CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Boston College is going back to the Final Four yet again.
The fourth-seeded Eagles used a 7-1 run after allowing the first goal of the game and then pulled away in the second half on its home turf to take down fifth-seeded Notre Dame 21-10 in the NCAA quarterfinals.
“It’s so special,” Boston College head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. “This is something they should cherish for the rest of their life, because it doesn’t happen often. It’s not normal to go to a Final Four, so I’m just so proud of them.”
The Eagles will face top-seeded North Carolina in the Final Four in Towson next weekend after UNC defeated Stony Brook in a 14-11 thriller in the first game of the day Saturday.
Freshman Belle Smith scored the first three Eagles goals after Andie Aldave scored the opener for the Irish. Smith tied Brooke Blue’s record of 44 goals as a freshman with her three-goal performance. She also became the program’s single-season freshman points leader, breaking Covie Stanwick’s previous record of 55.
Senior Charlotte North continued her historic season with eight goals — giving her 23 in the tournament, breaking another NCAA record — upping her season total to 94. She became the 12th player to ever reach the 90-goal plateau and tied Sam Apuzzo for the most in a single season in program history.
“She’s incredible,” Walker-Weinstein said. “I think the really special thing, the winning takes care of itself when you have girls this committed. If you see the way Charlotte played first game of the year to now, it’s very different. A lot of that is from her, but a lot is because of her teammates.”
“It’s a testament to my teammates,” North said. “Our offense has so many threats, and we’re all going at the same time.”
Junior Jenn Medjid finished with five tallies of her own, and she snapped a late first-half Notre Dame run that put the Eagles back in the driver’s seat.
After the Eagles went ahead 7-2, Notre Dame closed the gap with a 3-0 run before the half. The defense recovered, holding BC without a goal for over 10 minutes. Medjid scored with less than a second left in the half to send the Eagles to the locker room ahead 8-5.
The Eagles opened an 11-6 lead early in the second half, a run that included North’s 90th goal of the season. Medjid scored back-to-back tallies for a 14-7 lead with 17:46 to play. Defender Sydney Scales tallied her first career point by assisting Medjid’s goal that made the score 15-8 midway through the second half.
Every time the Irish tried to fight back, something got in their way. Whether it was North or Medjid continuing their torrid scoring pace or a bit of bad luck when Kathleen Roe had her free-position goal called back in the second half, Notre Dame simply could not mount a sustained comeback.
Freshman Kayla Martello put the Eagles ahead 18-8 with 10:33 left in the game, the first 10-goal lead of the contest. It was their third consecutive contest in which they’ve forced a running clock. North’s eighth goal of the game, which made it 21-9, was her 94th of the season and tied her with Apuzzo.
By defeating Notre Dame again, Boston College earned the 3-0 series sweep this spring. The Eagles are now 7-1 in all meetings dating back to 2016.
Boston College has lost the NCAA title game the past three time it has been played, falling to Maryland twice and James Madison once. They’ll have a match with ACC rival North Carolina before worrying about a fourth consecutive championship game appearance.
“We worked all year long with this goal in the back of our mind,” North said. “We’re lucky we get another week together.”