After 70 minutes of hard play, Boston College field hockey fell to the Syracuse Orange 3-2 in Newton, Mass. The Eagles struck first, scoring in the 13th and 25th minutes of the first half, but couldn’t hold the lead. Syracuse scored its final goal with 24 seconds remaining in the game to clinch a victory.
The Eagles came into the game with a 4-2 record. It was their first ACC game of the 2015 season. Last year, Syracuse knocked BC out of the ACC Tournament. Despite this, BC head coach Kelly Doton felt her team brought the same intense focus as always to the game.
“[With] any ACC opponent these guys are going to bring that energy,” she said. “Regardless if it’s Syracuse or UNC next week, they’re going to bring it.”
The Eagles did bring energetic, competitive play. Their first of six penalty corners occurred only a few minutes into the game. Although they failed to capitalize on their first penalty corner, they scored the first goal of the game off their second in the 13th minute. Junior Emily McCoy, the team’s points leader, scored her fourth goal of the season with a hard shot, giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Over the next 12 minutes, Syracuse was stifled several times by BC’s senior goalkeeper, Leah Settipane. Settipane, only three wins away from setting BC’s all-time career wins record, made great saves off of penalty corners to keep the Eagles in the lead.
With 10 minutes remaining in the half, a fast break led to another BC goal. Junior Leah Frome crossed the ball in front of Syracuse’s net. Despite Syracuse goalkeeper Jess Jecko’s best efforts, BC’s Lucy Lytle found the back of the net to double the lead.
Both teams had played aggressively throughout the first half. In the 11th minute, Syracuse midfielder Erin Gillingham was shown a green card. The next card came in the 32nd minute—BC captain Romée Steikema got a green card, and the Eagles played down for the next two minutes. Syracuse capitalized off of this with its first goal of the game just one minute later. Forward Emma Lamison passed to teammate Emma Russell on a fast break. Russell scored on Settipane to cut into the Eagles’ lead to 2-1.
The two teams started the second half with energy and competitive play. Frome and BC freshman Ymke Rose Gote were both shown cards for their aggressive play—Frome’s, a yellow card, meant BC played down for five minutes, while Gote’s green card put the Eagles at a disadvantage for two minutes.
Although both teams had opportunities to score throughout the second half, the first goal of the period came with just six minutes remaining in the game. Syracuse midfielder Alma Feene scored an unassisted goal to tie the game up. Her shot deflected off Settipane and found the top left corner of the net. With the game tied and just minutes remaining, the urgency picked up for both teams. Syracuse scored again with 24 seconds remaining to take its first lead of the game at 3-2. Lamison, who’d assisted the first goal for Syracuse, dodged a defender and found the back of the net.
“It was just one of those games where they fought really hard, they executed the game plan, and the final score wasn’t in our favor,” Doton said.
Although they scored the first two goals of the game, the Eagles could not hold on to the lead. Even with Settipane’s clutch saves, Syracuse found the back of the net three times and emerged with a 3-2 victory over the Eagles.
Featured Image by Daniella Fasciano / Heights Editor
