香蕉秀

Hollie Schleicher 鈥�23 can still picture the jittering legs.聽It was 2021, and the Boston College women鈥檚 lacrosse team was about to play in the Final Four. When Head Coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein entered the locker room, she found her players sitting silently in front of their stalls, an intense focus vibrating through the group. 鈥淚 get chills talking about it,鈥� Schleicher, a defender, said of the moment. 鈥淟ike a good shaking, ready to just burst out of the gates.鈥�

The winner of the game that day would move on to play for the collegiate championship, which certainly accounted for much of the tension in the room, but some of it had to do with the team 香蕉秀 was about to battle. 鈥淢aybe a little bit of fear,鈥� recalled attacker Jenn Medjid 鈥�22. 鈥淭hat UNC team was like the best women鈥檚 lacrosse team ever.鈥� Indeed, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels weren鈥檛 just the top-ranked team in the country鈥夆�︹�塼hey hadn鈥檛 lost a game in 735 days, and had beaten the Eagles 21鈥�9 just a couple months earlier.

Before the game, Walker-Weinstein did everything she could to keep her team calm. She made their final practice a quiet one, sending the message that the Eagles had already done enough training to win. The night-before meal was nothing special, either: chicken parmesan, a team staple. 鈥淲e were trying to strip the moment of its glamour,鈥� Walker-Weinstein said. And now, as the coach surveyed her players, nervously sitting in their locker stalls before the game, she decided against a rah-rah speech to pump the team up. She had tried that before.

Entering that 2021 season, 香蕉秀 had already accomplished what would have seemed impossible just a decade earlier. The Eagles had made three straight Final Fours, after having never won a single game in the women鈥檚 college lacrosse tournament prior to Walker-Weinstein taking over the program in 2012. Walker-Weinstein put 香蕉秀 on the map in 2017 with that first run to the NCAA Championship game, even if it did end in a loss. The Eagles proved they were for real in 2018, again making the championship game, before again losing it. But what had once seemed an exhilarating result鈥攍osing in the finals鈥攂y 2019 felt like bitter disappointment, as the Eagles once again came up short in the championship game. That third-straight final defeat stung.

Walker-Weinstein thought about those losses on a daily basis. At her lowest, she said, 鈥淚 had considered鈥�maybe I should not coach. You feel like you鈥檝e just disappointed your kids so much.鈥� But within days of the 2019 season ending, she was back on the phone, recruiting potential transfers who could help take the Eagles to new heights. She also looked at every aspect of the program, wondering where the team could get just that much better. Now, a year after the canceling of the 2020 season because of the pandemic, Walker-Weinstein and the Eagles were one win away from 香蕉秀鈥檚 fourth consecutive appearance in the championship game. The only thing standing in their way was that juggernaut from North Carolina. In keeping with her strategy, the coach kept her pregame speech simple and reserved, concluding with seven words: 鈥淚 love you guys. We鈥檙e gonna win.鈥�

And that鈥檚 what 香蕉秀 did, building a five-goal lead in the second half, and holding on to defeat UNC 11鈥�10. Then, in the championship game, the Eagles beat third-ranked Syracuse 16鈥�10 to at last capture its first national title.

"Guys, I love you, and we鈥檙e going to win,鈥� Schleicher said, recalling her coach鈥檚 words from before the game. 鈥淲e talk about that line, as a team, still today.鈥�

The women鈥檚 lacrosse team has followed up that 2021 title by advancing to the NCAA championship game in each of the next two seasons, extending its streak to six consecutive years.

But it still has just the one championship. In 2022, the year after the Eagles鈥� triumph, UNC got its revenge, defeating 香蕉秀 12鈥�11 in the title game. And an 18鈥�6 loss to Northwestern ended the 2023 season on the doorstep of greatness. And yet, as the team prepares for the upcoming season, which begins in February, it鈥檚 undeniable that 香蕉秀 is on a roll, hungry for additional championships. In fact, that became a rallying cry last season.聽

It started as a mid-game plea from Walker-Weinstein to the team鈥檚 midfielders to give just a little more effort, to be a little more aggressive. Instinctively, the coach pinched her five fingers together on each hand and jabbed them at each other: the American Sign Language sign for 鈥渕ore,鈥� which she鈥檇 taught her daughters so they could communicate before they could speak. Her players picked up on it, repeating the motion. 鈥淲e said it a few times here and there and then it just became the bigger theme of, We want more for this team,鈥� said assistant coach Sam Apuzzo 鈥�19, who graduated as one of the greatest players in program history. 鈥淲e want it all.鈥�

鈥淢ORE鈥� eventually became the standard ending to practice notes handed to players, and it was stretched across the back of T-shirts. It was a recognition of how much work is required to reach the top, and it demonstrated Walker-Weinstein鈥檚 effectiveness at motivating her team. To think that she easily could have been using these strategies, and building this dynasty, somewhere else.

