Friday’s road trip over to Boston College wasn’t exactly the “revenge” game the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team had hoped for. The battle was an up and down affair that came down to the wire with a 15-13 BC win.
This defeat was very similar to the ones against both top-ranked North Carolina and now second-ranked Northwestern. It came down to the inches. The moments and situations that could’ve turned an “L” into a “W” on the regular-season schedule.
The first thing that jumps off the stat sheet is the foul count for the Cuse. The Orange heard the whistle sound against them nearly 30 times with four yellow cards distributed. To fully understand how this changed the game, let’s first look at the difference in violations. The Eagles picked up only 15 fouls with two yellow cards, which basically means SU doubled BC in foul trouble. That meant Boston College had a lot of extra possession time and favorable shot opportunities. This takes us to the free position opportunities allowed by the Orange. BC earned 13 eight-meter chances and converted on four. Against any other team, you may be able to get away with this, but not when the nation’s leader in free position goals per game is sporting the maroon and gold. Charlotte North, last season’s Tewaarton award winner and is one of the favorites to win the trophy again. The grad student’s specialty is winding up and zipping the ball past the goalie from close range. Two of North’s three scores came by way of the free position and jumped above her average of about one a game.
This area was similar to the loss at Northwestern. The game-winning goal in overtime came off of a free position shot from Lauren Gilbert, which was set up because of poor defensive execution and the resulting three-seconds call.
Although it was similar to the loss to the Wildcats, the difference here is that the Orange didn’t lose this game. The Eagles just won it. Syracuse cleaned its act up in the fourth quarter and stormed back within one at one goal and limited the fouls to just three goals with most coming in the final minute to stop the clock. At that point, it was too late because BC had already won too many battles for the Cuse to win the war.
That’s how this game is comparative to the UNC loss. In that matchup, SU went punch for punch with the number one team in the nation but fizzled out when it mattered. The problem there was a lack of firepower on offense to keep up with Jamie Ortega and high-power offense at the helm of the Tar Heels squad. That’s kind of what happened here. It was back and forth through the first with a bunch of whistles going against Syracuse. Then, in the second and third, the Eagles capitalized on all of the fouls and silenced the Orange. Finally, just as SU starts to show life again, a star emerged. This time it was sophomore Belle Smith.
It’s a tough way to end the regular season for the Orange, but now it’s time for the ACC Tournament. The loss pushed the Cuse back to the fourth seed and it will face fifth seed Virginia, a team Syracuse beat 17-11 earlier in the year. Post-season lacrosse starts Friday for SU.