Boston College

[Lax101]

BC has a very good senior class. Together with post grad players they lose 7 starters next year. The final four run likely ends next year.

[Kleizaster]

Anyone else find themselves wondering where BC would be this season without 4 transfers, 3 of whom are in the starting lineup and one who contributes significant minutes off the bench? Was the last really excellent top-to-bottom recruiting class for BC was the BIG THREE, headed by now Dartmouth coach Alex McFadden (Frank). Thoughts?

you're 100% correct. I always felt that this would be the year they regressed a little due to a lack of depth. I think AW knew that as well and went crazy in the portal to try and lenghten their championship window. She took a huge swing. Might still work out we'll see but she's sacrificing the future. Which is understandable in some aspects, but i was more on the side of building through their recruiting classes and younger players because ultimately they are the future.

The talent is there but you won't know what you got if you don't play them..and this is a compounding effect because now when those young players are called upon, they may not be ready and now you're kinda stuck.

Go the UNC route. Spread the wealth alittle here and there and manage it well. Even with injuries UNC is still tough opponent because they have all these players who have seen gametime and they give freshmen chances. Look at Ingrilli, grace leonard this year. Godine, white, harden last year. The Pipeline stays stocked. NU and CUSE are other programs who do a great job managing talent as well. BC has equal talent i don't know why they don't do the same. They literally used to do this it's how they became an elite program. I don't know what changed

[hsllax]

Kent wasn't in Arsenault and Apuzzo's recruiting class. She was a year ahead but graduated with them because of taking 2018 off.

I think their current senior class should be considered elite- B. Smith, Scales, Roman, Martello, Reynolds. That's pretty much as good as you'll find in the country. I also think their lack of talent development hasn't hurt so far- no other team has been as successful (depending on how you measure success) as BC over the last 6 years. The current junior class was elite on paper and they didn't pan out. Tough to say if it's coaching or personnel.

One thing I will say is that there is no other coach who looks as tortured on the sidelines as AWW. Even KAH cracks a smile once in a blue moon.

[Essexfenwick]

Kent wasn't in Arsenault and Apuzzo's recruiting class. She was a year ahead but graduated with them because of taking 2018 off.

I think their current senior class should be considered elite- B. Smith, Scales, Roman, Martello, Reynolds. That's pretty much as good as you'll find in the country. I also think their lack of talent development hasn't hurt so far- no other team has been as successful (depending on how you measure success) as BC over the last 6 years. The current junior class was elite on paper and they didn't pan out. Tough to say if it's coaching or personnel.

One thing I will say is that there is no other coach who looks as tortured on the sidelines as AWW. Even KAH cracks a smile once in a blue moon.

AWW had an emotional meltdown on the sidelines last years NW beat down. It’s tough for a program to maintain that level of emotion. Players eventually reject it if you don’t win titles.

[forthelaxofit]

BC has a very good senior class. Together with post grad players they lose 7 starters next year. The final four run likely ends next year.

BC will do the same thing they have done the last couple years and try to load up on portal transfers. We may be drawing to and end of the covid clingers, but the portal is here to stay. As long as talented and proven underclassman like Clark and LoPinto continue to transfer, BC will scoop them up. Helps cover any recruiting gaps.

[belleoftheball]

Hi all - new poster here. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's opinions and thought I would join in.

I am not sure it's entirely fair to say that AWW and the rest of the BC coaching staff don't look to the future and player development. It seems like every year about two freshmen get to start or see significant playing time (this year, Lydia Colasante and Molly Driscoll, Kylee Colbert has seen the field too). When older players have been called upon after not seeing a lot of playing time, they have also shown they could handle the pressure: see Ryan Smith and Andrea Reynolds last year, who did a fantastic job and carried BC to the final 4. Bottom line is I think they'll be just fine next year, even with the loss of some key seniors.

They do and have benefitted from the portal a lot (which I am no fan of), there's no denying that. But have they done so more than NW or UNC?

Elsewhere I saw someone say that Belle Smith seemed to be regressing a bit or not be used to her full potential by coaching staff: I totally agree. Against VTech she had herself a game though, so I wonder if there's been an adjustment. I wasn't able to watch it, so I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts!

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Hi all - new poster here. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's opinions and thought I would join in.