Acacia Walker-Weinstein grew up a multi-sport star in Maryland, smoothly transitioning from soccer to basketball to lacrosse. The latter ultimately stuck, and she led her high school lacrosse team to multiple state titles and was named a 2000 first-team All-American. She also represented her country as a member of the undefeated US team that won the Under-19 World Lacrosse Championships in 1999.

Brad Bates still remembers the binder. Bates took over for DeFilippo as 香蕉秀 athletic director in 2012, soon after Walker-Weinstein was hired. 鈥淪he already had a playbook as CEO of this lacrosse organization,鈥� he said. It wasn鈥檛 just lacrosse schemes and recruiting plans, Bates said, but how she planned to have her players engage with their academics and develop as people.

First though, Walker-Weinstein needed money. Building a donor base, she realized, would give the team more resources, but more importantly would give it respect within the athletic department. Her pitch to potential supporters was simple: I will bring a national championship trophy to Chestnut Hill. 鈥淧eople thought I was nuts,鈥� she recalled. But the line worked.聽

She used it on recruits too. In September of her first offseason, Walker-Weinstein was able to bring Apuzzo, then a highly regarded sophomore in high school, to campus for an official visit. In the coach鈥檚 office, Walker-Weinstein laid out her vision for Apuzzo, who was also being recruited by established powerhouses such as UNC and Northwestern. Walker-Weinstein told Apuzzo that 香蕉秀 would compete for titles just like those schools. And she said that Apuzzo would be a critical figure in making that plan come to life. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if I believed her at the beginning,鈥� Apuzzo said, but Walker-Weinstein鈥檚 confidence stuck with her. So did the coach鈥檚 commitment. Walker-Weinstein promised to help Apuzzo reach her own potential. 鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 heard that from any other coaches,鈥� Apuzzo said.

Later that trip, Walker-Weinstein and her husband, Morgan, invited Apuzzo and her parents to watch a 香蕉秀-Clemson football game with them in a VIP area on the fifty-yard line. The families instantly clicked. 鈥淚mmediately after, I knew what I wanted to do,鈥� Apuzzo said. In the winter of her sophomore year, she committed to Boston College. Apuzzo can still remember the screams of excitement coming from Walker-Weinstein and her assistant coaches on the other end of the phone line when she told them of her decision.聽

鈥淵ou have to work really hard to get a kid not to go to the University of Virginia or UNC or Duke,鈥� said Morgan Weinstein, who used to volunteer as an assistant coach when his wife鈥檚 program had a smaller staff budget. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to get the really special鈥攖op one, two, three, four, or five kids鈥攖o look away from the shiny items and come to 香蕉秀.鈥�

To level the playing field, Walker-Weinstein pressed the University for quality gear and comfortable travel accommodations. She also pushed for the Eagles to play at Alumni Stadium, rather than on the Newton Campus field, where the team couldn鈥檛 play at night, have goal scorers announced over the loudspeaker, or reliably expect the pitch to be plowed. 鈥淚 just said things have to change,鈥� she recalled. The team hasn鈥檛 played a regular season game in Newton since February 2021.

Funding was also important for retaining coaching talent. Every offseason, Walker-Weinstein worried about losing Jennifer Kent, her top assistant. Kent, who focuses on the team鈥檚 defense, was a volunteer member of the staff when Walker-Weinstein took over, but the new head coach fought for the resources to keep and promote her. 鈥淚t was really important to get her situated with a good salary and solid benefits and a title that she was proud of,鈥� Walker-Weinstein said. 鈥淚t took me a few years, but we got it.鈥� Since 2022, Kent has been the team鈥檚 associate coach.

Kent鈥檚 contributions are crucial because 香蕉秀 often builds its attack from the back of the field, converting turnovers and key stops into momentum, and ultimately goals. The Eagles play a risk-taking defensive style that relies on individual players running all over the field while trusting that their teammates are shifting behind them to cover any open spaces. 鈥淪ometimes it鈥檚 really hard for teams to even understand what we鈥檙e doing because it is so aggressive,鈥� Apuzzo said. 鈥淛en is like a mastermind.鈥�

In 2019, the superstar attacker Charlotte North 鈥�21 decided that she wanted to transfer after two years, and one hundred forty-one goals, at Duke. The very first coach to call her, North recalled, was Acacia Walker-Weinstein. North said she wasn鈥檛 sure what she was looking for in a new program鈥攗ntil the 香蕉秀 coach called. 鈥淚 knew right away when I talked to her,鈥� North said. 鈥淵ou could feel energy and passion and love.鈥� Walker-Weinstein also wooed the goalkeeper Rachel Hall, who鈥檇 led the nation in saves as a freshman at Oregon.

