CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A strong second-half was not enough to propel No. 13/12 Stanford toward a comeback victory as No. 2 Boston College earned a hard-fought 16-9 victory over the Cardinal in the ACC Women’s Lacrosse Semifinals on Friday evening.
The No. 2 seed Cardinal had the defending national champions on the ropes in the early going, snatching a 3-2 lead near the end of the opening quarter thanks to Aliya Polisky and Ava Arceri, the latter of whom bookended the Cardinal scoring. Arceri found the back of the net to knot the game 1-1 while Polisky fired home her 58th of the season to answer BC’s second goal of the contest. Arceri then knotted her 50th of the campaign to give Stanford its first lead of the contest with under three minutes to go in the first quarter.
However, BC went on a decisive run, starting with a goal at the death of the first quarter before outscoring the Cardinal 6-1 in the final 15 minutes of the half. Lindsey Devir earned her 25th of the campaign to stop the 4-0 run from the Eagles but the No. 2 seed nabbed three more goals - including two in the final minute to take a 9-4 lead into the half.
Stanford, however, continued to battle, grabbing four of the next six goals to cut into the deficit. Jordyn Case grabbed her 20th of the season to open the second-half scoring while Polsiky slotted home her 59th goal of the campaign. Arceri tallied twice to cut the deficit to three, earning her 51st and 52nd goals of the season.
Unfortunately for the Cardinal, BC earned five of the final six goals of the contest to ride out the 16-9 win.
With her two goals, Polisky now sits three goals from tying the single-season goal-scoring record while Arceri becomes the second Cardinal player to record 50 goals this season. Defensively, Stanford won the draw circle, earning 17 of the 28 total draws while Lucy Pearson earned eight saves on the night.
Stanford now awaits its NCAA Tournament fate as the Cardinal have amassed an impressive 14-5 record and a 7-2 record in conference. Heading into tonight’s contest, Stanford sat inside the top-10 in the RPI, slotting in eighth after its win over Syracuse on Wednesday. The 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship bracket will be announced on May 4 on ESPNU with the first and second rounds slated for May 9-11 at non-predetermined campus sites.