NEWTON, Mass. – When it comes to high-scoring triumvirates in Division I women’s lacrosse they don’t come too many bigger than the pair that squared off in Saturday’s NCAA quarterfinal at Boston College.

The BC trio of Sam Apuzzo, Dempsey Arsenault and Kenzie Kent entered the day with 305 points on the season. The Princeton trifecta of Elizabeth George, Tess D’Orsi and Kyla Sears came into the game with 256.

Seeking their third straight trip to the final four in the last home game of their respective careers, it was the Eagle Big Three that was able to shake free of the Princeton coverage time and time again, starting late in the first half, as Apuzzo, Arsenault and Kent combined for 17 points in a 17-12 triumph, while the BC defense held what Tiger coach Chris Sailer called her team’s “one-two-three punch” to just seven.

“We just had a shut off on Elizabeth George,” Boston College coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said of the senior attacker who was held out of the BC net until scoring her only goal of the game with 22 seconds left. “You can’t let her touch the ball. She’s too dangerous. Then we had matchups on the other two. We were going in and out of things with Dempsey, and Sheila (Rietano), and (Elizabeth) Miller.

“But really I think it was the other guys who stepped up. Hannah Hyatt, who really did her job on Kyla Sears really, really well. It was a great defensive unit day.”

BC (21-1) advances to play North Carolina – in a rematch of its only loss of the season in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game – Friday in Baltimore.

“It definitely doesn’t get old,” said Kent, a grad student, said of the team's third straight trip to the semifinals.

Princeton did its best to keep reigning Tewaaraton winner Apuzzo, Tewaaraton finalist Arsenault and 100-point scorer Kent in relative check for the first 25 minutes of the game as Princeton built a 6-4 lead. But Apuzzo was able to get free for three goals in a 2:15 span late in the half for a one-goal Eagle lead into the half.

“They were setting her up off what we call a little peel look inside,” said Sailer, whose team finished 16-4 with its 11-game win streak snapped. “We needed to release the face guard and just zone it. They made some great plays. They were able to make some great feeds and she stuck the shots.”

D’Orsi struck for her only goal of the game to tie it at 7-7 in the first minute of the second half, but the Eagles responded with the next five and they maintained a comfortable margin through the rest of their 21st victory of the season.

“We just kind of got into our plays,” Apuzzo said, “and got into the flow of things. I was able to get open a few times, which is awesome for our attack.”

Apuzzo broke her own BC program record with her 89^th goal of the season on her way to four goals and an assist to go along with a program single-game record 14 draw controls. Arsenault had two goals and assist during the decisive run early in the second half and she finished with four points, while Kent delivered six helpers to go along with her two goals.

“I would say it (started with) the draw,” said Arsenault, whose team owned a 21-10 advantage in the circle, including 12-5 in the second half. “We just really battled there. Then we all have such good connections. We started just tying those up. Once that happened, it kind of just flowed.”

Princeton had things flowing its way early in building the two-goal lead late in the half, but BC was able to tilt the field more and more in its direction in the second half as they went up as many as seven goals late in the game.

“We were playing at the wrong tempo,” Walker-Weinstein said. “We were playing too fast, too rushed – almost like a total fast-break game. We just changed and dictated what the tempo was going to be. We just slowed the whole game down.”

That included slowing Princeton’s top scorers to a crawl as D’Orsi finished with the one goal, Sears had a goal and two assists and George had one goal and one assist. Kathryn Hallett led Princeton with four goals, while Allie Rogers had three.

“I think we all just worked together and were able to dig deep,” Arsenault said. “Our goalie played amazing – Abby (Ngai) was so composed – and I think that really helped us.”