Orange Women Suffer First Loss of Season

Story by Thomas Zhou
Photos by Jiayang Zhang

Syracuse, N.Y-  The ball slowly rolled out of  bounds as time ran out. Syracuse women’s lacrosse team had failed to get possession to tie the game at last.

The Orange lost to Boston College, 10-9, on Saturday afternoon at the Carrier Dome. The Eagles snapped the Orange’s five game winning streak. Syracuse dropped to 5-1 after its first loss in the season.  BC improved to 4-0.

“We have to figure out our identity,” SU head coach Gary Gait said. “We have to get better on lacrosse IQ. Get smarter and understand the game much more on both ends. The great thing is that they don’t hand out trophies in February. We have an incredible schedule to go out and get better.”


Orange falls short chasing in the end

BC's Caroline Margolis scored her fourth goal with 1:28 left, giving the Eagles a 10-8 lead. Kailah Kempney won the draw for the Orange. Kayla Treanor, the country’s leading scorer, could do little with the ball for she was double-guarded, or even tripled. She passed the ball to teammates. Then Halle Majorana’s pass found Riley Donahue, who volleyed the ball and sent it to the cage when sandwiched by BC goalie Zoe Ochoa and a defender. Donahue’s first goal in the afternoon cut the margin to one, with 44 seconds left.

But that was all Syracuse could do. Rachel Igoe won the last draw control for the Eagles and they started to kill time. Syracuse almost got the ball when a player knocked down the ball from an Eagle, but a foul was called for dangerous check. BC kept possession until a long pass run out of the bounds, but time was up.

The Eagles circled and celebrated for their first victory over Syracuse in 13 matchups.

“In the end of the game, when the team tried to stall and just pass around, it was probably the hardest to play,” Kempney said. “… Definitely frustrating.”


First Half: Strong start ends up with tie

Syracuse started the afternoon with a 3-0 lead in the first three minutes. Halle Majorana beat Ochoa with a shot near the post. Taylor Gait created space with her run and scored the second goal, before Kempney converted a free position shot.

However, BC responded with a 3-0 run to tie the score. And each time the Orange took the lead later, the Eagles answered.

Kelly Cross scored for the Orange on a Majorana assist. 104 seconds later, Mikaela Rix escaped two Syracuse defenders and scored. The Eagles came back again after Majorana’s goal. This time Rix’s pass found an unguarded Covie Stanwick, whose goal tied the game at five, with 23 seconds left.


Second Half: Orange Fails to Duplicate BC’s Comeback

The Eagles took the lead and the Orange became the chaser in the second half, but Syracuse could not accomplish what BC had done in the first half.

Taylor Gait’s unassisted goal tied the score at six. Lisa Rogers' at seven. Taylor Paplawski at eight. After Stanwick and Margolis scored two consecutive goals for the Eagles, the Orange responded with only Donahue's goal in the final 88 seconds.

“It reminded me a lot of a basketball game,” Coach Gait said. “Coming down to the last couple of plays…They finish now and we are playing catchup. We get one back. We can’t quite get the ball again, and time runs out. It reminds me a lot of a basketball finish.”

Up next

After starting the season with six home games, Syracuse will have three games on the road, starting with a game against the national defending champion Maryland. The game will begin at noon on March 7.