other semifinal at 6 p.m. ET.
Maryland Tops Northwestern in Shootout
Jen Giles and Megan Whittle scored four goals apiece to lead No. 3 Maryland to a 20-15 victory over No. 7 Northwestern, as the Terps clinched the Big Ten regular season title. Giles added two assists in the shootout, which saw Maryland bolt to a 14-7 lead at halftime. The Terps outshot the Wildcats 48-28, but Northwestern hung around by converting high-percentage shots. The Wildcats twice pulled within four goals in the second half, but that’s the closest they would get. Northwestern standout Selena Lasota was ejected from the game early in second half with her second yellow card. Maryland locked up the No. 1 overall seed in the Big Ten tournament. Northwestern will be the No. 2 seed and Penn State will be No. 3. Rutgers and Johns Hopkins meet with the No. 4 seed on the line.