Boston College lacrosse came into Syracuse looking to continue its hot start to the season, having won its first two games in commanding fashion. The game was the first of the season for No. 5 Syracuse, who made it to the NCAA semifinals last year before being eliminated by Maryland. The No. 17 Eagles came into this game with at least 18 goals in each of their last two games, but today they were on the receiving end of an offensive explosion in an 18-8 loss.
BC (2-1) started the scoring early when Mary Kate O’Neill put one past Syracuse (1-0) goalie Asa Goldstock just over two minutes into the game. Shortly after, Sam Apuzzo scored her fifth goal of the season to give the Eagles an early 2-0 lead. But this would be the Eagles’ final time with the lead all game. Two minutes after Apuzzo’s goal, Syracuse midfielder Mary Rahal scored her first goal of the season to get the Orange on the scoreboard. Syracuse then ran away with it, adding eight more goals over the next nine minutes. Rahal, Riley Donahue, and Emily Hawryschuk each scored two goals in this stretch, as the Orange took an 8-2 lead.
Shortly after, Kaileen Hart scored for BC to stop Syracuse’s run. Hart scored another goal minutes later to give the Eagles more hope as the first period wound down. Tess Chandler and Apuzzo then each scored their sixth goals of the season within 31 seconds of each other. But Syracuse halted BC’s momentum when Devon Parker scored with 18 seconds left in the first period, giving the Orange a 9-6 lead halfway through the game.
Any hopes of a comeback were extinguished early in the second period, as Syracuse went on another scoring run. The Orange added six goals in the first half of the period, including hat-trick goals for Rahal, Donahue, and Hawryschuk. The Eagles got back on the scoreboard when senior Kate Weeks scored her 14th goal of the season. Weeks had been off to a very hot start this season, with 13 goals and an assist in the first two games, but she was limited to only one goal against Syracuse.
Weeks’ goal still prevented the Eagles from getting any momentum, as Hawryschuk answered with her fourth of the game to put Syracuse up 16-7. Although the Eagles managed to get one more goal—the second of the game for Chandler—the Orange scored two more to seal the 18-8 win. The final goal of the game came from Donahue, who finished with four goals and three assists, the most points for any player in the game. Apuzzo led BC with five points, and she now leads all BC players in points this season with 18 in three games. Apuzzo, Chandler and Hart each finished with two goals for the Eagles.
The Eagles were only outshot 30-26, but Goldstock played very well for the Orange, managing 10 saves in the first start of her NCAA career. BC goalie Zoe Ochoa struggled, finishing the game with a .250 save percentage, which is much lower than in her other performances this season. Lauren Daly, who came in for Ochoa, also finished with a .250 save percentage.
The Eagles had their lowest shot total of the season by 11 shots today, and they also allowed more shots than in any other game this season. This game was an early challenge for this Eagles’ team, giving them an opportunity to play against a top five team. The Eagles will need work on playing well even against highly-ranked teams like Syracuse if they want to return to the NCAA tournament and have a chance at advancing.
Featured Image by Taylor Perison / Heights Staff
