VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Maybe it was an upset. Maybe it was the better team winning. Or maybe, it was just payback time, plain and simple.
Last year, San Diego State, seeded 11th, captured its first ever WCLA tournament win by upending No. 6 seed Boston College in the opening round.
On Wednesday, exactly one year later, the teams met again in the opening round of the 2019 US Lacrosse WCLA (Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse Associates) Championships, and this time it was No. 13 seed BC that dished it out, defeating No. 4 seed San Diego State, 8-7.
Three goals by Anne Kelly and 13 saves by All-America goalie Anna Downs led the way for the Eagles, who tallied the final three goals of the first half to seize the lead and held the advantage throughout a second half that produced just one goal by each team.
“We didn’t let the seeding bother us because we know we’re a solid team,” said BC coach Maria Pestana. “We can beat any team when we bring our ‘A’ game. We had it today.”
Virginia Beach is a good karma destination for the Eagles. The last time BC was seeded 13th or lower was in 2014, when the Eagles advanced all the way to the national championship game here at the same venue as a number 15 seed before losing to Pitt. Pestana says her team has the right stuff to make a similar run this season.
“We played with heart the whole game, from beginning to end, and that was the difference,”
BC didn’t register the only surprise on day one. Just a couple of hours later, No. 10 seed Virginia Tech dominated No. 7 Santa Clara from start to finish for a 15-4 victory. The Hokies jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening minutes and never looked back.
Maria Keener finished with four goals, one assist and Shannon Condon added three goals to lead VT into the quarterfinals.
“That was the best we’ve played this year and everyone contributed,” said attacker and club president Maggie Hyland. “There was no let up at all.”
Tech advances to face No. 2 seed BYU Thursday, which advanced easily with a 16-6 win over Texas. All-American midfielder Heather Haight paced the Cougars with four goals, one assist, while Kenedee Grieve dished out a team-high four assists.
Leading 7-3 at halftime, BYU blitzed the Longhorns 9-3 in the second half and improved to 13-1 on the season.
Defending champion Michigan, this year’s number five seed, also used a strong second half to move past No. 12 Virginia. Four first half goals by Kennedy Mulvaney, who finished with five goals overall, helped the Wolverines build a 7-5 halftime edge. The defense took over in the second half, limiting the Cavs to one free-position goal.
“We certainly picked it up a notch in the second half and kicked it into high gear,” said Michigan coach David McKinnon. “We pride ourselves on strong defense and good communication. The players tell each other what to do. The less coaching I do, the better it is.”
Top seed Pittsburgh had no trouble with No. 16 Washington, setting a new tournament record for goals in a game with a 26-4 victory. The Panthers had 10 different players score in the first half alone and 16 different players score in the game. Pitt remains unbeaten on the year and carries a 16-0 record into Thursday’s quarterfinal game against Cal Poly.
The Mustangs played one of the tighter games of the day, slipping past Northeastern, 12-10. The game was tied four times in the first half before Cal Poly tallied four straight to take a 9-6 halftime lead. Three straight by the Huskies, making their first WCLA appearance since 2013, tied the score again at 9-9 midway through the second half.
Cal Poly answered with two goals within 80 seconds to retake the lead, and added an insurance marker with 90 seconds remaining. The Mustangs are looking to recapture the magic that led the program to six straight WCLA titles from 2001-2007.
“We were hungry for this win,” said Cal Poly’s All-America attacker Meghan Darcy, who finished with a game-high four goals. “We always hear from the alumni about the glory days, and we’re trying to bring back that success.”
One of the day’s other nip-and-tuck affairs featured 2017 champion Delaware against 2016 champ Georgia. Tied 5-5 at halftime and 8-8 with under 10 minutes to play, back-to-back goals by Delaware’s Jillian Leonard and Jenna Naples proved to be the difference.
Sarah Tappan led the Blue Hens with four goals and one assist, with Alexa Woodruff adding two goals and a game-high four assists.
Delaware faces No. 3 seed UCLA in Thursday’s quarterfinal. The Bruins easily advanced with a 16-6 win over Colorado. All-American Karina Yamasaki, one of four Bruins named Wednesday to the AA first team, led the way with four goals.
In addition to the Division I quarterfinal games and consolation bracket games, the Division II championship tournament also gets underway on Thursday with all 12 teams in action.
Harrow Sports serves as the official event partner for the 2019 US Lacrosse WCLA National Championships, while US Lacrosse’s national partners, Motive Pure, Pearl by Guardian, Nationwide, Impact Canopy, Krossover, SISU and Sports Performance Tracking provide additional event support.
Both the D-I and D-II national semifinal and championship games on May 10 & 11 will be available for viewing via free streaming on www.laxsportsnetwork.com.
Ongoing coverage of the championships – including stories, scores, and updated game schedules – will be available throughout the event on uslacrosse.org/wcla2019 and on USLaxMagazine.com.
WCLA Division I Championship – Wednesday’s First Round Scores
No. 1 Pittsburgh 26, No. 16 Washington 4
No. 9 Cal Poly 12, No. 8 Northeastern 10
No. 5 Michigan 12, No. 12 Virginia 6
No. 13 Boston College 8, No. 4 San Diego State 7
No. 3 UCLA 16, No. 14 Colorado 6
No. 6 Delaware 10, No. 11 Georgia 9
No. 10 Virginia Tech 15, No. 7 Santa Clara 4
No. 2 BYU 16, No. 15 Texas 6
Thursday’s Quarterfinals
11 am – No. 1 Pittsburgh (16-0) vs. No. 9 Cal Poly (8-5)
11 am – No. 5 Michigan (14-3) vs. No. 13 BC (10-4)
1 pm – No. 3 UCLA (10-3) vs. No. 6 Delaware (10-2)
1 pm – No. 2 BYU (13-1) vs. No. 10 Virginia Tech (12-2)
Thursday’s Consolation Bracket (Games begin at 4 pm)
Washington vs. Northeastern
Virginia vs. San Diego State
Colorado vs. Georgia
Santa Clara vs. Texas