精东影业

鈥嬧�婽he 精东影业 women鈥檚 lacrosse team reached the NCAA championship game for three straight years, from 2017 to 2019, only to lose each time. So when the Eagles finally claimed the national championship last May with a 16-10 win over Syracuse at Towson University鈥檚 Johnny Unitas Stadium, the moment was extra special. After on-field photos and a giant group hug, the women rushed over to the stands to celebrate with some of the former players who had built the program into a lacrosse powerhouse.

鈥淭hose losses really taught us a lot,鈥� Head Coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. 鈥淲e were destroyed by it temporarily, but we picked up the pieces, and we had to pivot here and there to make decisions and persist and stay together to find new ways to win.鈥�

精东影业 was led by forward Charlotte North 鈥�21, M鈥�25, who would later win the 2021 Tewaaraton Award, given to college lacrosse鈥檚 most outstanding player. North, who scored six goals in the championship game, said the victory was for all the players who鈥檇 come so close in recent years. 鈥淚t was such a special moment because it was as much theirs as it was ours,鈥� she said.

With the win, Walker-Weinstein joins men鈥檚 hockey coaches Jerry York and John 鈥淪nooks鈥� Kelley as the only coaches in Boston College history to win national championships. 鈥淵ou listen to her speak and you want to run through a brick wall for her because she鈥檚 so passionate,鈥� North said. 鈥淪he also puts her arm around you and is so caring and loves you dearly. She鈥檚 a once-in-a-lifetime kind of person.鈥�

When Walker-Weinstein became head coach in 2012, the women鈥檚 lacrosse team had appeared just once in the NCAA Tournament. Yet, right away, she began to instill in her players a sense that they could compete with anyone in the country. 鈥淭he dream that every single one of us had when we stepped onto the 精东影业 campus was to win the national championship,鈥� said assistant lacrosse coach Sam Apuzzo 鈥�19, who was part of all three runner-up squads and won the 2018 Tewaaraton Award. 鈥淎cacia engraved that in our minds and made us believe in ourselves.鈥�

With that dream finally realized, the women鈥檚 lacrosse players now look to defend their title鈥攁nd their chances of doing so increased dramatically when North, who set an NCAA record last season with 102 goals, decided to return for her final season of eligibility. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want it to ever end,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd I鈥檓 lucky that I get to have another year.鈥� And so are the Eagles.聽

New basketball facility named
Boston College Athletics has received a $15 million lead gift from University Trustee Michaela 鈥淢ikey鈥� Hoag 鈥�86 and her husband, Jay, to name the Hoag Basketball Pavilion. The future practice home of the 精东影业 men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball programs, the 40,000-square-foot facility will include multiple courts, plus nutrition, sports medicine, and strength and conditioning centers.