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Facing No. 3 seed Boston College — the second-most efficient defense in the country — No. 1 seed Syracuse’s offense showed no signs of slowing down following two prolific scoring performances to begin the tournament.

Through the first 11 minutes of the game, SU led 5-1 with Olivia Adamson, Natalie Smith, Savannah Sweitzer and Emma Ward each finding the back of the net.

To stay afloat amid its slow start, Boston College scored three of its first four goals in transition, helping tie the game 7-7 at halftime. When the Eagles took their first lead in the third quarter, they again utilized their transition offense. From there, the Orange’s offense was silenced while BC’s — the No. 1 team in offensive efficiency — percolated. No. 3 Boston College (16-3, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) never relinquished its lead, propelling it to win its second straight ACC Tournament in a dominant 15-8 win over No. 4 Syracuse (14-5, 8-1 ACC).

While Boston College struggled as the Orange surged early, its transition offense thrived. After Smith sniped the upper-left corner for the game’s first goal, Emma Muchnick looked to extend SU’s lead to 2-0. Though BC goalie Shea Dolce corralled the shot and quickly passed to defender Becky Browndorf.

Browndorf raced upfield before hitting midfielder Belle Smith in stride at midfield. Belle advanced the ball beyond the 30-meter line after evading SU defender Coco Vandiver before connecting with Emma LoPinto at X. LoPinto was originally guarded by Bianca Chevarie but was met by a triple team as she neared the cage.

The Orange couldn’t set their zone up quickly enough, causing a miscommunication as Vandiver and Katie Goodale both collapsed on LoPinto. As a result, Mckenna Davis was left open in front of the goal. One-on-one with SU goalie Delaney Sweitzer, she buried her shot to knot the game 1-1.

Boston College’s attack celebrates following a goal. After falling behind 5-1, the Eagles closed the game scoring 14 of the final 17 goals. Courtesy of the Atlantic Coast Conference

Following a 4-0 run from Syracuse, Boston College stole momentum to close the first quarter. A free-position goal from Rachel Clark cut BC’s deficit to 5-2 at the 1:43 mark of the opening frame, and SU looked to answer back after Kate Mashewske won one of her game-high 12 draw controls.

The Orange passed the ball around BC’s defense, killing most of the time remaining in the opening quarter. With 19 seconds left, Emma Tyrrell unleashed a shot but it was deflected by Dolce, one of her 10 saves. Browndorf scrambled to pick up the ground ball and quickly advanced it to Lydia Colasante.

Uncontested, Colasante took the ball from Boston College’s restraining line across Syracuse’s. With time running down, she fed Clark just outside the 12-meter. Clark immediately found LoPinto who cut in front of the cage. With Chevarie on her back and Delaney in net, LoPinto calmly faked a shot high. Both Chevarie and Delaney bit the fake, allowing LoPinto to score low with four seconds left in the quarter.

Had Tyrrell capitalized on the other end or waited a few seconds later to shoot, the Orange could have commanded a three or four-goal lead heading into the second quarter. Instead, the Eagles used transition play to cut their deficit to two.

“We’re trying to go before they’re set up and organized defensively,” BC head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein told ACC Network after the first quarter.

To get within one, Boston College again shredded Syracuse in transition. After Adamson fired an errant pass over Tyrrell’s stick, BC’s Sydney Scales corralled one of her game-high five ground balls. She instantly dished to Clark, who dashed down the middle of the field before giving the ball to Ali Hall inside the 12-meter.

Chevarie left her assignment to mark Hall. As a result, LoPinto was left open on the left side of the crease. As LoPinto received a pass from Hall, Goodale slid across the crease to prevent a shot. While she didn’t let LoPinto have a one-on-one opportunity with Delaney, it left Davis open on the right side of the crease. Upon receiving a cross-crease pass, Davis immediately fired, scoring the Eagles’ third straight goal.

Great start to the second with the Mckenna goal!!!

Eagles trail by one

📺 @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/ivPZWvFALF

— BC Women's Lacrosse (@BCwlax) April 28, 2024

Following a nearly five-minute stalemate, Boston College scored its fourth unanswered goal, tying the score 5-5 at the 8:45 mark of the second quarter. Despite Syracuse regaining a 7-5 lead three minutes later, Boston College knotted the game at 7-7 with two goals in the final two minutes of the first half.

After six minutes of back-and-forth empty possessions to begin the second half, BC’s transition offense broke the stalemate.

Savannah failed to make a move at the top of the 12-meter to shake midfielder Lizzie O’Neill, and Hunter Roman applied additional pressure to force a turnover. As she did in the second quarter, Scales collected the ground ball and ignited Boston College’s attack. This time, though, she sprinted coast-to-coast from BC’s 12-meter to SU’s.

As she approached the 8-meter, Scales dished to Davis on the right side of the crease before an extra pass to Kayla Martello — who scored four of her game-high six goals in the second half — scored to give BC its first lead of the game at the 8:44 mark of the third quarter.

From there, the Eagles never looked back while Syracuse couldn’t muster anything offensively. In the 22 minutes SU didn’t score from the end of the second quarter to the beginning of the fourth quarter, BC flipped its 7-5 deficit into a 10-7 lead.

Though Ward notched her second goal to bring the Orange back within two at the start of the fourth quarter, BC was firmly in the driver’s seat. Back-to-back goals from Martello doubled the Eagles’ lead while Cassidy Weeks, LoPinto and Molly Driscoll delivered knockout punches to cap off a dominant Boston College second half.

“They played with their heart and their soul and we asked them to do that. Diving after plays, it’s going to take all of that to beat Syracuse,” Walker-Weinstein told ACC Network postgame.

Published on April 29, 2024 at 3:16 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon