On Friday evening, the Boston College women’s lacrosse team took on the Northwestern Wildcats at Gillette Stadium for the 2025 Final Four national semifinal. These two teams have formed a heated rivalry over the past few seasons, and this game was no exception, with a heated battle coming down to the final minutes of play. Despite an early lead for the Eagles, NU rallied back from a five-goal deficit and claimed the win over BC, 12-11.
The beginning of the game was a back-and-forth affair, with Northwestern jumping out to an early 4-1 lead, but BC quickly following up with a scoring streak of their own to tie the game at 5-5 in the opening minutes of the second quarter. As expected, BC’s Rachel Clark was a dominant force early on, scoring three of those first five goals, two unassisted. But then thing started to settle down, with neither team really able to find a rhythm on offense. A penalty advantage and then a quick fire down the field by Mallory Hasselbeck helped BC break the tension, but a last second NU goal brought things to a one-goal game by halftime.
Boston College really took command of the third quarter. Northwestern was winning draw controls and earning free position attempts, but Shea Dolce and the BC defense stood strong for an extended period, refusing to give up a goal. Then within two minutes of play, BC scored a quick three goals and it seemed like they were well-positioned to keep on rolling to another national championship appearance.
But Northwestern wouldn’t be silenced as they dominated a fourth quarter for the ages. Down 11-6, the Wildcats strung together six unanswered goals in the final period, claiming a 12-11 lead with just over 5 minutes left that they would ride out to the end of the game. BC couldn’t win a draw control to save their lives, getting out-drawn 6-1 in the period and failing to even score once. Mia Mascone put a shot on net in the final seconds, but NU goalie Delaney Sweitzer saved it and clinched the Wildcat victory.
Boston College’s season is over, and their streak of seven-straight national title game appearances has been broken. NU and UNC will play for the 2025 title on Sunday at noon in Gillette Stadium.