Nobody gave the Boston College women's lacrosse team bigger fits during the regular season than Syracuse. It was no different during Friday night's ACC tournament semifinals at a misty Alumni Stadium.
The top-seeded Eagles rallied from a three-goal deficit in the final seven minutes to keep their unbeaten run intact with a 14-13 win over the fourth-seeded Orange in a game that featured nine ties and six lead changes. BC overcame a five-goal deficit in a 14-12 win on Feb. 16 at the Carrier Dome.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE RANKINGS: Inside Lacrosse | NCAA RPI | IWLCAÂ
Taylor Walker scored with 17.4 seconds remaining to vault BC to victory. She received a pass from Dempsey Arsenault, and while falling to the turf in front of the cage connected on a backhander for her third goal of the game.
BC (19-0) will face No. 2 North Carolina in the conference title game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
It'll be a rematch of last year's championship as we take on North Carolina tomorrow at 1pm!
â BC Women's Lacrosse (@BCwlax) April 27, 2019
TIX: https://t.co/V2691RcGPS#WeAreBC pic.twitter.com/TP25e0WMm3
BC will be looking to win its first conference title while a win would give the school its second ACC tournament championship, joining the 2007 men's soccer program.
"I was really impressed (in) every single one of the girls. In all the timeouts we must have given them 15 different messages and they consumed it and knew exactly what to do in any of the situations," Eagles coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. "That takes a lot of composure and poise, and I'm just proud of all the different pieces of teamwork it took to come back into the game and they did it."
CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON:Â Automatic qualifiers for 2019 NCAA women's lacrosse championship
Syracuse (15-4) used a four-goal run to take a 13-10 lead with 8:42 left as Mary Rahal buried a free position goal.
Arsenault, who had a game-high five points with three goals and two assists, scored on a man-up situation.
Syracuse won the ensuing draw and ran a play out of a timeout that resulted in Rahal getting a good look at the cage, only to be denied by BC goaltender Lauren Daly, who came on in relief of Abbey Ngai earlier in the half.
Some late night reading, recapping the first 2019 #ACCWLAX Semifinal from tonight âĄď¸ https://t.co/H4GKkJhR9E pic.twitter.com/qUMTMjxBSo
â ACC Women's Lacrosse (@ACCWLax) April 27, 2019
"It changed the entire complexion of the game," Walker-Weinstein said. "(Assistant coach) Tommy (Connelly) was making the decision to go with her and he knew exactly when to do it and she was ready for the moment. I was proud of her. The team trusts both her and Abbey."
Cara Urbank scored on the ensuing possession off an Arsenault feed to pull the Eagles to within 13-12 with 5:29 to go.
Sam Apuzzo, the top scorer in the nation, tied the game with 1:40 remaining, winning a ground ball and burying the opportunity. Her third goal of the game gave her 75 goals and 101 points for the season, her third straight year going over the 100-point plateau.
SELECTION SHOW:Â Time, date and TV channel for 2019 men's lacrosse tournament
BC had trouble for much of the night controlling the draw against Syracuse's Emily Hawryschuk, but with the game tied the ball went deep toward the BC goal and midfielder Hannah Hyatt came up with the ball to give the Eagles a final possession.
The teams went into halftime tied at 7-7 as the Eagles were unable to expand on their lead in the final two minutes as Syracuse goaltender Asa Goldstock denied Urbank down low and stuffed Apuzzo on a breakaway.
Hawryschuk, who scored a game-high four goals, took full advantage. She scored with 9.0 seconds left as she was unable to haul in a long clearance but did manage to redirect the ball while going down to the turf and get it inside the left pipe.Â
This article is written by Keith Pearson from Boston Herald and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.
