Since Selection Sunday, the nation’s remaining undefeated squad, and the last unbeaten team before it, have been on a collision course set for Saturday at Newton Campus Lacrosse Field.

Fifth-seeded and No. 1 ranked Stony Brook (20-0) travels to the No. 4 seed Boston College (20-1) for a trip to the national semifinals in what many thought less than two weeks ago could be the national championship game.

Fast forward to this week and both teams have shaken off the disappointment from a few weeks ago – Boston College dropping the ACC Championship to North Carolina and Stony Brook falling to the fifth seed.

“I don’t think [the loss to North Carolina] disrupted our confidence at all,” Boston College coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. “It gave us a closer look at our weak spots and what [UNC] exposed. We’re definitely better coming out of it. We were a changed team going into Princeton.”

That was clearly evident by the Eagles polishing off the Ivy League champs, 16-10, on Saturday with a pair of five-goal games from seniors Tess Chandler and Kaileen Hart.

While not taking a loss all year, Stony Brook coach Joe Spallina saw his team find motivation from Selection Sunday that fed into Saturday’s 18-5 demolition of Penn.

“[Being] underseeded was as close to experiencing a loss without having the loss,” he said. “It brought us back to practice to a different level of focus.”

Spallina argued that Boston College was done wrong by the selection committee like his Seawolves.

“I think they got underseeded,” he said. “They got put in a crappy spot [as the No. 4 seed]. ... It’s a situation where you have two great teams that have major offensive firepower. We respect the hell out of them.”

Putting seeds aside, now comes a game that has plenty of buzz.

According to Walker-Weinstein, “There’s very little thought about this game [being] larger than life.”

“A lot of people want us to jump in on this conversation,” she added. “It doesn’t matter who the opponent is on Saturday. We don’t have any elevated level of excitement.”

Conversely, Spallina believes the intrigue surrounding Saturday’s game is positive.

“We don’t run from the noise,” he said. “We embrace it. ... The mood is what you expect of a hungry group of people who feel disrespected."

Disrespect and underseeding notwithstanding, Saturday will be one of the best games of the entire tournament.

Offensively, Stony Brook (18.3 goals per game) and Boston College (16 gpg) rank second and 11th, respectively. More impressively, the Seawolves boast the nation’s top defense (6.9 goals against per game) against the Eagles’ No. 7 ranked defense, which allows just 9.1 goals against per game.

Four of the nation’s top eight point scorers will be on the field at once – Stony Brook's Kylie Ohlmiller (7.6 ppg, 1st), Courtney Murphy (6.4 ppg, 2nd) and Taryn Ohlmiller (5.4 ppg, 8th) and Boston College's Sam Apuzzo (5.5 ppg, 6th).

For pure goal scoring, three of the top nine are featured – Murphy (4.7 gpg, 1st), Kylie Ohlmiller (4.3 gpg, 4th) and Apuzzo (3.81 gpg, 9th).

When asked how her team will prepare for Stony Brook’s dynamic and flashy offense, Walker-Weinstein noted her team’s past competition.

“We’re in the ACC where every game we’re playing is against a threatening offense that does tricky and risky plays,” she said. “This by no means is any different. We’ve been prepared and tested all year.”

And in ACC play, the Eagles made the Newton Campus Lacrosse Field a fortress. The Eagles went a perfect 10-0 at home this season, which included a 17-11 win over North Carolina, tight victories over Virginia Tech and Syracuse, and a notable non-conference victory against fellow quarterfinalist Navy.

“I think it’s awesome,” Walker-Weinstein said of her team hosting this weekend’s game. “Boston is an amazing place to be right now. ... It’s such a good vibe. Being home is great for sure. No matter where we were we’d be very locked in.

Spallina and his charges are actually excited to hit the road.

“We were fired up to go on another road trip together," he said when his team found out they had the five seed.

One of Stony Brook’s question marks is how it will respond in a tight game. After all, the Seawolves’ tightest game by margin of victory was the season-opening road victory against USC, a 14-10 decision, which never felt in doubt. The only game that even came close to threatening SBU’s unbeaten run was a 13-8 decision over Towson in which the Tigers tied the game at eight with 11:54 remaining.

“We create situations and adversity [in practice],” Spallina said. “We try to make our kids tough. There’s a reason why we haven’t been in a one-goal game this year. ... They’re not nervous about playing in a close game. Our kids love pressure.”

As for keys to the game, both coaches agree that a well-rounded effort will lead to victory. Walker-Weinstein believes the midfield is paramount.

“I think the game between the 30s will dictate everything,” she said. “The ride, the clear, transition offense and defense. The game will be won in the midfield.”

Spallina’s outlook is slightly different. While not ignoring midfield play, nor his powerful offense, he looks to the other end of the field.

“Defense," he said. "We have the No. 1-rated defense and we have to walk that walk on Saturday.”

Last year’s midfield struggles doomed Stony Brook in its upset bid at Maryland las year.  The Terrapins won the draw control battle 19-7, which limited the Seawolves to just 26 shots. This year, Stony Brook will have to contend with one of the best draw specialists in the game, Sam Apuzzo.

“We didn’t lose last year because of [Maryland],” Spallina said. “We lost because we lost draws. We focused on that getting better and being as scrappy as we can be.”

Apuzzo has pulled down 6.8 draws per game and had 11 alone in the win over Princeton. It’s easy to describe her impact.

“Huge,” Walker-Weinstein said. “Sam’s game is so dynamic. It’s not just the draw. She runs the offense and transition. I think that’s our X factor.”

More than that, Apuzzo is the “ultimate team player.”

“She’s awesome,” added Walker-Weinstein. “She gets more excited for her teammates to score than herself. She’s incredibly selfless.”

Apuzzo ranks 12th nationally in draws per game and her counterpart, Keri McCarthy, ranks 10th. McCarthy’s improvement, along with Carolyn Carerra, has been the focus of Spallina’s team this year.

The one thing that Stony Brook had no control over last year, and that it has at its disposal this season, is the college game’s all-time leading scorer, Courtney Murphy. According to Spallina, more important than goal scoring is the senior leadership she brings to the team.

“Seniors – This time of year it’s all about them and how desperate they are,” he said. “A senior has a different approach to business. In the last couple weeks, the focus and the urgency that the end is almost near. We’re hopefully three games away. Every game could be the last one.”

Two teams featuring loads of seniors, talented scoring and dynamic defenses, Saturday’s game is sure to be a classic, one that would have been worthy of a championship game appearance.