The Eagles' season came to a close on Friday night with a loss to the Wildcats.
The No. 2 Boston College Eagles (19-3) women's lacrosse team's season came to a close in the NCAA Tournament semifinals with a 12-11 loss to the No. 3 Northwestern Wildcats at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on Friday night.
After the game, head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein along with Shea Baker and McKenna Davis spoke to the media about the team's performance.
Below is a transcript of what they said.
ACACIA WALKER-WEINSTEIN: I told the girls in the room how proud I was of them. You wouldn't know it from the outside, but the team had come a really long way, and I'm proud of the standard that they held, the leaders that they became, and they are leaving BC lacrosse in a great place for us to be proud of. Not the ending that we wanted, but I'm so very proud of our team and all of the leaders, and the freshmen who got experience on such a big stage, and hopefully, we can take that into next year.
Q. No mic.
McKENNA DAVIS: Being in Boston, it's so great, and this fan base that we have, and all our families were able to come, and starting in Boston and ending in Boston, it's great. I'm really grateful that we were able to be here.
Q. No mic.
SHEA BAKER: Every girl on this team fought and scrapped every day, day-in and day-out. And I wish we could have closed the deal for our seniors, but being under these lights in front of our families with such unbelievable girls on our sideline is something to be grateful for and proud of. Not the outcome we wanted, but I'm proud of everybody on this team.
Q. Coach referenced the freshmen and kind of them taking over as stewards of the program. What do you hope you've passed along to the younger players?
McKENNA DAVIS: My sister being a freshman, it was a really big year for me (fighting tears) and all those freshmen are like my little sisters. I'm hoping this experience gave them something to learn from, and it was a win that I couldn't give to them, and it was everything I wanted for my sister and the freshmen because I love them so much and they work so hard. I'm proud of them for making it here, and I'm hoping they will learn from it, and they will be here next year, I hope.
Q. You've talked about the fight of this team, and obviously, sloppy game today with the rain. You guys had 21 ground balls 14 caused turnovers. What do you think it says about the heart and will of the team even in a game with these poor conditions, you guys were able to win so many of the 50/50 plays?
SHEA BAKER: That's who we are. We've been working on those stats all year. It's not pretty when we win those hustle plays. That's BC lacrosse.
ACACIA WALKER-WEINSTEIN: I think it takes so much more work than anybody knows to be able to come out on top with stats like that. It's the most miserable thing to practice ground balls, and you know, those hustle stats, but the team is willing to work hard in those miserable moments and those miserable drills handling pressure. The only reason why I say that is, I just think it's so much harder than anyone knows. Only the girls really know how hard they have worked to be able to come out on top with some of those stats. But it's gotten us to this point.
Q. You talk about the freshmen that made a big impact, but your graduate transfers, what can you say about them?
ACACIA WALKER-WEINSTEIN: Those girls are winners, our whole senior class, including those guys have come really far this season. You know, we had transfers. We had born and bred like McKenna and between all of them, they became a really spectacular leadership group, and it took a lot of work because it was -- a lot of people from a lot of different directions, but they really came together and carried this team all the way here. I'm really proud of them.
Q. There were a shade over 10,000 fans today, most since 2002 for a women's semi-final. Over the course of this eight-year program that your program has had, what part would you like to think Boston College played in the growth and getting to that type of number?
ACACIA WALKER-WEINSTEIN: I think that our program and a lot of programs contribute to that. I think that's something that I'm really proud of. I think the girls in our program play the right way. They play unselfishly. They play really gritty. They play really tough, and I think they have captured the hearts of a lot of young lacrosse players. I think that's a tribute to the kind of people that we have in our program. Playing unselfishly is not always easy when the sport is growing, and there's a lot of limelight and a lot of social media. But our girls have been true to our standard to be unselfish. And I think because of that, the game is electric and the game is fun to watch, and I think we've captured a lot of fans.
Q. When the lead is slipping away like that in the fourth, what's the message you have for your girls to contain that?
ACACIA WALKER-WEINSTEIN: We knew that Northwestern was going to fight. I mean, Kelly is the best out there, and we just had to adjust minute by minute, and I think we did. We did a great job adjusting. We just didn't make enough plays. Unfortunately, we couldn't slow that momentum. But they are a tough team to stop. I think we just needed to disrupt a little bit of momentum there in the third, fourth, beginning of the fourth quarter, and we didn't do that enough.
Q. We talk a lot about Shea, and she did it again today. She's the reason you guys were in it late. You never like to lose, but knowing you have her coming back for another year, how important is that just for going forward with the program?
ACACIA WALKER-WEINSTEIN: Yeah, I haven't thought about that quite yet, but it is nice to know we have her. I'm just really proud of her performance tonight. She carried us like she has all year. She's the greatest goalie that I've ever seen. The last time I saw someone play like her, it was Devin Wells and I'm just really proud. I think she's created a legacy for herself and a standard of hard work that I hope will carry through our program.
Q. Obviously, if it were to be a win today, it would have been the eighth straight National Championship appearance for BC. Besides that point, just looking back on that run that you've had, what does it say about the program and you as a head coach?
ACACIA WALKER-WEINSTEIN: You know, I think to have the success, really speaks to the culture that trickles down year-to-year, which I give my coaching staff so much credit. Having Sam year after year, and Jen year after year, and Callahan stick around and having those guys stay by my side has allowed us to continue to work on the culture. But also, it allows for consistency when we are coaching; that the girls know exactly what they are going to get, and I think we have been able to help sort of contain the culture. I hope that we always can because culture is everything at BC.
Q. Seven different goal scorers -- can you talk about that?
ACACIA WALKER-WEINSTEIN: I think she had eight points, right? She's an incredible playmaker, but all those girls -- we were ready for all of them. We know better than to just focus on one person. But you know, they just wound up making a few more plays than we did, and that's the way it goes. You've got to play better -- don't quote me on that. That's terrible. Just, we didn't make as many plays as we should have.