Virginia Defeats Syracuse 59-47 in Orange’s Last Home Game of the Season

Story and photos by Julia Morris

Syracuse, N.Y. -- With five minutes left in the Syracuse-Virginia game, Cavaliers’ guard Malcolm Brogdon shot a three-pointer that sailed far past the basket, failing to make any contact with the rim – but instead of the ball landing in the hands of a Syracuse defender, Virginia forward Anthony Gill  asserted himself in the paint, grabbed the rebound and laid the ball in to put Virginia up 53-38. 

Gill’s putback was one of many for Virginia on Monday night as the No. 2 Cavaliers (28-1, 16-1 ACC) dominated Syracuse on the boards.  Virginia out-rebounded Syracuse (18-12, 9-8 ACC) 42-20 and defeated the Orange by a final score of 59-47 on Senior Night at the Carrier Dome.

“I thought the big difference in the ball game was they just got us inside on the boards,” Coach Jim Boeheim said. “And I just don’t think we competed on the backboards like we have all year. 42-20 on the boards  - that’s all it takes.”

The fact that Virginia out-rebounded Syracuse and challenged the Orange defensively is not a surprise, given that the Cavaliers are one of the top defensive teams in the nation and have now held opponents to less than 50 points in fourteen games this season.

The Cavs' only loss came by six points to No. 4 Duke Jan 31. 

“They’re clearly the second best team in the country,” Boeheim said.  “They have tremendous physical strength, strong guys…very good players and there’s a reason they have only lost one game.”

Both Teams Struggle to Score Early On

But what did come as a surprise was how Virginia could not score in the beginning of the game.  The Cavaliers, who have been playing without top scorer Justin Anderson since he injured his finger against Louisville in February, did not make a field goal until the 11:42 mark, when Gill made a layup down low.   They also did not break double digits until there was less than four minutes left in the half. 

Part of the reason for Virginia’s offensive struggles was the team’s turnovers.  Within the first four minutes of the game, the Cavalierswere called for goal tending, travelling, and threw a couple of passes away to give them four of their ten first half turnovers. 

Even though Virginia struggled from the field, Syracuse could not capitalize and actually finished the half with a worse shooting percentage than the Cavaliers.  Through the first six minutes of play, Syracuse’s only points came from two foul shots by Rakeem Christmas, who was playing his last home game in an Orange uniform.  Christmas did finish the half with eight points even though he faced double-team defensive pressure by Virginia.

“In the first half he did a really good job - he passed out of there and when he had his opportunity to score, he scored,” Boeheim said.

Along with Christmas, Trevor Cooney had eight points at the end of the first half and banked in a three from the top of the key with 3:13 left to put Syracuse up 20-12.  But Cooney said Syracuse could have gone ahead by a bigger margin.

“I thought we should have been up by more than that and we should have taken advantage of a team that only scored two points in whatever time it was,” Cooney said.

Virginia finally added more points and found a rhythm as time was winding down in the first, going on a 12-5 run before the break. With just over a minute before halftime, London Perrantes threw an alley-oop to Mike Tobey, who slammed it in to give Virginia its first lead of the game, 21-20. Then in the final seconds, Perrantes hit a fade-away shot that banked in and gave Virginia a 23-20 lead heading into the break.

Virginia Defense Too Much for Syracuse in the Second Half           

The second half started with a much quicker scoring pace than the first.  Virginia carried its momentum from the end of the first half into the second to build a 38-14 run.  The Cavaliers were led by Gill, who had 12 of his 17 points in the second half.

The Cavaliers also wasted little time getting rebounds.  Just over two minutes into the second half, Darion Atkins grabbed a rebound after Brogdon missed a jumper. Atkins’ initial putback missed but he grabbed the rebound again and banked it in to put Virginia up 33-25.  Overall, Virginia outrebounded Syracuse 23-11 in the second.

“They flat out killed us on the boards,” Gbinije said. “I really don’t have an explanation for it…that number is unacceptable.”

The crowd of 25, 338 seemed out of it until Gbinije threw an alley-oop pass to Tyler Roberson, who threw down a two handed dunk that cut the lead back to eleven with 14:32 to play.  But even though Gbinije found Roberson on that play, he had trouble finding the basket himself.  He finished the game 2-of-11 from the field and had only eight points on the night.

“They played great team defense,” Gbinije said. “They did a good job of helping and covering and their rotations were on the money- individually they played good defense as well.”

