Boston College Defeats Syracuse, Repeats as ACC Champion

If defense wins championships, Boston College might want to save some of its celebratory spirit for a return trip to North Carolina next month.

Two days after neutralizing Notre Dame in the ACC semifinals, the Eagles extinguished Syracuse in the championship game Sunday and claimed their second straight conference title with a 15-8 victory in at America Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

BC thus became the first team to punch its ticket to the NCAA tournament, which starts in two weeks and culminates Memorial Day weekend in Cary, N.C.

“I am so overwhelmed. To climb the ACC mountain and come out on top is so hard,” Eagles coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said in a post-game interview on ACC Network. “This conference is so strong. These teams are so good. To win this conference championship is one of the hardest things to do in women’s lacrosse.”

BC faced an early four-goal deficit but turned on its defensive pressure, igniting a dangerous transition offense and shutting down the Orange from there.

The Eagles held Syracuse scoreless for more than 22 minutes during one stretch, blanking the Orange in the third quarter and outscoring them 8-1 in the second half.

When Syracuse scored four unanswered goals in the first quarter to go up 5-1, it looked like it might deliver an early knockout punch like it did against Virginia in the semifinals Friday.

But BC countered, overcoming an 18-9 disadvantage in draw controls with timely stops—none more so than when the Eagles goalie Shea Dolce made two saves on a man-down possession and defender Sydney Scales won the race to the sideline for possession toward the end of the second quarter with BC trailing 7-5.

Scales led all players with five ground balls, matching her total from Friday’s win over Notre Dame, in which she also caused five turnovers. She was named the ACC championship MVP.

“She’s been like superwoman,” Walker-Weinstein said. “And the team followed.”

The Eagles converted on their next two possessions, tying the game at 7 when attacker Emma LoPinto used a change-of-direction dodge to lose her defender behind the goal, faked low and finished high on Syracuse goalie Delaney Sweitzer.

Attacker Kayla Martello kept the momentum going, scoring twice each in the third and fourth quarters as BC pulled away for the win.

Martello finished with six goals (on six shots) and an assist.

Much was made of the offseason additions of LoPinto and fellow All-American attacker Rachel Clark to an already potent offense returning a terrific table-setter in Mckenna Davis, a proven finisher in Martello and dynamic middies Belle Smith and Cassidy Weeks.

And while that group has delivered the goods — BC’s 17 goals per game rank fourth nationally and Davis became the program’s all-time assists leader with two goals and three assists Sunday — the defense has been just as impressive. The Eagles allow fewer than eight goals per game, behind only Michigan among Division I leaders. Florida, Loyola and Stony Brook are the only other teams to boast both a top-10 offense and a top-10 defense.

Scales and Shea Baker are the headliners. Both can blunt dodgers with physical, disciplined one-on-one defense and create transition opportunities with their speed.

On Sunday, BC was aggressive sending double teams and wasn’t shy about getting on the hands of Syracuse’s offensive players. It made for unsettled possessions that went deep into the 90-second shot clock.

Dolce, who got hot as a freshman late last season and backstopped BC to its sixth straight NCAA final, finished with 10 saves. Eight came in the first half.

This isn’t the end of the line for Syracuse, which still has a strong chance of earning a national seed in the NCAA tournament during next Sunday’s Selection Show. The Orange have lost the last six games in their burgeoning rivalry with BC, including defeats in the 2021 NCAA championship game and 2023 NCAA semifinals and an overtime loss in the regular season finale April 18.

LEHIGH TOPS ARMY IN 2OT

In something of a Patriot League stunner, sixth-seeded Lehigh upset third-seeded Army 12-11 in triple overtime when Cassie Marte fed Emma Eberhardt’s winner.

On the brink of defeat, Lehigh’s season was saved when Gabby Schneider scored with 48 seconds left in regulation, sending the game to overtime.

Hayley Hunt made 12 saves for Lehigh, including one in overtime on Brigid Duffy, who was assessed a yellow card on the shot.

The Black Knights killed the penalty but were carded twice more, ultimately losing on a 7-on-5 possession.

Also moving on is fourth-seeded Holy Cross, which dispatched fifth-seeded Colgate 14-9. Isabela Miller and Annabel Brennan each had hat tricks for the Crusaders.

Lehigh plays Loyola and Holy Cross meets Navy in the Patriot League semifinals Thursday at Loyola.

SIENA, MOUNT ST. MARY’S ADVANCE IN MAAC

Third-seeded Siena and fifth-seeded Mount St. Mary’s advanced to the semifinals of the MAAC tournament, which will be played Friday.

Siena got three points (one goal, two assists) from Kelly Logue and seven saves from Sabrina Krasner to down Canisius 9-6.

Anna Salerno (five goals), Madison Hermening (four) and Mackenzi Furlong (three goals, three assists) paced Mount St. Mary’s in its 17-13 win over fourth-seeded Iona.

WAGNER TOPPLES LE MOYNE

Sixth-seeded Wagner upset third-seeded Le Moyne 13-11 behind a five-goal fourth quarter. It’s the sixth consecutive season that the Seahawks will play in the NEC semifinals. Wagner never looked back from Sophia Colver’s go-ahead goal with 8:56 remaining.

Fourth-seeded Stonehill defeated fifth-seeded Saint Francis 19-14, with Stonehill relying on just five players to deposit all 19 goals — Grace Murphy (five), Molly Mae Hughes (four), Lilly Leach (four), Natalie Coutu (three) and Sofia D’Agostino (three).

Kenny DeJohn contributed to this article.