Sam Apuzzo is not one to shy away from the moment.

It’s an admired quality that led the junior attacker straight to the highest honor in college lacrosse, becoming the first Tewaaraton winner from Boston College on Thursday.

“Sam is so deserving,” Eagles coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. “She’s hungry, she loves lacrosse and she loves learning, … She’s not too big for any coach. She’s not too big for any piece of instruction. I love it. That’s my favorite thing about her.”

Knotted at 13 with less than 15 minutes to play against reigning national champion Maryland on May 25, Apuzzo took the NCAA semifinal into her own hands. She scored the go-ahead goal with 8:14 to play, won the ensuing draw control and found the back of the net less than a minute later to send the Eagles back to the title game.

Not only did the win mark their first over the perennial powerhouse in program history, it avenged last year’s championship loss to the Terps.

In the NCAA final two days later, Apuzzo had a game-high seven points, two draw controls in the final three minutes, and an assist with 22 seconds left to bring the game within one. Despite the 16-15 loss to James Madison, she never gave up.

That mental strength is rooted in her growth as a player, which dates back to 2015 when she was cut from the U.S. under-19 women’s national team.

“I remember [her being cut],” said Walker-Weinstein, a 2009 U.S. gold medalist. “The greatest thing about Sam is she doesn’t go away – ever. She doesn’t go away game to game, she doesn’t go away season to season and she didn’t go away when she got cut from the U19 team. She’s going to go back after it with the U.S. team, and if she doesn’t make it, she’s going to keep going out.”

After graduating from West Babylon (N.Y.), Apuzzo served as an alternate for Team USA, which went on to win silver in the 2015 FIL Under-19 Women’s World Championship. It was a role she accepted for the team, but it also fueled her for the future.

“When I was just 19 years old, I got in my head a lot,” Apuzzo said. “I learned to let things go, not hone in on my mistakes and just move forward.”

Apuzzo then entered Boston College with a drive Walker-Weinstein saw from the get-go.

From her freshman to junior years, she grew from a U.S. alternate to Tewaaraton winner, welcoming the pressure to improve as an individual for the overall success of the team.

“She knew that if it’s what her teammates needed from her, she would do it,” Walker-Weinstein said.

In the absence of last year’s NCAA tournament most outstanding player Kenzie Kent, who redshirted this season, Apuzzo took it upon herself to work one-on-one with assistant Kayla Treanor, a 2017 U.S. gold medalist – specifically on the draw and dodging behind the net at X – while also improving her defensive skills with assistant Jennifer Kent. 

The fluidity on the draw and scoring prowess on offense that is well known of Treanor then began shining through Apuzzo, who considered the former three-time Tewaaraton finalist out of Syracuse her role model.

“I looked up to her before I even got to college,” Apuzzo said of Treanor. “She’s taught me so much. She’s so knowledgeable. There are so many different things she knows and you wouldn’t even expect it.”

Sam Apuzzo's fancy footwork gets her the goal and the lead for @BCwlax with under 10 minutes to play. #SCTop10#NCAAWLAX 2H | BC 14 | MD 13 pic.twitter.com/yWBBDMJnwr

— NCAA Lacrosse (@NCAALAX) May 26, 2018

Apuzzo, the ACC Attacker of the Year, led the Eagles in their historic year, which was highlighted by an undefeated regular season and first-ever perfect conference record. She finished with team-bests in draw controls (163), points (129), goals (88), assists (41) and caused turnovers (31), while also adding 45 ground balls.

“I really do believe that Sammy is a champion,” Treanor said. “This [Tewaaraton honor] goes to show how great of a player she is. … She made huge strides. She’s become a complete player and competitor. She’s above everyone else with her mental toughness and this mental drive.”

But hearing Treanor call her a champion left Apuzzo in awe.

“It’s surreal,” Apuzzo said. “This player who is probably the best player I’ve ever seen in my life is calling me a champion. … Kayla Treanor – that’s the epitome of lacrosse.”

But times have changed. 

As the 2018 winner of the “Heisman of women’s lacrosse,” as Walker-Weinstein described it, Sam Apuzzo is now the epitome of college women's lacrosse – though it hasn’t sunk in yet. 

“I’m speechless,” Apuzzo said. “I’m just very humbled.”