I am not sure it's entirely fair to say that AWW and the rest of the BC coaching staff don't look to the future and player development. It seems like every year about two freshmen get to start or see significant playing time (this year, Lydia Colasante and Molly Driscoll, Kylee Colbert has seen the field too). When older players have been called upon after not seeing a lot of playing time, they have also shown they could handle the pressure: see Ryan Smith and Andrea Reynolds last year, who did a fantastic job and carried BC to the final 4. Bottom line is I think they'll be just fine next year, even with the loss of some key seniors.

They do and have benefitted from the portal a lot (which I am no fan of), there's no denying that. But have they done so more than NW or UNC?

Elsewhere I saw someone say that Belle Smith seemed to be regressing a bit or not be used to her full potential by coaching staff: I totally agree. Against VTech she had herself a game though, so I wonder if there's been an adjustment. I wasn't able to watch it, so I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts!

Welcome, belleoftheball. Always a treat to have new members join. Great points on frosh players making the BC lineup. I was at the NU game and couldn't help but notice the job Colasante was doing defending from my vantage point behind the BC goal in the first quarter. She played with a lot of toughness, poise and confidence. Didn't seem in awe of the Wildcats in the least. She was there to do a job and she was determined to do it. That's the impression I got anyway. Same for Molly Driscoll in the poise and confidence department from what I noticed of her in the UMass game. Couldn't agree more on Smith and Reynolds and what they contributed to last years run to the final. Good point on the portal, too. Didn't tune in to the Hokies game yesterday. I knew it wasn't going to be competitive. After the loss to Northwestern, I thought, "Pity poor Virginia Tech." BC was going to take out their frustrations on them and it wasn't going to be pleasant. In any event, I hope you weigh in frequently and enjoy your time at Fanlax.

[RollTheCrease]

BC looked better this weekend, taking their NW loss out on VT. How much of this drubbng was because of NW or VT is what I am struggling with. I am in no way suggesting VT would win this game, but under Skiera the Hokies have had a tendency to self-destruct. VT won 60% of the draws yesterday, but they turned the ball over 20 times. Half of these turnovers were unforced errors by VT. Add to this BC almost doubled-up the Hokies on ground balls. I thought Skiera would bring the toughness and aggressiveness to VT needed to win the 50/50s. It hasn’t happened yet.

All of this resulted to in BC taking 35 shots (11 more than VT), putting nearly 75% on goal. Very effective shooting. VT supposedly has one of the better goalies in the ACC, but she only saved 23% of SOG. This could simply be BC being that good and efficient with their shots. Conversely, VT only got 24 shots off with only 45% on goal. VT had poor shot selections from what I watched, but how much of this is VTs fault vs BC playing tough defense. With these stats it’s not hard to understand the final score of 20-7.

What’s harder to figure out is how much of this outcome was driven by BC and how much by VTs inability to control the ball, minimize unforced turnovers, and take better shots. Skiera’s teams over the past several years have been plagued by these same mistakes. I expected Skiera to bring mental toughness and high game IQ to VT, surprisingly this hasn’t surfaced in her tenure.

Gresham is providing VT an opportunity to win games by controlling draws, but for the Hokies to get over the hump and rise to the 5th or 6th spot in the ACC they need to eliminate the mistakes, take better shots, and get better goalie play. None were on display against BC this weekend.

[Lax101]

Hi all - new poster here. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's opinions and thought I would join in.

I am not sure it's entirely fair to say that AWW and the rest of the BC coaching staff don't look to the future and player development. It seems like every year about two freshmen get to start or see significant playing time (this year, Lydia Colasante and Molly Driscoll, Kylee Colbert has seen the field too). When older players have been called upon after not seeing a lot of playing time, they have also shown they could handle the pressure: see Ryan Smith and Andrea Reynolds last year, who did a fantastic job and carried BC to the final 4. Bottom line is I think they'll be just fine next year, even with the loss of some key seniors.

They do and have benefitted from the portal a lot (which I am no fan of), there's no denying that. But have they done so more than NW or UNC?

Elsewhere I saw someone say that Belle Smith seemed to be regressing a bit or not be used to her full potential by coaching staff: I totally agree. Against VTech she had herself a game though, so I wonder if there's been an adjustment. I wasn't able to watch it, so I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts!

BC has opted to play 6 middies evenly in the early season - experimenting with lines and testing young talent - Belle Smith, Cass Weeks and others are playing 1/2 the games. The production you see from Weeks and Smith in the VT game is quite remarkable since neither played in the 4th quarter and both played about 40 percent of the overall game. Both only played 1/2 the NU game as well. Crazy in my opinion. BC needs to lean on their best players more or they will not reach their full potential this year.

[ultravisitor]

Even with injuries UNC is still tough opponent because they have all these players who have seen gametime and they give freshmen chances. Look at Ingrilli, grace leonard this year. Godine, white, harden last year. The Pipeline stays stocked. NU and CUSE are other programs who do a great job managing talent as well. BC has equal talent i don't know why they don't do the same. They literally used to do this it's how they became an elite program. I don't know what changed

I was thinking about this earlier today when I saw that NU's starters didn't even play the entire second half of their game against Central Michigan yesterday during which NU outscored CMU 10-2 (the first half with the starters was 17-1). Obviously, it's cool to see so many people on the team getting involved because it's ultimately better for the entire team.

Anyway, it to me to thinking: to what extent are other other schools involving their bench in similar blowouts?

[belleoftheball]

Hi all - new poster here. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's opinions and thought I would join in.

I am not sure it's entirely fair to say that AWW and the rest of the BC coaching staff don't look to the future and player development. It seems like every year about two freshmen get to start or see significant playing time (this year, Lydia Colasante and Molly Driscoll, Kylee Colbert has seen the field too). When older players have been called upon after not seeing a lot of playing time, they have also shown they could handle the pressure: see Ryan Smith and Andrea Reynolds last year, who did a fantastic job and carried BC to the final 4. Bottom line is I think they'll be just fine next year, even with the loss of some key seniors.

They do and have benefitted from the portal a lot (which I am no fan of), there's no denying that. But have they done so more than NW or UNC?

Elsewhere I saw someone say that Belle Smith seemed to be regressing a bit or not be used to her full potential by coaching staff: I totally agree. Against VTech she had herself a game though, so I wonder if there's been an adjustment. I wasn't able to watch it, so I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts!

Welcome, belleoftheball. Always a treat to have new members join. Great points on frosh players making the BC lineup. I was at the NU game and couldn't help but notice the job Colasante was doing defending from my vantage point behind the BC goal in the first quarter. She played with a lot of toughness, poise and confidence. Didn't seem in awe of the Wildcats in the least. She was there to do a job and she was determined to do it. That's the impression I got anyway. Same for Molly Driscoll in the poise and confidence department from what I noticed of her in the UMass game. Couldn't agree more on Smith and Reynolds and what they contributed to last years run to the final. Good point on the portal, too. Didn't tune in to the Hokies game yesterday. I knew it wasn't going to be competitive. After the loss to Northwestern, I thought, "Pity poor Virginia Tech." BC was going to take out their frustrations on them and it wasn't going to be pleasant. In any event, I hope you weigh in frequently and enjoy your time at Fanlax.

Thanks for the warm welcome! Great to hear about Colasante, I've only been able to watch one BC game so far (based in Europe, difficult to catch games!) so I'm reliant on the reviews of others

[belleoftheball]

Hi all - new poster here. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's opinions and thought I would join in.

I am not sure it's entirely fair to say that AWW and the rest of the BC coaching staff don't look to the future and player development. It seems like every year about two freshmen get to start or see significant playing time (this year, Lydia Colasante and Molly Driscoll, Kylee Colbert has seen the field too). When older players have been called upon after not seeing a lot of playing time, they have also shown they could handle the pressure: see Ryan Smith and Andrea Reynolds last year, who did a fantastic job and carried BC to the final 4. Bottom line is I think they'll be just fine next year, even with the loss of some key seniors.

They do and have benefitted from the portal a lot (which I am no fan of), there's no denying that. But have they done so more than NW or UNC?

Elsewhere I saw someone say that Belle Smith seemed to be regressing a bit or not be used to her full potential by coaching staff: I totally agree. Against VTech she had herself a game though, so I wonder if there's been an adjustment. I wasn't able to watch it, so I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts!

BC has opted to play 6 middies evenly in the early season - experimenting with lines and testing young talent - Belle Smith, Cass Weeks and others are playing 1/2 the games. The production you see from Weeks and Smith in the VT game is quite remarkable since neither played in the 4th quarter and both played about 40 percent of the overall game. Both only played 1/2 the NU game as well. Crazy in my opinion. BC needs to lean on their best players more or they will not reach their full potential this year.

Totally agree! Have to think this is only because it's still early in the season... Can't see Weeks and Smith playing 50% of the game come May. Weeks didn't play very well against NU (by her very high standards), so it was great to see her come back with so much energy in the VT game.

[GratefulRed]

Northwestern recap

So, it took the Eagles roughly one quarter to get up to speed (7-2 NU after 1st). Even though BC outscored them 9-7 the rest of the way, it never felt quite that good in-person. Northwestern’s size and physicality all over the field creates tough matchups for the Eagles. These problems are exacerbated when down by 5 because they can play their brand of ball with fouls to give. So, lots of credit to the Eagles for fighting uphill the whole way in tough conditions. It was truly raw with the wind chill in the first half. Even though the gusts calmed into the evening, the damage was done. No one was feeling their hands until the shower. BC created good chances but couldn’t cash in at their usual clip. Laliberty’s 2 pivotal saves late in the 3rd kept BC from really giving them a scare.

After watching the replay on TV (and a fair amount of rationalization), I’m more optimistic than I was Thursday. Should BC get another bite at the apple, it will take 60 min of really good lacrosse to beat them. But that’s what it’s all about. Now back to the ACC tasks at hand...

[Lax101]

Hi all - new poster here. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's opinions and thought I would join in.

I am not sure it's entirely fair to say that AWW and the rest of the BC coaching staff don't look to the future and player development. It seems like every year about two freshmen get to start or see significant playing time (this year, Lydia Colasante and Molly Driscoll, Kylee Colbert has seen the field too). When older players have been called upon after not seeing a lot of playing time, they have also shown they could handle the pressure: see Ryan Smith and Andrea Reynolds last year, who did a fantastic job and carried BC to the final 4. Bottom line is I think they'll be just fine next year, even with the loss of some key seniors.

They do and have benefitted from the portal a lot (which I am no fan of), there's no denying that. But have they done so more than NW or UNC?

Elsewhere I saw someone say that Belle Smith seemed to be regressing a bit or not be used to her full potential by coaching staff: I totally agree. Against VTech she had herself a game though, so I wonder if there's been an adjustment. I wasn't able to watch it, so I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts!

BC has opted to play 6 middies evenly in the early season - experimenting with lines and testing young talent - Belle Smith, Cass Weeks and others are playing 1/2 the games. The production you see from Weeks and Smith in the VT game is quite remarkable since neither played in the 4th quarter and both played about 40 percent of the overall game. Both only played 1/2 the NU game as well. Crazy in my opinion. BC needs to lean on their best players more or they will not reach their full potential this year.

Totally agree! Have to think this is only because it's still early in the season... Can't see Weeks and Smith playing 50% of the game come May. Weeks didn't play very well against NU (by her very high standards), so it was great to see her come back with so much energy in the VT game.

Why wait until the end of the year to play best kids more and not 6th game vs defending National Champs when the entire lax world is tuned in? Definitely a head scratcher. Maybe BC gets off to a quicker start with all their guns firing in Q1 and dont get down 7-2.

[belleoftheball]

Hi all - new poster here. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's opinions and thought I would join in.

I am not sure it's entirely fair to say that AWW and the rest of the BC coaching staff don't look to the future and player development. It seems like every year about two freshmen get to start or see significant playing time (this year, Lydia Colasante and Molly Driscoll, Kylee Colbert has seen the field too). When older players have been called upon after not seeing a lot of playing time, they have also shown they could handle the pressure: see Ryan Smith and Andrea Reynolds last year, who did a fantastic job and carried BC to the final 4. Bottom line is I think they'll be just fine next year, even with the loss of some key seniors.

They do and have benefitted from the portal a lot (which I am no fan of), there's no denying that. But have they done so more than NW or UNC?

Elsewhere I saw someone say that Belle Smith seemed to be regressing a bit or not be used to her full potential by coaching staff: I totally agree. Against VTech she had herself a game though, so I wonder if there's been an adjustment. I wasn't able to watch it, so I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts!

BC has opted to play 6 middies evenly in the early season - experimenting with lines and testing young talent - Belle Smith, Cass Weeks and others are playing 1/2 the games. The production you see from Weeks and Smith in the VT game is quite remarkable since neither played in the 4th quarter and both played about 40 percent of the overall game. Both only played 1/2 the NU game as well. Crazy in my opinion. BC needs to lean on their best players more or they will not reach their full potential this year.

Totally agree! Have to think this is only because it's still early in the season... Can't see Weeks and Smith playing 50% of the game come May. Weeks didn't play very well against NU (by her very high standards), so it was great to see her come back with so much energy in the VT game.

Why wait until the end of the year to play best kids more and not 6th game vs defending National Champs when the entire lax world is tuned in? Definitely a head scratcher. Maybe BC gets off to a quicker start with all their guns firing in Q1 and dont get down 7-2.

I agree that not playing Belle Smith/ best middie line most of the game is a head scratcher and a departure from years past. When it comes to that first quarter, nerves and anticipation must have played a factor too. Last time they played, it was truly painful to watch and you'd expect emotions to run very high on that BC sideline.

If I'm AWW though, I'm taking away a lot of positives. It's a game BC could have won if adjustments were made and they walked away with weaknesses exposed at an important turning point in the season.

[GratefulRed]

Hi all - new poster here. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's opinions and thought I would join in.

I am not sure it's entirely fair to say that AWW and the rest of the BC coaching staff don't look to the future and player development. It seems like every year about two freshmen get to start or see significant playing time (this year, Lydia Colasante and Molly Driscoll, Kylee Colbert has seen the field too). When older players have been called upon after not seeing a lot of playing time, they have also shown they could handle the pressure: see Ryan Smith and Andrea Reynolds last year, who did a fantastic job and carried BC to the final 4. Bottom line is I think they'll be just fine next year, even with the loss of some key seniors.

They do and have benefitted from the portal a lot (which I am no fan of), there's no denying that. But have they done so more than NW or UNC?

Elsewhere I saw someone say that Belle Smith seemed to be regressing a bit or not be used to her full potential by coaching staff: I totally agree. Against VTech she had herself a game though, so I wonder if there's been an adjustment. I wasn't able to watch it, so I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts!

BC has opted to play 6 middies evenly in the early season - experimenting with lines and testing young talent - Belle Smith, Cass Weeks and others are playing 1/2 the games. The production you see from Weeks and Smith in the VT game is quite remarkable since neither played in the 4th quarter and both played about 40 percent of the overall game. Both only played 1/2 the NU game as well. Crazy in my opinion. BC needs to lean on their best players more or they will not reach their full potential this year.

Totally agree! Have to think this is only because it's still early in the season... Can't see Weeks and Smith playing 50% of the game come May. Weeks didn't play very well against NU (by her very high standards), so it was great to see her come back with so much energy in the VT game.

Why wait until the end of the year to play best kids more and not 6th game vs defending National Champs when the entire lax world is tuned in? Definitely a head scratcher. Maybe BC gets off to a quicker start with all their guns firing in Q1 and dont get down 7-2.

I agree that not playing Belle Smith/ best middie line most of the game is a head scratcher and a departure from years past. When it comes to that first quarter, nerves and anticipation must have played a factor too. Last time they played, it was truly painful to watch and you'd expect emotions to run very high on that BC sideline.

If I'm AWW though, I'm taking away a lot of positives. It's a game BC could have won if adjustments were made and they walked away with weaknesses exposed at an important turning point in the season.

It is reasonable to debate whether running two balanced middie lines or stacking one is a better approach. Partially depends on your perception of the importance of the game, I suppose—a non-con game in Feb vs a highly anticipated national championship rematch. Rewatching the game, I thought the difference was execution on the field. Ultimately, BC is in good shape at midfield and sharing the load will only benefit the Eags in April and May.

[GratefulRed]

Notre Dame @ BC

I’m not doing the lead-up to a big game justice, but time keeps on slippin’…

Instead, I will plant a few seeds for debate. Previously, the formula for beating the Irish has been the following: Keep the draws close, limit #23 JW touches, stay patient on offense and wear them down, capitalize on lack of discipline. Do these principles still apply?
Draw—BC will need to take another step to keep pace with UND impressive draw unit.

Irish O – Last year the big 3 accounted for 60% of UND point production. So far this year they are just under 50%. #7 MKD isn’t for show this year and transfer AT is chipping in. More offensive balance will stress the BC defense. Are they up to it? Still, Jackie W is the lynchpin.

Fly Eagles – I look for the Eagles to RUN

Feelin’ lucky? Notre Dame must feel like they’re due. BC will likely have to weather an early storm—not their strong suit. Fortunately, the Eag’s have the tailwind of the Red Bandana/Alumni game to carry them. Congrats to R Smith who gets the one-time uniform upgrade from #18 to #19!

Let’s go!