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CARY, N.C. — All teams have their kryptonite. For Syracuse, it always happens to play its on the biggest stages.

For the second consecutive season, the Orange were tasked with facing Boston College to get to the national championship. And once again, the Eagles ended SU’s season.

A 17-minute scoring drought in the first half and another lasting over 24 minutes in the second allowed the Eagles to build a five-goal lead entering the fourth quarter. SU attempted a comeback with a 3-0 run but came up short. In the end, No. 3 seed Syracuse (16-6, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) fell 10-7 to No. 2 seed Boston College (20-3, 7-2 ACC) in the Final Four, dashing SU’s chances of its first-ever national championship as the Orange dropped their seventh straight game to the Eagles.

At the podium postgame, as the collegiate careers of Kate Mashewske and Delaney Sweitzer came to an end, all they could do was fight back tears as their head coach did the same.

“It was a tough game,” SU head coach Kayla Treanor said while fighting back tears. “We hit some walls in the second and third quarters. But I give our team a lot of credit for coming back.”

Following a win by Mashewske on the opening draw, defender Hallie Simkins received the ball on the clear and dished it to Maddy Baxter. Simkins hadn’t recorded a point in all of 2024 and Baxter hadn’t scored in two of her last three games. Still, Baxter dodged through the middle and beat Shea Dolce in net to give SU the lead 25 seconds in.

The Eagles eventually broke through SU’s zone defense to tie the game with a strike from Emma LoPinto. Mashewske won the ensuing draw control but BC’s Sydney Scales picked off a pass from Emma Muchnick in the midfield. BC’s leading scorer Rachel Clark dashed down the field before drawing a free position but was thwarted by Delaney.

On the other end, Emma Ward used her physicality to body down low, spin inside and beat Dolce to give SU the lead back. But LoPinto answered back to knot the game again.

Much like the first two matchups in 2024, both teams went back and forth early on, trading goals to start. Clark added on with her second of the game with a deep rip from outside the eight meter.

As the first quarter clock dwindled, both defenses settled in. The Eagles’ defense forced SU into a shot clock violation but Syracuse held strong as well, with Delaney making two saves within five seconds.

After scoring two goals in the first five minutes and 14 seconds, Syracuse was held out of the net the rest of the first half. As the Orange attack continued to produce limited threats, BC was relentless in its attack.

Belle Smith took an inside shot but Delaney turned it aside. Though minutes later Cassidy Weeks, Clark and Mckenna Davis all scored to push the Eagles’ lead to four, capping a 5-0 run.

Mashewske’s prowess on the draw was limited much like Syracuse’s loss to Boston College in the ACC Championship. Though she had success (14 draw controls), Mashewske had trouble facilitating the ball directly after collecting it, coughing it up multiple times.

“We just decided that the best strategy to combat her (Mashewske) was to try to have all three people on the draw circle go after every single ground ball,” BC head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said postgame. “The mission was to kind of get the ball to the ground.”

Syracuse midfielder Gracie Britton falls to the ground as she tries to start an attack against Boston College. Courtesy of the NCAA

When the Orange did have possession, their shot accuracy was putrid. SU converted on just two of its first 11 shots. A scoring drought from Ward’s goal to Natalie Smith’s lasted over 17 minutes.

But the SU offense eventually got going. Natalie’s goal was followed by a green card on Scales, allowing the Orange to convert 33 seconds later on a player-up goal from Adamson. Off the runs from both sides, the defenses settled in again as Boston College led 6-4 at half.

To open the second half, Delaney continued to make saves to keep the Orange in the game. But she was peppered too much. Delaney made two saves but Kayla Martello got through for her first of the day. Clark added her third a minute later, pushing the lead back to four.

As Syracuse attempted to claw back, Dolce emerged as a brick wall in net. Holding SU quiet, Dolce made several spectacular saves, including a free position save on a shot by Savannah Sweitzer. Dolce’s day ended with a 63.2% save percentage, stopping 12-of-19 shots.

Meanwhile, SU’s top attack couldn’t find its footing, further hurting the comeback effort. Emma Tyrrell entered the Final Four with 70 goals and 91 points. Though against the Eagles, she was nowhere to be found.

BC’s Shea Baker face guarded her early in the game as other Eagles defenders slid toward her whenever she controlled the ball. Tyrrell got off shots but couldn’t find the back of the net, recording five shots with three turnovers, including a costly one down two with five minutes left.

“We had everyone prepared to defend her tendencies,” Walker-Weinstein said of Tyrrell.

Another scoring drought, spanning over 24 minutes kept the Orange quiet until three minutes into the fourth quarter. With SU trailing by five, Baxter ripped a shot that was stopped by Dolce. Ward collected the ball and fired a shot but rang the crossbar — a microcosm of Dolce’s excellence and SU’s scoring struggles.

A few minutes later, Natalie broke the over 24-minute drought. Gracie Britton added a goal to give SU some late life, cutting the deficit to three, then Ward slotted one to put the Orange down just two with nine minutes to play.

“They were really determined and they made it work and they were aggressive,” Treanor said. “They just didn’t want their time to end.”

After multiple stops on the defensive end, Ward earned a free position. On the shot, she blew it over the net but SU had backup to retain possession. The Orange worked the ball around but a shot by Savannah was deflected and recovered by BC, putting the game and season away.

For the seventh game in a row and third time in 2024, BC got the best of SU, and this time for the Orange, it was the fatal blow.

“It’s always a really tough thing to lose in this moment,” Treanor said. “Especially when you love your team so much, but nothing should be taken away from the team and what they’ve accomplished.”

Published on May 24, 2024 at 9:41 pm

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