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In its first two matchups of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, No. 1 seed Syracuse steamrolled its opponent. First, a nine-goal victory over No. 9 seed Louisville Wednesday morning. Then, in the semifinals against No. 5 seed Virginia, an 8-0 first quarter quickly took care of business, leading to a 19-4 win.

SU’s two victories in Charlotte, North Carolina, advanced it to Championship Sunday for the first time under third-year head coach Kayla Treanor. Later Friday evening, No. 3 seed Boston College defeated No. 2 seed Notre Dame 9-7, creating a rematch between SU and BC just 10 days after a back-and-forth affair that the Orange lost in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

This time in the ACC title game, Syracuse jumped out to a quick start with a 5-1 lead but a 22-minute scoring drought from the second to fourth quarter plagued it. The Orange were shut out in a quarter for the first time in 2024 and had to play catchup in the final frame. BC pulled away with a five-goal fourth quarter, dashing Syracuse’s chances of an ACC Championship.

Here are some observations from No. 1 seed Syracuse’s (14-5, 8-1 ACC) 15-8 loss to No. 3 seed Boston College (16-3, 7-2 ACC) in the ACC Tournament title game:

Defending the Emmas

In the two sides’ last matchup on April 18, Emma Tyrrell was face-guarded repeatedly by Tewaaraton nominee Sydney Scales. Scales limited her to just one goal and one assist. Against Notre Dame in the ACC semifinals, BC elected to use Lizzie O’Neill to lock up ND’s leading scorer Jackie Wolak. Wolak was held to three points by O’Neill.

But in this rendition of Syracuse versus Boston College, BC put multiple defenders on Tyrrell to face-guard her. Sophomore midfielder Shea Baker started the game on Tyrrell. On more possessions throughout the game, Scales was back on Tyrrell while Baker switched to Emma Ward.

Tyrrell was limited, but it opened up the rest of SU’s attack in the early going. Olivia Adamson scored twice in the opening frame. Savannah Sweitzer scored one and assisted on another as attention often shifted to where Tyrrell was on the field.

Despite zero points from Tyrrell in the first quarter, Syracuse scored five goals to take a 5-3 lead. Tyrrell finished with two points after scoring 11 combined goals through SU’s first two ACC Tournament games. The attention she garnered from BC’s defense opened up the SU offense early, but the Eagles adjusted and held SU out of the net for 22 minutes from the second to the fourth quarter.

After combining for 19 points in their first two games of the ACC tournament, Tyrrell and Ward combined for just four.

Battle in the circle

Entering the title game, Kate Mashewske was on a tear, winning 15 draw controls against Louisville and 16 versus Virginia. Though BC’s unit was also riding high. Still, Syracuse had an advantage on the draw, ranking fifth compared to BC’s No. 13, according to Lacrosse Reference.

The Eagles won 20-5 in the draw control circle against Duke then 11-9 versus Notre Dame. Through the early stretch of its title game bout versus SU, BC’s unit led by Ryan Smith kept Mashewske in check, winning three of the first five.

But then Mashewske found her stride. With Mashewske in the circle and Natalie Smith and Katie Goodale on the wings, the unit went on a run of nine straight draw wins from the middle of the first quarter to the middle of the second. The added possessions didn’t result in increased offense because BC dominated the ground ball battle but still, it gave Syracuse a clear advantage.

The Eagles attempted to switch specialists in the circle to thwart Mashewske by going to Abbey Herod. It worked to end the first half as Herod won the final two draws to help BC knot the game 7-7 at the break. The game ended with Mashewske winning 12 total and Syracuse going 18-of-27 overall. But SU struggled to capitalize.

BC’s transition offense

While early in the contest, Syracuse’s zone defense got set and held Boston College’s attack to one goal in the first 13 minutes of play, the Eagles began to go quickly, breaking through for six goals in the final 17 minutes of the first half.

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

Following two quick goals to end the first quarter, BC used the transition game early in the second quarter to climb back from a 5-1 deficit. Kayla Martello sprinted through the middle of the field with just three SU defenders in front of goalie Delaney Sweitzer. Martello drew Kaci Benoit and quickly fed Emma LoPinto, who dished to McKenna Davis for a score.

Boston College used its transition offense again early in the second half. The Eagles moved the ball through the field and Rachel Clark fired a shot but Delaney made the stop.

Minutes later, Martello took a pass from Davis on a transition run and beat Delaney. After not leading for the entire first half, BC took its first lead of the game on Martello’s third goal. Another goal by Belle Smith capped a 4-0 run that extended the lead to 9-7. While BC’s attack got going, SU’s offense couldn’t score, letting BC pull away to end the third quarter.

4th quarter push quickly stopped

Syracuse was reeling. Entering the fourth quarter, it hadn’t scored a goal in 20 minutes and was struggling to even get shots on target. Trailing by three, it looked like SU’s ACC championship dreams were all but dashed.

Yet SU didn’t go away quietly. Ward backed down Scales and beat Dolce to bring SU within two.

After a draw win, Syracuse worked the ball around and earned a free-position chance for Tyrrell. Tyrrell was fouled multiple times, but eventually got a shot off and missed. SU gained the possession back on a backup and worked the ball around. But still, it couldn’t break through and caused a shot clock violation.

Then, Martello put the game away with two straight goals. Her fifth and sixth goals of the game extended the Boston College lead to four as SU continued to fail offensively. The Eagles finished the game on a five-goal run, clinching their second straight ACC Tournament title.

Published on April 28, 2024 at 2:50 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky