Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Since Kayla Treanor took over as Syracuse’s head coach in 2022, the program has perennially been among the elite Division I teams. Yet a consistent theme throughout the three-season stretch has been SU’s postseason shortcomings.

In 2022, Syracuse fell to Virginia in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. In the NCAA Tournament, it fell in the quarterfinals to Northwestern. Then after a 15-0 start to the regular season in 2023, the Orange lost in the ACC Tournament semifinals to North Carolina before blowing a lead to Boston College in the Final Four.

Despite losing Meaghan Tyrrell and Megan Carney — SU’s all-time points leader and 2023 leading scorer, respectively — 2024 seemed different. Syracuse won its first outright ACC regular-season title and steamrolled through Louisville and Virginia to advance to its first ACC Tournament title game under Treanor.

To overcome their recent postseason failures, the Orange had to get through the team they haven’t beaten under Treanor: Boston College. But for the sixth straight game, No. 4 Syracuse (14-5, 8-1 ACC) fell 15-8 to No. 3 Boston College (16-3, 7-2 ACC) in the ACC Tournament title game. SU led 5-1 with four minutes left in the first quarter, yet the Orange were silenced over the final 49 minutes as they were outscored 14-3.

“We’re just really frustrated because we really did not play the way we’ve been playing,” Treanor said postgame.

As the Orange looked to win their first ACC Tournament since Treanor netted a game-winner as a player versus North Carolina in 2015, it’s only fitting that the Eagles handed them the loss. In the last game of the Gary Gait era, BC defeated SU in the National Championship — the start of its win streak. After spending 2017-21 as an assistant at Boston College, Treanor lost her first game against her former colleagues, extending the Eagles’ winning streak to two.

The rivalry was amplified in 2023. In Carney and Tyrrell’s final season, Syracuse’s offense won their first 15 games and looked to notch the first perfect regular season in program history a game later.

The only team standing between them and history? Boston College.

Commanding an 11-6 lead at the beginning of the second half, SU was on the cusp of history. Yet the Orange crumbled down the stretch. A go-ahead goal from Belle Smith with 1:30 remaining gave the Eagles a lead they didn’t relinquish in their 17-16 comeback win.

A month later in the Final Four, Syracuse had another win slip away. SU led 7-5 entering the fourth quarter but went scoreless as BC tacked on three unanswered goals to reach the NCAA Championship game.

Looking to avenge their previous four losses, the Orange traveled to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, on April 18 attempting to enter the ACC Tournament with a perfect conference regular season record. Like its previous two games against BC, Syracuse commanded a 5-3 halftime lead. Still, Boston College outscored it 7-3 in the second half to force overtime before Cassidy Weeks scored the game-winner for BC.

Even off a crushing defeat, Syracuse looked flawless throughout its first two ACC Tournament games. Against No. 9 seed Louisville, a season-high nine SU players scored in a commanding 17-8 win. In the semifinals against Virginia, the Orange played their best lacrosse of the season in a 19-4 victory.

Coming off its most complete game of the season, the only team standing between Syracuse overcoming its postseason struggles was once again BC.

Through the first 10 minutes, it seemed the Orange would finally overcome their struggles.

Thirteen seconds into the game, Natalie Smith fired a shot into the upper left corner of the goal, giving the Orange a 1-0 lead. BC answered to tie the score 1-1, but then Syracuse got in a rhythm. Natalie won the draw near midfield and pushed the ball down the field before finding Olivia Adamson at X. After backing down BC defender Becky Browndorf near the cage, Adamson beat Shea Dolce to give SU a 2-1 lead.

Boston College then had a perfect opportunity to tie the game 2-2 on a free-position shot. Yet, Delaney Sweitzer saved Emma LoPinto’s shot and the Orange successfully cleared. On the other end, Savannah Sweitzer bounced a fadeaway shot into the bottom right corner giving Syracuse a 3-1 lead four minutes into the game.

LoPinto responded with a behind-the-back goal, but it was waived off after review because of illegal contact on the follow-through. Three minutes later, Adamson scored her second goal as SU led 4-1 — a pivotal swing. A minute later, Syracuse led 5-1 after Emma Ward fired a free-position shot past Dolce.

Everything was going the Orange’s way. Then, history repeated itself.

Boston College stole all of SU’s momentum to close the first quarter, scoring two unanswered goals to cut its deficit to 5-3. At the start of the second quarter, the Eagles tormented SU in transition to make it 5-4.

Despite another Kate Mashewske draw control win, one of nine straight, the Orange didn’t score and traded possessions with Boston College over the next five minutes. But one of Sydney Scales’ game-high five ground ball pickups set up a Kayla Martello goal as BC scored its fourth straight to tie the game 5-5.

“We just really did not do any of the things that we had talked about,” Treanor said.

Syracuse finally regained momentum to take a 7-5 lead at the 5:30 mark of the second quarter, but BC responded with two goals to tie the game 7-7 before halftime.

In the third quarter, the Eagles scored their third consecutive goal to notch their first lead of the game. Twenty-two minutes separated Syracuse’s seventh goal scored by Gracie Britton and its eighth goal scored by Ward at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Throughout SU’s scoreless stretch, Boston College flipped a 7-5 deficit into a 10-7 lead.

While the Orange still had time to come back after Ward’s goal brought them back within two, no such thing happened.

Martello tormented SU’s defense, notching her fifth and sixth goals, consecutively, to give BC a 12-8 lead with 8:53 left. Weeks found the back of the net less than a minute later, the knockout punch to the Eagles’ dominant end to the game.

In the final eight minutes, Boston College piled on two more goals — more than SU scored all half — as it handed Syracuse another heartbreaking loss.

“My hope would be that (the loss) fuels our team and gives us motivation going to the NCAA Tournament,” Treanor said.

Published on April 28, 2024 at 2:59 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon