‘Cuse started strong, but after the opening 10 minutes, it was all BC as the title game ended in a rout.
It happened differently this time for the Syracuse Orange, who lost to the Boston College Eagles on Sunday in the ACC Tournament championship by a 15-8 final score.
The Orange’s sixth consecutive loss to Boston College came in different fashion than most of their recent defeats. In their previous three losses, SU entered the fourth quarter with a lead only to give it away and lose by one.
That wasn’t the case this time, simply because the Orange allowed BC to take control of the game long before that.
And it all started off so well, too. ‘Cuse came out firing, scoring five goals in the first 11 minutes. They scored some really nice goals and were looking good as they jumped out to a 5-1 lead. But then, BC made some key adjustments and started taking over the game; slowly at first, and then drastically in the second half.
A 4-0 BC run tied the game at 5-5 midway through the second, but the Orange were able to push back with a pair of quick goals scored 36 seconds apart to take a 7-5 lead. On a subsequent possession, ‘Cuse had a chance to take an 8-5 lead when BC goalie Shea Dolce made a pair of back-to-back saves, the second off a rebound to Emma Tyrrell, to deny SU and keep the lead at two.
That was the beginning of the end for the Orange, as the Eagles scored twice in the final two minutes to tie it up, 7-7, at the break. The second half was domination by BC, as the Eagles outscored SU 8-1 after halftime while holding the Orange to seven shots and nine turnovers, completing the transition from early ‘Cuse lead to BC beatdown by the end, 15-8.
Emma W Emma T!
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— Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse (@CuseWLAX) April 28, 2024
The most notable and stark difference between SU’s start to this game and the way it all finished was the adjustments made by the BC defense after ‘Cuse’s five early goals.
They were doing some very effective dodging early on when BC was playing a more straight-up man defense. But the Eagles made the decision to start sliding early against the Orange dodgers and combined it with their patented brand of aggressive, in-your-face on-ball defense. The results were spectacular, as the Orange scored three goals in the final 49:14 of the game.
‘Cuse simply never made their own adjustment to BC’s adjustment. They kept trying to operate the same way offensively, passing around the perimeter and attempting a variety of face dodges as the possessions would progress. Most of the time, they’d have to try forcing something when all of that didn’t work.
With the Eagles going slide-heavy, the Orange should have been able to take advantage by using quick ball movement to find open teammates after a BC slide. Instead, their tentative passing was swallowed up by BC’s aggressive play, allowing the Eagles to recover off their slides and reset everything again and again.
They didn’t really try any clear-out dodges after the adjustments, something we’ve seen them do many times before. Overloading one side of the field would have provided more space for a dodger to operate, plus made it harder for BC to bring a slide from the other side of the field.
Lastly, they were completely unable to take advantage of chances in the free position and man-up opportunities. The Orange finished 1-of-4 on free positions and 0-of-3 on the man-up. Even when they were given those kinds of higher percentage chances, they could do nothing with it.
Ultimately, the Orange were suffocated by BC, finishing the game shooting 26 percent (8-of-31) with 13 turnovers, and more turnovers than shots in the second half.
It’s made even worse by the fact that they wasted the only aspect of this game they had success in. Kate Mashewske (12DC) put in another dominating effort as she led SU to a huge advantage on draw controls, 18-9. But doubling-up BC on draw wins meant nothing because they could do nothing with it.
Sav ➡️ Liv ➡️ GOAL!
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— Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse (@CuseWLAX) April 28, 2024
On the other side of the field, BC’s offense operated with great efficiency against the ‘Cuse defense, especially in the final three quarters. BC took fewer shots because of the draw disparity, but they shot 54 percent (15-of-28) compared to SU’s 26. Kayla Martello torched the Orange, finishing 6-of-6 shooting for the game.
They held on to the ball nicely, committing only nine turnovers and holding a ‘Cuse defense that normally causes 10 turnovers per game to only four CT’s. And they also made sure to attack in transition whenever they could, initiating early offense before the SU zone could get settled in. They used it to great effect, scoring multiple goals while the Orange were scrambling to get set.
Emma Ward (2G, 1A), Olivia Adamson (2G) and Savannah Sweitzer (1G, 1A) were the only players to score multiple points for SU. Emma Tyrrell (1G), Natalie Smith (1G) and Gracie Britton (1G) all finished with one goal a piece.
The Orange have lost six in a row to the Eagles, but most of the time they’ve been competitive and haven’t been able to make plays to win at the end. But, on this day, they were simply outclassed in everything that wasn’t draw controls.
Offense, defense, goalies, ground balls, and coaching. All of it went the way of BC.
‘Cuse will now await their NCAA Tournament fate during the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, May 5 at 9 PM on ESPN U.