Roberson hit another jumper with 10 minutes left to pull Syracuse within 10 but that would be the closest the Orange would get.

Gill’s putback after Brogdon’s air ball put Virginia back up by 15.  And the Cavaliers continued to build on that lead as the game ended.  With 3:45 left, Gill threw down a massive dunk that put the Cavaliers up by 17.  Syracuse chipped into the lead in the final minutes but it was too late and Virginia sealed the 59-47 victory.

Christmas Reflects on Last Home Game

With a minute left in the game, Syracuse senior Rakeem Christmas was subbed out.  Because of Syracuse’s self-imposed post-season ban, the game was the last one for Christmas at the Carrier Dome.  The crowd stood on its feet and cheered as he walked off the court.

“It’s a great feeling when people are cheering for you,” Christmas said.  “All these four years were great, everyone that came in my life here is going to leave a long-lasting impression on me so I’m thankful I came here.”

Next Up

With the loss, Syracuse will not reach 20 wins this season.  That marks the first time since the 1996-1997 season that the Orange has failed to do so.  But Boeheim said he was surprised that the Orange had even managed to pull off 18 victories this season.

“My feeling is I’m not sure exactly how this team won 18 games,” Boeheim said. “When you can’t shoot it and you don’t defend well at the guard spot and you’re small there’s not a lot of positives there.”

Syracuse will play its season finale against North Carolina State on Saturday. Tip off is set for 12 p.m.

Virginia has now won nine games in a row and clinched the regular season ACC title and number one seed in the ACC Tournament.  The Cavaliers will wrap up regular season play at Louisville on Saturday.  Game time is 6:30 p.m.  

Videos:

Coach Boeheim Post-Game  

Michael Gbinije Post-Game 

Rakeem Christmas Post-Game 

Trevor Cooney Post-Game

 

#2 Syracuse Orange Shows Pure Dominance over #5 UVA Cavaliers in ACC Opener

Story By: Lauren Foti

Photos By: Lauren Williams

Syracuse, N.Y. -- The #2 Syracuse Orange (4-0) played host to the #6 University of Virginia (3-1) Cavaliers in a noon showdown Sunday at the Carrier Dome and wound up dominating the Cavaliers from the start. The matchup between the two teams was the first ACC game of the season for both teams.

First Half Action

The Orange’s Nicky Galasso was the first to strike and that set the tone for the entire first half. The Orange dominated on the field, leading the Cavaliers 7-0 at one point in the game and outshooting the Cavaliers 26-12 in the first half.

“Just a complete effort to have the score the way it was in the first half, I think any coach in the country would be happy with that effort.” SU head coach John Desko said.  

It wasn’t until just over three minutes remaining in the second quarter that UVA’s Greg Colohan scored his team's first goal. But the Orange was quick to answer back with a goal of its own. The Orange led the Cavaliers 8-1 at halftime.

“It felt a little bit like men and boys out there at times," Virginia Head Coach Dom Starsia said. "You go into a game like that thinking that you want to stay out of the penalty box and do all the little things, and we weren’t able to accomplish those things.”

Second Half Action

In the second half a pair of Virginia goals got the Cavaliers within six. But the Orange always seemed to have answer for Virginia. Not allowing the Cavaliers to get any closer than that.

The Orange’s lead faceoff man Ben Williams won 15-19 face
offs before suffering an upper body injury during the fourth quarter.

“I expect to see him next week.” Desko said after the game.

With Williams out for the rest of the game, it gave the Cavaliers a spark on face-offs leading them to more goals.

“We need to continue to work at it, and figure it out, and not have it be a determining factor in the game.” Starsia said of face-offs and the team's struggle at the X.

Despite the Cavaliers best effort in the second half. It was the Orange that continued to dominate the game.  The Orange went on to win 15-9.

Total Team Effort

For the Orange although faceoffs and possessions were the biggest factors in the game, even players who don't get much game time got some credit. 

“We prepared everything during practice during the week and you know you got to give the credit to a lot of people who don’t get the credit and that’s the scout defense.” senior Nicky Galasso said.

Eight Syracuse players scored with Galasso, Kevin Rice, and Dylan Donahue tallying hat tricks.

The Orange on the Road

The Orange will play against St. John’s on March 7 in Kennesaw, Georgia at 1 p.m. This is SU’s first game away from the Carrier Dome this season.

