Holding the reigning national champions to a season-low scoring effort was not enough for the No. 18/20 Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team to live another day.
After a spirited opening round win, the unseeded Seawolves (16-5, 8-0 CAA) advanced to play the second-seeded, No. 2 Boston College Eagles (18-2, 8-1 ACC) in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. On Sunday in Chestnut Hill, Mass., Stony Brook hung tight after a nightmarish start but ultimately never led in a 10-7 loss, concluding its year.
The opening period went as bad as it likely could have for the Seawolves. With 11:06 left in the frame and goals yet to materialize, goalkeeper Natalia Altebrando — in possession of the ball — found herself in no man’s land: 25 yards from her cage and with no open teammates to pass to. By taking four seconds to release the rock, she allowed Boston College attacker Emma LoPinto to strip her and score into the open net.
The score seemingly broke down Stony Brook’s defense, who got off to a great start in the early ongoings of this do-or-die matchup. Facing the best offense in the nation, the Seawolves endline caused consecutive turnovers on the Eagles’ first two attacking sets before Altebrando’s miscue.
After falling behind, Stony Brook conceded four goals in Boston College’s next five possessions. On the other end, the Seawolves’ attack could not get anything going. While Stony Brook ranked sixth in scoring defense coming into the day, the Eagles had them beat, placing second in the nation. Boston College demonstrated its prowess in that department in the first quarter.
Despite splitting the six draws of the period, the Seawolves only attempted a pair of shots throughout the opening 15 minutes, with just one challenging Boston College goalkeeper Shea Dolce — widely considered the best netminder in the nation — who stopped it. The lack of attempts were largely due to Stony Brook’s lack of care with the ball. It committed five giveaways in the first frame, with two — including LoPinto’s — directly caused by the hosts.
Following a disastrous start, the Seawolves improved tremendously, and progressively, for the remainder of Sunday’s contest. In the second quarter, each side found the back of the net twice. However, Stony Brook was arguably the better team within the period, outshooting the Eagles 9-7 and winning all four draws. Still, it turned the ball over three times to just a single giveaway from Boston College in the second frame.
Down by five goals coming off the halftime break and with their season on the line, the Seawolves turned it up in the second half. Stony Brook operated with purpose on both ends, reminiscent of the directness it displayed in its first-round matchup. With 2:25 left in the third quarter and each team accounting for one score in the period, attacker Casey Colbert — the Seawolves’ leading facilitator — threaded the needle during a woman-up set, beating four defenders and finding cutting attacker Charlotte Wilmoth.
In a one-on-one against Dolce, Wilmoth bounced a shot past the leaping Eagles shot stopper. Less than two minutes later, Stony Brook struck again, following a caused turnover by All-American defender Avery Hines. This time, it was Friday’s hero — attacker Courtney Maclay — who maneuvered past Boston College midfielder Devon Russell with a quick in-and-out dodge and placed the ball out of Dolce’s predicted reach to cut Stony Brook’s deficit to three at 8-5 with just 41 seconds remaining in the frame.
Kicking off the deciding quarter, Boston College — surging in the circle after the rough second period draw-wise — controlled the period’s opening tie-up. However, Hines stepped up to the plate again, causing her third turnover of the game to that point. The Seawolves capitalized on their defensive superstar’s play; after a relatively long possession, the Eagles’ defense suffered from miscommunication, leaving attacker Haydin Eisfeld open. From the left wing, she was fed by Maclay from X, took seven steps toward the crease and laced a high shot into the top of the net, putting further pressure onto the heavy favourites.
With Stony Brook knocking on the door, Boston College relied on Dolce to push it over the line. Dolce has performed in the clutch several times before, including making one of the greatest saves in women’s lacrosse history in the dying moments of the Eagles’ 2024 title match victory over Northwestern. After Eisfeld’s tally, Boston College turned in four consecutive empty possessions. Nonetheless, on the other end, Dolce made two crucial stops to keep the distance at two. The second save of that sequence was highlight-reel worthy. She denied attacker Riley McDonald with a sprawling stop after the Seawolves’ second-leading scorer had advanced past Boston College midfielder Shea Baker with a nifty dodge.
Dolce’s heroics led to a free-position goal by Boston College attacker Rachel Clark — the nation’s top scorer — to make it 9-6. The goal, and a subsequent yellow card assessed to head coach Joe Spallina who unsuccessfully challenged the score as he thought Clark committed a crease violation in the process, made it extremely difficult for Stony Brook to comeback, considering it being a woman-down for the ensuing two minutes. Midfielder Molly LaForge had a goal negated when the contest was still scoreless for a crease violation.
Maclay did grab another goal after Altebrando stuffed Clark in a different free-position attempt, but the ensuing draw going the Eagles’ way courtesy of Baker was all she wrote. Boston College scored an empty-net goal as the cherry on top and clinched an Elite Eight berth in front of its home fans.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our group,” Spallina said in a postgame press conference. “We played out hearts out. Played against a great team. I thought our players answered the bell. And to be quite frank, we outplayed them for three of the four quarters.”
The Seawolves were outshot 31 (15 shots on goal) to 27 (16 shots on goal) on Sunday.
Stony Brook lost the draw control (9-10) battle but scooped up seven ground balls to the Eagles’ six. It finished even on the turnover differential, with each side committing 11 giveaways.
Wilmoth and Maclay — with two apiece — were the Seawolves’ leading scorers. Colbert dished out a pair of assists to spearhead Stony Brook’s efforts in that department.
Midfielder Isabella Caporuscio — who missed some time in the first half with an upper body injury — was held scoreless by Boston College’s defense, which was only the second time that occured all year. She attempted five shots.
Hines finished with four caused turnovers. Caporuscio, alongside midfielders Olivia Schorr and Braeden Siverson, occupied the circle for the Seawolves with three draw controls each.
Altebrando made five saves for a .357 save percentage, as the final goal of the contest was not charged to her due to its empty-net nature. Conversely, Dolce — who ranks first in the nation in save percentage — posted a .563 mark off nine stops.
Clark led the Eagles with four goals and was trailed by LoPinto, who registered a hat trick.
Boston College will take on the seventh-seeded, No. 5/9 Yale Bulldogs in the Elite Eight. The Bulldogs defeated Syracuse 9-8 in their second round matchup. As for Stony Brook, it will look ahead to a promising future. While Wilmoth, McDonald, Hines, Maclay and LaForge — along with other significant pieces — are graduating, the Seawolves face less roster turnover than they experienced coming into this season. Seven of their starters from Sunday’s affair have eligibility remaining.
