Defense, Homecoming Carry Boston College Past Yale

STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Welcome home, Kylee Colbert.

The junior, who played her high school lacrosse at North Shore (N.Y.), flourished on the north shore of Suffolk County, scoring a career-high six goals to lead Boston College to a 10-4 win over Yale in an NCAA tournament first-round game at Stony Brook’s LaValle Stadium Friday.

Boston College (10-7) advances to the second round to meet No. 5 Stony Brook Sunday at noon. It’s a rematch of last year’s second-round game, won by the Eagles, 10-7.

“I think it’s such a special experience and it’s even more special to do it with my teammates alongside me,” Colbert said. “I’m just so grateful. The second I stepped back foot here I was just in awe the whole time.”

Kylee’s sister Casey also enjoyed her return to LaValle Stadium, which she called home for four seasons before transferring to Boston College this season. She had a hat trick of assists, all setting up her sibling.

“I just think it’s so awesome being back on Long Island, especially,” Kylee Colbert said. “It’s like us playing in the backyard again. It’s just so great.”

A season of transition for Boston College following the graduation of 71.4 percent of last year’s scoring led to uncharacteristic regular-season struggles that included three straight losses to open the season and a 14-7 defeat to Stanford in the opening round of the ACC tournament entering the NCAA tournament.

But after 17 days between games, the Eagles found their groove back in the Big Dance on Friday.

Leading 3-2 after the first quarter, Boston College scored five straight goals in the second quarter, taking an 8-2 lead on a free position finish by Kylee Colbert, her fourth goal of the first half, with 4:58 remaining in the first half.

“It sort of looked like everything was coming easy for her,” BC head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. “It’s like a state of flow you can only get if you work really hard. Today was an accumulation of a very hard-working week.”

On goals by Nell Ducey late in the second quarter, and Whitney Froeb early in the third quarter, Yale (13-5) cut its deficit to 8-4.

The Bulldogs had a golden chance to further slice into their deficit with a two-minute power play following a yellow card on BC’s Caroline Chisholm early in the fourth quarter.

But Shea Dolce made three critical saves to kill the penalty before Casey Colbert found Kylee Colbert attacking the crease, extending the Eagles’ lead to 9-4 with 9:38 left in the fourth quarter. Kylee Colbert added a sixth goal with 3:30 left to seal the win.

“Huge missed opportunity, one that we’ll be thinking about for a very long time until we get the opportunity to play again next year,” Yale head coach Erica Bamford said. “That’s not going to be lost on us. That will stick with us. The only thing we can do now is move forward and make sure that we remember this moment and remember that that wasn’t our proudest moment.”

Dolce finished with nine saves in the game.

‘Defensively, our goal is always just get the offense the ball. We don’t care if we’re a man down, we don’t care if we’re even,” Dolce said. “It was really just about bringing a new level of intensity for those two minutes and playing with all we got.”

“It’s the story of her career. She makes the saves she needs to, and then she makes two or three extra per game that no one else can ever make,” added Walker-Weinstein. “I think that showed in that stretch. Having back-to-back saves on a power play is pretty crazy.”

It is the second straight year Boston College defeated Yale in the NCAA tournament, an 18-11 win in last year’s quarterfinals booked an eighth straight Final Four appearance. And now for a second straight year, the Eagles will take on the Seawolves.

“It’s going to be great,” Walker-Weinstein said. “It’s going to be a dogfight. That’s why we play the sport, to play against fierce competitors like those girls.”

Stony Brook Cruises Over Stonehill

Stony Brook is no stranger to the NCAA tournament, making a 13th straight appearance. But it is a brand-new experience for Mirabella Altebrando.

The freshman from nearby Miler Place matched her career-high with three goals, all of which came in the first half, and added a pair of assists, to help lead the fifth-seeded Seawolves to a 19-5 win over Stonehill.

Stony Brook (18-2) wasted no time, racing out to a 10-0 lead, resulting in second-quarter running time, to extend its NCAA-best winning streak to 14 consecutive games.

Jeilinne Bonilla matched her season-high with four goals, Haydin Eisfeld and Julia Fusco, who also had four ground balls and three caused turnovers, both netted hat-tricks.

Keira Martin had two goals and four assists, and Katie Walsh added two goals and three assists for Stony Brook, which advances out of the first round for the 11th time in as many tries.

It was also the first NCAA Division I tournament appearance for Stonehill, which ended its season at 13-7.

Sophia Gouveia scored the Skyhawks first Division I NCAA tournament goal, ending Stony Brook’s game-opening 10-0 run. Taylor Green led Stonehill with three goals, while Nina Tremonte was tremendous in goal, making 11 saves.