No. 2 Syracuse Blows Past No. 5 Virginia 15-9

Story & Postgame  video by Robin Deehan

Photo courtesy cuse.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The No. 2 Syracuse Orange soared to a 15-9 victory over the No. 5 Virginia Cavaliers Sunday afternoon at the Carrier Dome.

In the previous 31 meetings between Syracuse and Virginia, twelve games were decided by one goal, including five of the last eight, and six meetings were settled in overtime.

But this matchup told a different story between the two lacrosse powerhouses as Syracuse dominated Virginia in every aspect of play, outshooting the Cavaliers 50 to 31, winning ground balls 31 to 18 and controlling 20 of 27 face offs.

"I think we had a really good effort today, especially at the beginning of the game," SU head coach John Desko said. "I think our team was well-prepared coming in as far as who the personnel were they were going to cover today and what they would like to do offensively and defensively. I think Ben (Williams) did another terrific job giving us those possessions to put a lot of pressure on their defense. Just a complete effort to have the score the way it was in the first half. I think any coach in the country would be happy with that effort."

Syracuse also capitalized on crucial man-up opportunities scoring five goals, the most since the 2012 BIG EAST tournament against St. John’s.

“They’re very aggressive and we thought that we could pull them out and create some seams,” attack  Kevin Rice said. “I think especially after the first couple we got a good feel for their man-down and with our motion we pulled them out and opened up passing lanes.”

First Half Dominance

Nicky Galasso got things rolling with back-to-back goals in the first three minutes of play giving SU the 2-0 advantage. 

Rice, Paolo Ciferri, Derek DeJoe, Jordan Evans and Dylan Donahue followed Galasso’s lead, taking turns to score putting the Orange up 7-0.

SU’s dominance at the faceoff combined with outstanding defensive pressure held Virginia scoreless through the first 26 minutes of play.

The Cavaliers finally got on the board when Greg Coholan scored unassisted 3:39 before the half trying contain the score into halftime at 7-1.

But Galasso decided to end the first half the same way he started it and scored unassisted with 16 seconds left on the clock sending the Orange into the locker room with the 8-1 advantage.

“I think we did a really good job today offensively, we moved the ball well and you have to give the credit to Ben getting us the possessions and the defense did very well so it was a team effort today and I thought we played awesome,” Galasso said.

A Scary Moment in the Second Half

Virginia had better luck at the start of the second half scoring back-to-back goals in the first five minutes.

But Syracuse answered back with three straight goals from Rice, Tom Grimm and Ryan Tucker extending the Orange lead to nine.

The Cavaliers' best chance to turn the tide of the game came in the fourth quarter when faceoff specialist Williams exited the game with an arm injury.

Williams had won 15 of 19 draws, but a prepared Zach Vehar stepped in winning 5 of 7 draws allowing SU to keep the momentum going.

“It was good experience for Vehar today,” Desko said. “In one way we feel good that we will get Ben back for next week and we had another guy who got a lot of good experience today.”

Virginia scored the final two goals of the game eight seconds apart but it was too little too late as Syracuse collected its first top five win of the season improving to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the ACC.

“It felt a little like men and boys out there at times,” Virginia head coach Dom Starsia said. “You go into a game like that thinking you want to stay out of the penalty box and do all those little things but we weren’t able to accomplish them.”

The Cavaliers dropped to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the ACC.

Playmakers

Eight different Orange men found the back of the cage in the 15-9 win.

Kevin Rice led all players with seven points on three goals and four assists while Galasso chipped in with four goals of his own.

Dylan Donahue recorded a hat trick and Barber, DeJoe, Evans, Tom Grimm and Ciferri each had one.

Randy Staats dished out four helpers and goal keeper Bobby Wardwell made a season high 11 saves.

Coholan, Ryan Tucker, and Zed Williams each had a pair for the Cavaliers and goalkeeper Matt Barrett put forth a valiant defensive effort with 20 saves on the day.

Up Next

Syracuse will face its firs test away from the Dome Saturday, March 7 against former BIG EAST rival St. John’s in Kennesaw, Georgia as part of the Cobb County Classic Series.

Faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Post game Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuAiW55XxKE&feature=youtu.be

Orange Women's Lacrosse Drops First Game of the Season

By Jessica Eley

The Syracuse Orange women's lacrosse was upset by the Boston College Eagles (4-0, 1-0 ACC) 10-9, Saturday afternoon at the Dome.

