No. 3 Syracuse loses back-and-forth game, 14-13, to No. 4 Boston College

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Megan Carney gathered the ball on the far left of the field near the beginning of the second half. With just one defender in front of her, she scanned for an easy path to the net. When it opened up, she darted forward.

But it took just a few seconds for Boston College to close the path. Carney had a choice to try a shot on goal or pass out. She chose to pass out, but as she cut right to make the pass, her knee buckled.

Carney crumpled to the ground, clutching her left knee. A loud groan was followed by pin-drop silence from the stands. Trainers helped the Orange’s leading goal scorer to the locker room as Emily Hawryschuk, who tore her ACL earlier in the season, followed her teammate into the back. Carney re-emerged from the locker room a few minutes later with her knee wrapped up, relegated to supporting her teammates from the sidelines.

Despite a furious comeback, No. 3 Syracuse (11-2, 7-2 Atlantic Coast) fell 14-13 to No. 4 Boston College (12-1, 8-1) on Thursday in the Orange’s second loss of the season. The game wasn’t separated by more than a goal for the final 20 minutes, all played without Carney, whose status head coach Gary Gait said will be known in the coming days. A late yellow card on Ella Simkins gave Boston College a golden opportunity to score the game-winner with just over a minute left, securing the victory.

“(It) came right down to the last shot of the game, and we had a chance to tie it, and we didn’t get it done,” Gait said. “The good thing is we get to play them again in two days, so we’ll make some adjustments.”

Boston College entered the game with the third-best scoring offense in the nation, averaging 17.5 goals per game, a rate better than Syracuse. Much of that offense is powered by Charlotte North, who averages almost five goals per game and added another five Thursday to vault herself to the top of the ACC with 62 goals.

That top scoring offense showed when the Eagles scored eight first-half goals, including a 4-0 run to start the game.

On the other end, the Syracuse offense stumbled out of the gate. On the first possession of the game, Meaghan Tyrrell tried to curl in from the left side but was repelled back out. Instead of resetting back to the top, Tyrrell looked back and saw her sister Emma, as well as Emma Ward, open in front of the goal. Facing intense pressure, Tyrrell was forced to send a reverse pass in their general direction, but it went to Ward, who had the tougher angle and only managed a tough shot off the crossbar.

Two possessions later, Syracuse once again was inches away from scoring. Sierra Cockerille curled around from the left and used her defender as a blocker to gain separation, but her shot again ended in a loud clang from the goalpost.

What could’ve been a two-goal lead in just three minutes soon became a four-goal deficit as Boston College slowly picked apart the Syracuse defense. Nursing a one-goal lead, the Eagles began their position by passing the ball around the top of the Syracuse zone. Boston College repeatedly tried to enter but was repelled by the pressure of the Orange zone.

With the shot clock winding down, the Eagles’ Cara Urbank found herself behind the goal with little time left. Urbank heaved the ball in front of the goal, where two Syracuse defenders were positioned, but Jenn Medjid flew in to tap the ball into the goal with just two seconds left on the shot clock.

“They maintain long possessions on the offense. They utilized the clock they waited until the end,” Gait said. “It really slowed the game down, and that kept the ball out of our stick for a lot of the game.”

Syracuse’s offense would show up in spurts in the first half. Carney scored her first two goals of the game 27 seconds apart. First, Emily Ehle laid a pass to Carney, who caught the ball in stride and roofed a goal into the net. On the next possession, Carney shouted for the ball as she cut across the goal and threw in her second goal of the day.

Ward tacked on two of her own later in the half, the second of which she scored unassisted as she ran in on her own and switched to her weaker left hand. Carney finished a hat trick on a free position before Cockerille scored to narrow the deficit to just two entering the half.

“Sometimes we get in a funk where we take the first opportunity we get, and if we don’t score, we don’t get a good shot, then our offense doesn’t start to flow,” Gait said. 

In many games this season, like against Notre Dame and Virginia, the Orange have come out of the halftime break with newfound energy on offense. That was the case again Thursday, as Syracuse scored right off the draw in the second half. Sam Swart cradled the ball at the top of the scoring area before running in left, cutting right and shooting left into the bottom corner.

Boston College would reply through North, but Tyrrell, who was held scoreless in the first half, found some space on the right side off a pass from Ehle and scored into the roof of the net with a jumping shot. That goal kickstarted a three minute, three-goal run capped off by another Swart goal that gave the Orange their first lead of the game. After that, Syracuse and Boston College traded goals and leads for the rest of the second half.

Tyrrell would finish the game with just one goal, as she was marshaled by the Eagles’ defense. BC’s Sydney Scales followed Syracuse’s top scorer all over the field.

But as the two teams began to trade goals, Boston College maintained an edge at the draw circle, ending the night with 18 wins to Syracuse’s 10. With their long possessions, the Eagles were not only able to continue scoring, as they racked up 14 goals on just 19 shots, but they also retained possession after goals and forced Syracuse to defend for minutes on end. 

“I think the key is getting some more possessions on the draw so we don’t have to play D,” Gait said. 

With the score knotted at 13, Ward found some space and whizzed a shot past the Boston College goalie as she fell to the ground. What could’ve been the game-winner instead rang off the crossbar. On the ensuing transition, Simkins laid her stick across her body but was called for a dangerous foul and given a yellow card, providing Boston College with a player up for two minutes. Gait, along with the Syracuse bench, exploded in anger at the call.

“I watched the replay, and I didn’t see it,” Gait said.

The defense held for over a minute and saw a BC shot fly inches wide of Asa Goldstock’s goal. But when the Eagles put the ball back in play, they went left, and the ball made its way to Medjid again. She brushed a defender off and bounced a ball through Goldstock’s legs for a lead with just 1:04 remaining in the game.

Morgan Widner came in for the pivotal draw and appeared to gain control of the ball as Gait called a timeout. Cockerille had a shot on goal that was saved, and it was the only attempt that was made for the rest of the game. Boston College and its fans exploded, as they felt Widner never had full possession of the ball. With the ball, the best Syracuse managed was a Cockerille shot that was saved.

“We had a play drawn up and unfortunately we didn’t run it … I didn’t know she was going to go right to the cage,” Gait said. “She took the chance, she wanted to make the play, and unfortunately it didn’t work out today.”

Still, Gait was happy that Cockerille had the confidence to take the shot and said the team will need players like Cockerille to step up to replace Carney. 

As the clock wound down to zero, Syracuse dropped its second game of the season, but the potential loss of a second key scorer to a knee injury loomed over the team.

“We needed other players to step up, and it took them a little while to get adjusted and get in the flow of it,” Gait said. “Now we can focus on other players becoming more goal scorers and accepting a larger role on this team.”