Boston College Women’s Lacrosse Defeats Syracuse to Advance to Seventh-Straight National Championship Game

Seven was the number of the night on Friday for Boston College women’s lacrosse:

Seven straight wins over Syracuse.

Seven straight victories on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.

Seven straight appearances in the NCAA championship game.

And yet another stellar defensive effort against the star-studded Syracuse Orange, limiting them to 7 goals, including a stifling, 24-minute goalless streak, en route to a 10-7 victory for the Eagles in the NCAA semifinal.

Now, BC will look to finish the job on Sunday against Northwestern – the team that knocked the Eagles off in last year’s final. This decorated group of BC seniors will look to bookend their collegiate careers with NCAA titles, after winning in 2021.

Goaltender Shea Dolce was immense again for the Eagles, making 12 saves – but the overall team defense was the star, frustrating and shutting down Syracuse despite the Orange having the benefit of possession after possession, with ‘Cuse dominating draw controls 15-5. BC won the ground ball battle 21-12, and forced 17 Syracuse turnovers.Emma LoPinto scored a ludicrous, highlight reel, behind-the-back goal to open the scoring for BC:

… and followed up her jaw-dropper with a more standard goal a few minutes later as BC jumped out to an early lead, taking a 3-2 advantage to the end of a tight first quarter.The Eagles and the Orange swapped runs in the second quarter, with BC scoring three straight to up 6-2 before Syracuse scored the final two goals of the half to cut the deficit to two going into the break.In the third quarter, BC threatened to make it a laugher. They held Syracuse off the board for the entire 15 minutes, mostly through great defense, but also through some great saves by Dolce. The offense didn’t quite go on a heater the way it did in the ACC championship game, but they did stretch the advantage to 8-4 before a wild sequence in the final two minutes of the third quarter.Syracuse picked up three consecutive cards, putting the Orange three players down; BC nonetheless couldn’t break through for a goal, and Syracuse killed off the first two penalties, and nearly killed off the third, before they were whistled with just seconds remaining on the shot clock for a foul that gave Rachel Clark an 8-meter opportunity.

Clark took care of business, whistling one home to make it 9-4. Just when you thought BC might be pulling away, however, Syracuse finally started to convert its huge possession advantage into goals. With 11:51 to play, Natalie Smith scored for Syracuse, setting up a stretch of three goals in just under three minutes of play, getting Syracuse to within two goals with 8:56 to play. Syracuse continued to dominate at the circle and had multiple opportunities to draw within one, but couldn’t do it; the Eagles hung tough and withstood the run.

BC turned the ball over with three minutes to go, giving Syracuse their last real gasp at a comeback – and they very nearly took advantage, drawing a foul that gave Emma Ward an 8-meter shot. But Ward skipped it wide, and the Eagles finished the defensive job by forcing a turnover with under two minutse to play.

The Eagles were then able to largely pass the ball around and avoid Syracuse’s aggressive attempts to force turnovers, then added an exclamation point with a goal by Rachel Clark with 31 seconds to go. It was Clark’s 5th goal of the game – the most for either team – and her 76th of the season.

The game was another example of how this year’s Eagles team is built differently from ones that have a singular focal point leading the way on offense; after Kayla Martello destroyed Syracuse in the ACC championship game, the Orange adjusted and held her to one goal today, but her teammates picked up the slack. Cassidy Weeks, McKenna Davis, and Lopinto (x2) rounded out the scoring for the Eagles. Ward and Smith led Syracuse with 2 goals each; Emma Tyrrell, another superstar and tremendous player for the Orange, was held scoreless by the Eagles defense – an impressive accomplishment.The Friday of Memorial Day weekend has become a happy tradition for BC fans, but the Eagles will be hoping for a better ending on Sunday, as Acacia Walker-Weinstein’s team looks to pick up their second NCAA title.

Sunday’s title game between BC and Northwestern starts at 12 PM ET and will air on ESPN.