Syracuse (5-1, 1-1 ACC) is now 12-1 all-time against BC.

"They controlled the game, played at their pace," head coach SU Gary Gait said. "I congratulate them."

Halle Majorana finished with two goals and two assists, Taylor Gait finished with two goals for the Orange.

Treanor Shut Down

SU's top scorer and the top scorer in the nation, Kayla Treanor, was shut out by the Eagles.

"We put one of our biggest strongest, most mentally tough kids on her and just told her to shut her down," BC head coach Acacia Walker said. "She's arguably one of the best players in the country if not the best."

Treanor has 25 points on the season. The Orange not having its strongest offensive weapon hurt.

"She needs to learn and grow from this," Gait said. "She usually does really well against the face guard, she just got really frustrated and it kind of took her out of the game a little bit."

Without Treanor, SU was held to nine points, its lowest scoring game of the season.

Close Second Half 

The Orange and BC were tied at five coming out of the locker room at halftime.

A goal by BC's Mikaela Rix gave the Eagles a one-point advantage early in the second half.

Three minutes later, Taylor Gait scored her second goal of the afternoon to tie the game.

The game was back and forth until the Eagles scored twice in a row to lead 10-8 with 1:29 left.

"It reminded me a lot of a basketball game," Coach Gait said. "Coming down to the last couple of plays, who has possession? They finish now we're playing catchup. We get one, then can't quite get the ball again...and time runs out."

Senior defender, Mallory Vehar, said the team did something different on defense.

"It was giving them more time to hold on to the ball, which wasn't really a problem until the end," Vehar said.

Coach Gait said the last couple of minutes, he moved the team into a matchup pressure.

"We were just trying to get the ball back," Gait said.

But after SU closed it to one on Riley Donahue's goal with 44 seconds left BC won the draw and held on to possession until the clock ran out, giving the Eagles the victory.

Up Next

Syracuse will take on the defending national champions and the no. 1 ranked Maryland Terrapins in College Park next Saturday.  The Orange lost to Maryland 15-12 in last year's title game.

Winslow's Career High 23 Points Power Duke Past Syracuse, 73-54

By Julia Morris

Durham, N.C. -- Last year, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim didn't hold back his emotions in the final seconds of the Orange’s game against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.  Boeheim ran onto Coach K Court and tried to rip off his jacket before getting ejected.  This year though, it was No. 4 Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski who let his feelings be known during the rematch of the two teams on his home court.

 

About five minutes into the second half, freshman Justise Winslow pulled up for a three right next to the Duke bench.  Winslow’s shot hit nothing but net, sending the Cameron Crazies into a frenzy.  As the fans cheered and Winslow turned to run back down court, Coach K ran next to him, wound up and gave him a huge high five.

Krzyzewski had good reason to be amped for Winslow.  The basket brought his point total to 18 for the night and helped Duke pull away from the Orange for good, increasing the Blue Devils’ lead to 13, 44-31.  From there, Winslow continued to roll - finishing with a career high 23 points.  And so did Duke. Backed by the freshman’s strong performance, the Blue Devils (26-3, 13-3 ACC) defeated the Orange (18-11, 9-7) by a final score of 73-54.

“I thought Okafor is difficult down low but Justise Winslow was the difference tonight,” Boeheim said. “He made a couple of big threes and got in the lane.”

Syracuse Keeps It Close at Start of First Half, but Duke Pulls Away in Final Minutes

While Duke pulled away in the second half, the game was close in the opening minutes. 

Syracuse even had a lead early on when Tyler Roberson hit a basket down low with 15:41 left in the half to put Syracuse up 8-6.  Roberson, who finished the game with sixteen points, was effective in the opening frame,  scoring six of the team’s first eight points.

“He started the game great,” Boeheim. “It helps when nobody is guarding you.”

While Roberson started off strong, other Syracuse players struggled to get going.  Trevor Cooney’s first three-point attempt of the night sailed left of the basket, completely missing the rim – and the air ball was only the start of his struggles. Cooney, who has been battling a bad back, finished the first half 1-of-8 from the field and 0-of-4 from three-point range. 

“It’s tough for me I would love to be one hundred percent,” Cooney said. “But it happens in the game of basketball you have to keep playing hard and that’s what I’m going to do.” 