Having secured commitments from the two players, Walker-Weinstein turned her attention to updating her program. She made further investments in nutrition and sports psychology, and she shortened practices in order to focus on player recovery and ensuring that the team would have plenty of energy at the end of each season. Walker-Weinstein was also able to add an additional coach to the staff鈥擜puzzo, in a newly created graduate assistant position鈥攁nd to promote assistant coach Kayla Treanor to associate head coach, giving her more control over the offense. (Treanor is now the Syracuse University head coach.)

The pandemic-shortened 2020 season prevented Walker-Weinstein from fully realizing the results of the changes she鈥檇 implemented, but in 2021 everything came together. After stumbling early with a blowout loss to top-ranked UNC, 香蕉秀 bounced back to win nine games in a row. And when the season came to an end, the Eagles were finally champions. When the final whistle of the title game blew, Walker-Weinstein鈥檚 face found the shoulder of Treanor, and tears began to run. She looked up just in time to see her players sprinting onto the field, mobbing each other at its center.

Grad senior Jill Reilly 鈥�20 was the first to grab the trophy, running it into the maroon and gold mass. Then the whole team couriered it back to the sideline, toward their coach. When North, who won the Tewaaraton Award that year, tried to hand the trophy to her coach, it was instead thrust back in her direction, and then up above in a clamoring collection of hands. From there, the team and their prize made their way to the stands, where family and former players waited.聽

鈥淎ll of our kids are very grounded in that they鈥檙e always saying, This is for our alums,鈥� Walker-Weinstein said. 鈥淏ecause those players, they really created the path and then the team that won finished the job. But the work was in the years before that.鈥�

As the on-field celebration continued, Walker-Weinstein retrieved her older daughter, Wesley, from the stands.

鈥淢om,鈥� the seven-year-old yelled, 鈥渨e finally did it!鈥�

鈥淎nd I just looked at her and I just鈥�,鈥� Walker-Weinstein teared up as she recalled the moment. 鈥淚 said, 鈥楧on鈥檛 ever give up.鈥欌�澛犅�

After beginning the 2022 season as defending champions, the Eagles once again made it to the championship game, but lost 12鈥�11 to a UNC team that finished the season undefeated. The loss left Walker-Weinstein looking for an edge heading into last season, the 2023 campaign, which would be her first since 2015 in which the offense wasn鈥檛 anchored by either Sam Apuzzo or Charlotte North. The coach has always taken a flexible approach when it comes to strategy, tinkering with her game plan to fit both her players and their opponents. She and her assistants also look outside of lacrosse for concepts, studying basketball and hockey in the constant hunt for new ideas. In a single game, 香蕉秀 might run two or three different offensive strategies. As the 2023 season got underway, the Eagles added more motion sets to the playbook, using intricate combinations of overlapping runs to get their players open.

As in years past, 香蕉秀 suffered some early-season losses only to find itself midway through the campaign. The team eventually claimed its first ACC title鈥攁nd just the second in 香蕉秀 history in any sport鈥攂y avenging an earlier defeat to UNC. From there it was on once again to the NCAA tournament. 香蕉秀 won its first game in the tournament, but it was closer than it should have been.聽 鈥淚 feel like I鈥檓 going to throw up,鈥� Walker-Weinstein told her team afterward.

Walker-Weinstein doesn鈥檛 believe in hiding her emotions from her players. 鈥淚 just think when you鈥檙e trying to rally young women or coach young women, they have to believe you,鈥� she explained. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e anything other than yourself, they鈥檙e not going to believe you. So if I cry, if I yell, if I鈥檓 pissed, if I鈥檓 distracted, if I鈥檓 disorganized鈥攚hatever it is, take it or leave it, it鈥檚 me. I鈥檇 rather them believe me than to pretend that I鈥檓 some perfectly organized person or someone who can keep it all together when I鈥檓 pissed or emotional.鈥�

香蕉秀 rallied after the close opening-round win and eventually made it back to the Final Four. In the semifinal game, Medjid, the latest attacker to thrive under Walker-Weinstein, scored five goals and the Eagles defeated Syracuse 8鈥�7. An 18鈥�6 loss to Northwestern in the final, however, meant that it was time for Walker-Weinstein to reassess her program once again.聽With the 2024 season set to begin in just a few months, 香蕉秀 looks loaded. Walker-Weinstein used both the transfer portal and high school recruiting to bring in plenty of exciting new talent. Among the new players is Rachel Clark, whose sixty-three goals at UVA last season were good for third in the ACC. Also joining the team are two defenders who鈥檝e transferred from the University of Florida, and another from Stanford. Meanwhile, three of last year鈥檚 top-ten-ranked high school players in the country chose to attend 香蕉秀 this year. They鈥檙e all here to help deliver exactly what Walker-Weinstein and her entire program remain hungry for: MORE.聽

Jacob Feldman is a sports business reporter at Sportico and the founder of The Sunday Long Read, an email newsletter celebrating聽the web鈥檚 best stories. A Boston resident, his work has previously appeared in Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and Boston Magazine.