Boston College’s women’s lacrosse team, ranked No. 5, pulled off a thrilling comeback win over the No. 1 Syracuse Orange, with a score of 17-16 on Thursday night, securing the top seed for the ACC Tournament.
Despite Syracuse having a five-goal lead on five separate occasions and leading 11-6 at halftime, BC turned the game around in the second half, scoring five of the final six goals to secure the victory. Belle Smith and McKenna Davis led the scoring for BC, with Smith assisting Davis for the game-winning goal. Freshman Shea Dolce, who was the top-ranked incoming goalie, made 12 saves in the second half to help seal the win for BC.
“At halftime, we just totally regrouped. We weren’t playing well. We weren’t shooting well. We were making the mistakes that we sort of talked about not making, so we just refocused and got back to our game plan,” said BC coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein. “Really proud of the girls. It’s a really good Syracuse team. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of them.”
BC’s tenacity and poise throughout the game were also lauded by Coach Walker-Weinstein. “In a game that showed BC’s poise and tenacity as much as any this year, it was the freshman goalie who perhaps showed it most. I’m just really proud of her resilience as a freshman, to be able to put together this performance is really remarkable,” said Walker-Weinstein. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it before, so I’m so proud of her. She held it together for the team today.”
BC’s victory over Syracuse also secured a share of the ACC regular-season title, with attention now turning to the ACC Tournament, which begins on Sunday in Charlotte, North Carolina. BC will play the winner of Louisville-Duke in Wednesday’s quarterfinal round.
“We’re just excited to be in the position we’re in and to be able to compete in the ACC Tournament,” said Walker-Weinstein. “We’re looking forward to seeing what we can do and hopefully we can continue to build on what we’ve accomplished so far this season.”
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