Syracuse shot 29 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.  Because of the Orange’s struggles, Duke started to take control about midway through the first. Syracuse's last lead was 13-12 with 11:16 left. Winslow put Duke ahead with a layup and after SU tied it, he hit his first three of the night with 8:06 left in the half to give Duke a 20-16 lead.  After sinking the shot, he quickly turned around, stopped and stared at the Crazies as they erupted.  The freshman then went on to score the next two baskets for the Blue Devils, both of them in the paint, to give Duke a 24-16 lead.

 

“It makes it a lot easier because he gets to the rim, he gets fouled and he’s hitting his jumper,” Duke senior Quinn Cook said. “When he does that we’re a really scary team.”

Overall, the Blue Devils outscored Syracuse 24-14 down low in the opening half.

Freshman standout Jahlil Okafor contributed to those points down low.  Although Winslow was the clear star of the first half for the Blue Devils, Okafor was a strong presence on the boards, grabbing five offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes.  He made a putback layup with 2:28 to go to give Duke a nine point lead.   The Blue Devils held on to that lead heading into the break, up 34-25.

Duke Extends Lead in Second Half

Duke never gave up its lead in the second half and led by as much as 21points in the final twenty minutes.  The Blue Devils continued to stifle the Orange’s offense, holding them to 32-percent shooting from the field and 16 percent from behind the arc in the second half.

“We played really good defense tonight,” Krzyzewski said.  “I am proud of my guys because they (Syracuse) are a tough team obviously.  Our defense was terrific tonight.”

Christmas made a basket over several Duke defenders to cut the Blue Devils’ lead to seven with 17:22 left but Winslow made his big three-pointer shortly after to push the Duke lead back to thirteen. 

Even when Syracuse had open looks, the Orange often could not finish.  Gbinije had a wide-open layup with 14:02 left but the ball rolled off the rim.  The junior finished the game with 12 points but shot only 5-of-20 from the field.

“Mike missed four layups,” Boeheim said. “You miss, threes that happens. You can’t miss layups.”

Christmas, who fouled out of the Orange’s last game against Notre Dame, ran into more foul trouble against the Blue Devils. He picked up his fourth foul with a little less than 14 minutes to go in the second half. He stayed in the game and fouled out with 9:42 left.

The Orange’s leading scorer also had trouble contributing on offense.  Just as he struggled to assert his presence against Okafor down low at the Carrier Dome, Christmas couldn’t get open looks on Coack K Court.  He finished the game with only six shots from the field. Christmas had eleven points and five rebounds total.

“We’re going to need Rak to win and we didn’t give him as many touches as we should have this game,” Gbinije said.

Syracuse as a whole did not play as well against the Blue Devils as it did when Duke was at the Carrier Dome earlier in the month.  While the Valentine’s Day matchup was close, Duke was in control for most of the game at Cameron Indoor.

 

With 6:22 left to play, Tyus Jones stole the ball from Kaleb Joseph and fed it to Quinn Cook, who laid it in to put Duke up 60-42.  The senior finished the night with 17 points for the Blue Devils.

“I’m just shooting my shots confidently,” Cook said.  “I know I’m going to get shots and good looks because my teammates are great passers so I’m just fortunate enough to hit one.”

And while Cook was effective, it was Winslow who continued to shine.  He scored one last layup with 1:16 left to put Duke up 70-52 in a game that had long since been decided.

“Against the zone, I was in the middle a lot but I wanted to keep moving so Syracuse would have to keep their eyes on me,” Winslow said.  “I was going from the high post to the corners, just trying to stay active…we just wanted to go out there and compete and that’s what we did as a team tonight.”

Up Next

Syracuse will face its third ranked opponent in a row on Monday night when the Orange takes on Virginia in their final home game of the season.  Tip off is set for 7 p.m.

Duke has now won nine games in a row.  The Blue Devils will look to continue their streak when they host Wake Forest on Wednesday, March 4.  Game time is 8 p.m.

Syracuse Women's Lacrosse Suffers First Setback of the Season with 10-9 Loss to Boston College

Story By Robin Deehan

Photo by Cuse.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The No. 7/6 Boston College Eagles edged the No. 3/2 Syracuse Orange 10-9 Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome to hand SU its first loss of the season.

13 team turnovers, lack of possession and the complete shutdown of SU’s most effective scorer plagued the Orange women as they fell to 5-1 overall and 1-1 in the ACC.

