2024 NCAA Lacrosse Preview: No. 2 Boston College (Women)

The 2024 Division I women's college lacrosse season kicks off February 9. As is our annual tradition, we’re featuring every team ranked in the USA Lacrosse Preseason Top 20 in the lead up to opening day. 

NO. 2 BOSTON COLLEGE

2023 Record: 19-4 (8-1, ACC)
Final Ranking (2023): No. 2
Head Coach: Acacia Walker-Weinstein
Assistants: Jennifer Kent, Sam Apuzzo, Callahan Kent, Emily McDermott 

It’s January 15 when Acacia Walker-Weinstein opens up about Boston College’s upcoming season. We’re here to talk lacrosse, but football is on her mind. The Green Bay Packers had just thumped the Dallas Cowboys 48-32 in a Wild Card Weekend upset. Walker-Weinstein wasn’t just shooting the breeze — the game brought back a painful memory from May, the Eagles’ 18-6 title-game loss to Northwestern. 

“Anybody can win on any day,” Walker-Weinstein said. “The Packers showed up. The Cowboys didn’t. It reminded me of our national championship. We’re never going to let that happen again.”

To be fair, Northwestern was the top-ranked team in the tournament. But the point was well taken. 

“We didn’t show up,” Walker-Weinstein said. “We lost an opportunity to win a national championship. There’s a lot of focus on detail. It’s going to sting forever. It’ll never go away. I’m not afraid to talk about it.” 

It was an unhappy ending to an otherwise successful season — one that involved BC peaking at the right time (again). A 16-5 loss to North Carolina in an NCAA championship game rematch last season had the lacrosse world scratching its head. Could the Eagles withstand life after Charlotte North? A loss to Final Four party-crasher Denver in Shea Dolce’s debut as the starting netminder followed two weeks later. 

The Eagles didn’t lose again until that aforementioned NCAA championship game, upending Syracuse on the final day of the regular season, winning their first-ever ACC tournament crown and coming from behind once again to knock out the Orange in the Final Four. 

The loss is a motivating factor for the Eagles. But some impact players on this year’s roster had nothing to do with it. Notably, Rachel Clark (Virginia) and Emma LaPinto (Florida), two of the nation’s top attackers, enter a veteran-laded offense already primed for success. The defense also got stronger courtesy of another Florida transfer in Becky Browndorf. 

“Right now, we just have to figure out how to win games,” Walker-Weinstein said. 

That likely won’t be a problem, Coach. Let’s dive deeper into why. 

TOP RETURNERS

Belle Smith, M, Sr. (52G, 31A, 28DC, 14GB)
Mckenna Davis, A, Jr. (28G, 62A)
Shea Dolce, G, So. (8.84GAA, .467SV%)

Walker-Weinstein calls this year’s midfield corps the best in the country, with more depth, defensive and offensive prowess, speed and endurance than ever before. Preseason Midfielder of the Year Belle Smith is a leader on the unit, and she’s back with a bone to pick after last year’s loss. The fiercely competitive, never-satisfied Long Island native is demanding more of herself and her teammates. That’s not quite new, nor is the fact that we’ll likely see Mckenna Davis once again serve as a critical distributer. Davis was third in Division I in assists per game (2.70) with a nose for the goal to boot. 

What is new is that Dolce will get a full year as a starting netminder. One of the sport’s rising stars, Dolce took over the starting spot from Rachel Hall against Denver. It wound up swinging the season’s momentum in the Eagles’ favor. Don’t expect a sophomore slump, in part thanks to the offensive players she practices with daily.

“She saw about a billion shots [this fall],” Walker-Weinstein said. “She looked awesome. She is so athletic and even more comfortable within the defensive system.”

KEY ADDITIONS

Rachel Clark, A, Jr. (63G, 13A at Virginia)
Emma LoPinto, A, Jr. (62G, 28A at Florida)
Becky Browndorf, D, Gr. (22CT, 21GB at Florida)

The Eagles’ attack lost a Tewaaraton Award finalist in Jenn Medjid and gained two potential ones in Clark and LoPinto. LoPinto’s skillset is more aligned with Medjid’s — an unselfish playmaker who’s unafraid to take a shot when she sees one. Clark reminds Walker-Weinstein of another player who knows a thing or two about the Tewaaraton (and won two of them).

“She’s excellent 1-v-1,” Walker-Weinstein said. “She’s so hard to stop. She’s so strong and smart. It’s something we haven’t had since Charlotte.”

The two have stood out — and blended in —with the talented returning group.

“They fit in so seamlessly with a group of players who have been playing together for so long,” Walker-Weinstein said. “The chemistry is going to be one of the best things about the offense.”

Speaking of getting to know one another, LoPinto and Browndorf didn’t need to be introduced. Browndorf is another former Gator, and Walker-Weinstein expects her to be a crucial part of a defense that lost Hollie Schleicher, Melanie Welch and Sophia Taglich to graduation. Former Stanford starter Julia Greene also enters the fold.

NOTABLE DEPARTURES

Graduations: Hollie Schleicher, D; Rachel Hall, G; Courtney Weeks, M; Melanie Welch, D; Sophia Taglich, D

X-FACTOR

Cassidy Weeks, M, Gr. (33G, 9A, 37DC, 11CT, 24GB)

Weeks has been a stalwart in the BC lineup. After sustaining an injury that caused her to sit out her freshman year, she’s started 74 straight games — yet Walker-Weinstein says she still flies under the radar. But Weeks is on her coach’s radar when the game is on the line.

“If we’re in overtime, I’m going to Cassidy,” Walker-Weinstein said. “She is clutch under pressure and steady for 60 minutes a game.”

Weeks has proven herself in big spots — notably tallying the game-winner in BC’s win over Maryland in the 2022 Final Four and again coming through with the difference-maker in a regular-season rally by Notre Dame last year.

THE NARRATIVE

Making the national championship game has become engrained in Boston College’s culture. Winning it? That’s been another story. The Eagles claimed their first national championship in 2021, losing in the two years since to North Carolina and Northwestern. But Walker-Weinstein likes that this fifth-year class has experienced the high of winning the game and the low of falling short.

“I am glad that this senior class has won and lost,” Walker-Weinstein said. “They won as freshmen, and they have lost every year after that, so they know the pain and joy. They are hungry and gritty.”

While games aren’t won on paper, Boston College certainly has the talent to make a run at another title. The Eagles will have to combine the cohesion of a large group of returners with transfers in real games, but there’s no indication of that being an issue. The landscape has changed a bit, too. Notre Dame got better, including netting some quality transfers of its own in Arden Tierney (Richmond) and Olivia Dooley (USC). Northwestern returns Tewaaraton finalists Izzy Scane and Erin Coykendall (among others).

But as Walker-Weinstein alluded, sports wouldn’t be fun if games were won on paper. There’s just simply no reason to doubt that BC will win games on the field up to and including Memorial Day Weekend.

Whether the Eagles will win it all once again? Finding that out will also be part of the fun.

ENEMY LINES

“Already a tough team, and they added more firepower over the summer. They are one of the best teams in the country across the board, from top to bottom. You look at their offense, which gets a lot of attention, but their defense and what Jen Kent does there is also really strong.”

BEYOND THE BASICS
POWERED BY LACROSSE REFERENCE

The 2024 schedule for Boston College features a mix of familiar and new opponents. The Eagles are projected to have a strong season with an average of 13.7 wins against 2.3 losses in our LaxElo simulations. They’ll have to contend with one of the toughest non-conference slates in the nation. Their out-of-conference schedule is projected to be the 5th-most difficult with matchups against, among others, Northwestern, Boston University, UMass and Jacksonville. 

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