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In a scoring fest against No. 3 seed Boston College on Friday, No. 2 seed Syracuse defeated the Eagles 19-17 to advance to the Atlantic Coast Conference title game for the first time since 2017.  

Freshman Emma Ward led the Orange attack with a career-high five goals on seven shots. Defensively, the Orange were strong in the first half but collapsed for part of the second, watching a six-goal lead evaporate. SU collected itself in the final minutes to pull out the last-minute victory, but Syracuse’s defense conceded 17 goals after allowing seven to BC in the last game of the regular season.

Here are three takeaways from Syracuse’s ACC semifinal win over Boston College:

Young stars

Against Virginia Tech, Syracuse found success spreading the ball around with six different goal scorers. The Orange repeated that success against the Eagles with seven different scorers, with younger players particularly making a strong impact.

Emma Tyrrell made the biggest difference early, finishing with three goals in the first half and four by the end of the afternoon. SU’s offense found success through its motion offense, focusing on off-ball movement, but Emma Tyrrell simply charged the cage. For the Orange’s sixth goal, she faked a pass to start the weave at the top of the 8-meter. She dodged two defenders before finding the back of the net.

Later on, with under two minutes to play and the game tied at 17 apiece, Ward got the ball off the motion inside the 8-meter arc and launched it into the back of the net. The score, which turned into the game-winner, was Ward’s career-high fifth goal.

Ward made a backdoor cut earlier in the game before rifling a shot into the back of the net. When the Eagles went on a 7-0 run and the Orange had only five shots in the first 15 minutes of the second half, Ward received the ball off the weave motion and faked a pass to Meaghan Tyrrell. The freshman proceeded to launch the ball into the top-left corner of the net, marking her fourth goal on four shots to tie the game at 14-14.

Syracuse’s bench celebrates a goal in the Orange’s win over Boston College. Courtesy of the ACC

Asa Goldstock’s up-and-down game

After a somewhat quiet game against Virginia Tech, Asa Goldstock started strong against the Eagles.

In the first half, Boston College penetrated Syracuse’s zone by running its offense from behind the net and dishing to cutters inside the 8-meter arc. After winning a draw, Boston College sent Jenn Medjid sprinting down the crease as Goldstock tracked her shot. Goldstock stood tall and knocked the ball down as defender Kerry Defliese picked up the ground ball and cleared.

Goldstock struggled against low shots on Friday afternoon, however. In the second half, a BC attack spun away from a defender in the 8-meter before getting a free shot on Goldstock. She stood tall like she did on the earlier save, but she couldn’t get her stick in front of the low ball.

Throughout the rest of the second half, the Eagles fired shots in a variety of locations, and Goldstock had some difficulties keeping up. Charlotte North sprinted downfield when the Orange had a 13-12 lead, and Goldstock kept her stick high, tracking North’s movement. North saw Goldstock’s high stick and sidearmed a low shot into into the back of the net to tie the game.

Goldstock’s best save came with four minutes left in the game, with Boston College trailing by one goal. North launched a shot past four Syracuse defenders at Goldstock. The SU goalie went into the splits, aware that North would go low, and made the highlight save to deny BC’s star attack.

Trouble in the draw circle

When the Orange lost momentum in the draw circle, Boston College began to take control. At the end of the first half, the Eagles hadn’t scored in over nine minutes. But North and Hollie Schleicher secured three straight wins in the circle, all of which resulted in goals.

Syracuse had issues stopping North in the draw circle for the entirety of the game. North finished with 11 draw controls, finding success against every player the Orange tried to throw at her. 

By the end of the game, the Eagles won the draw control battle 22-16. Syracuse was able to scrape away with a win on Friday, but the Orange have to improve in the draw circle if they want a chance against North Carolina.

Published on April 30, 2021 at 5:33 pm

Contact Anish: [email protected] | @anish_vasu