“I give Boston College a lot of credit for sticking it out, they won a close game and they got it done,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. “We're still trying to find our identity with the roster we have and who is going to do what. We got to experience a very good shutoff on the offensive end and we turned around and made some mistakes and gave them the ball for a while and you don't see it for another five minutes. They definitely controlled the game and played at their pace and I congratulate them."

First Half

Syracuse jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first three minutes of play with Halle Majorana, Taylor Gait and Kailah Kempney each finding the back of the cage.

But BC quickly regained composure and answered back by scoring three unanswered goals to tie it up in the span of five minutes.

SU and BC would go goal-for-goal on the next three scores giving SU the 5-4 advantage with 12:54 left before the half. 

But with just :23 seconds left on the clock, Mikaela Rix drove and dished to Covie Stanwick who faked high and shot low past SU keeper Kelsey Richardson to send both teams into the locker room tied at five.

Second Half Possession

The Eagles saw their first lead of the game scoring just 1:55 into the second half.

SU and BC traded the next six goals and headed into the final 10 minutes of play tied at eight.

But that changed at the 7:26 mark when BC’s Stanwick dodged an SU defender for an open shot she was able to punch in, to steal the lead back for the Eagles.

The next draw was won by SU but Taylor Gait’s equalizer was denied by the post.

SU's Taylor Poplawski scooped up the ground ball but the BC defense forced a turnover and maintained possession for three and a half minutes.

“The game plan was to just be really smart with our possessions and to try to lengthen the possession time so that we could wait for the right opportunity because you can’t get into a shootout with Syracuse because you will lose every time,” Boston College head coach Acacia Walker said.

During this crucial BC possession, the SU defense applied more aggressive one-on-one defensive pressure but were blanked when BC’s Stanwick found Caroline Margolis wide open in front of the cage putting the Eagles up 10-8 with 1:28 left to play.

“At the end of the game when a team is trying to stall and just spread out the field and pass around, it’s probably the hardest thing to play with in the last minutes,” SU defender Mallory Vehar said.  “You need the ball back and you are busting your butt so it’s definitely frustrating to say the least.”

On SU’s very next possession, Riley Donahue slipped one past BC keeper Zoe Ochoa with 44 seconds remaining to put the Orange back within one.

But BC’s Rachel Igoe won the draw control and played keep away as time expired giving the Eagles the upset win to improve to 4-0 on the season and 1-0 in the ACC.

“The great thing is they don’t hand out trophies in February that’s for sure, and we have an incredible schedule to go out and get better,” Gary Gait said.

The Treanor Effect

Junior Kayla Treanor, who currently leads the nation in points this season with 25, was face guarded all game and was held to no goals, no assists and no shots on goal.

“We put one of our biggest, strongest, most mentally tough kids on her [Treanor] and just told her to shut her down, try to not let her get the ball,” Walker said. “She’s arguably one of the best players in the country, if not the best, we have to do everything we can to stop her she’s just too good.”

Treanor, one of the 50 members on the 2015 Tewaaraton Award watch list, only recorded one draw control and one turnover in the Orange loss.

“She usually does pretty well against a face-guard,” Gary Gait said. “I think she just got frustrated and it kind of took her out of the game a little bit.”

Majorana led all Orange women with four points on two goals and two assists and Taylor Gait chipped in with a pair of goals. 

Stanwick and Margolis each recorded four points for the Eagles.

Boston College Makes History

Saturday afternoon marked the first time in 13 meetings between the Orange and the Eagles that BC came away with the victory.

“It marks history for Boston College lacrosse, I think the biggest thing is that it makes them proud to be a Boston College Eagle and to be a party of history as a team is incredible,” Walker said. “We have a ton of individual records at school but no one cares about that, we only care about the wins and today was a big day for us.”

For Walker it was also personal, she was a former player for Gary Gait when he was an assistant coach at Maryland.  

“I’ve looked up to Gary my whole life, I’ve tried to emulate him in almost everything I do, he’s just a phenomenal coach and it feels good to win, but I’ve got to give all the credit to my girls,” Walker said.

Up Next

The Orange women will face their first road test Saturday, March 7 when they travel to College Park to face No. 1 Maryland.

The last time these two teams met was May 25, 2014 in the NCAA Division I National Championship game at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland.

The Orange fell 15-12.

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.