A Reunion of Stars, Past and Present: BC-Syracuse
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
Emily Hawryschuk became Syracuse’s all-time goals leader Tuesday against Albany. The graduate student, who missed practically all of last season with an ACL tear, surpassed her head coach, Kayla Treanor.
Boston College’s Charlotte North etched her name in the league record books earlier this season by recording the most goals in ACC history, one-upping her assistant coach, Sam Apuzzo—BC’s first-ever Tewaaraton Award winner.
Both Hawryschuk and North are bonafide stars who are linchpins of top-four teams. And they’re coached by two of the sport’s more recent legends.
Who have a shared history.
Before there was Charlotte North, there was Kayla Treanor. A three-time Tewaaraton finalist, Treanor was a difference maker at Syracuse from the moment she began her Orange playing career. She was the ACC Offensive Player of the Year in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and she was part of the NCAA All-Tournament Team each of her four seasons.
Outside of winning a national championship—Syracuse lost the 2014 national title game to Maryland—and taking home the Tewaaraton, Treanor accomplished just about everything a player could have dreamed of.
She was even ahead of the curve when it came to star attackers taking over the draw circle. In fact, Treanor’s 217 draws in 2016 stood as an NCAA record until 2019.
But, by 2019, Treanor was well into her next chapter. She was mentoring the sport’s newest star: Sam Apuzzo, at the time, the reigning Tewaaraton winner.
After graduating from Syracuse, Treanor was an assistant coach at Harvard before being hired away by BC’s Acacia Walker-Weinstein. Treanor spent four years with the Eagles, eventually being promoted to associate head coach and helping not only Apuzzo but also Dempsey Arsenault and Kenzie Kent pilot a prolific BC offense that continued to put the program on the biggest stage.
Although that trio didn’t win a national title for the Eagles—despite two tries as a complete group—they were the top-three picks in the 2019 WPLL Draft and flag bearers for the sport.
Apuzzo ended up serving as a graduate assistant for BC in 2020 before being promoted to assistant coach in 2021, a season in which everything finally came together for the Eagles. Two of the sport’s most influential attackers, Treanor and Apuzzo, were coaching a third, North, who reset the NCAA single-season goals record while leading the Eagles to their first-ever championship.
After securing her elusive national title, Treanor grabbed the perfect job. She replaced Gary Gait—who took over Syracuse’s men’s lacrosse program—as the Orange’s women’s head coach. And she recruited Kent to be one of her assistants.
Kent, the daughter of BC defensive coordinator Jen Kent, was a dual-sport star at BC. In addition to her prowess on the field, she made a name for herself on the ice, finishing her ice hockey career eighth in BC history in career points and fourth in career assists. While setting the program’s record for games played (157), Kent was part of three Frozen Four teams.
Playing hockey cut three of her four lacrosse seasons short. But she still made an impact, like in 2017 when she piled up 77 points in 12 games, earning the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Award after BC’s surprise run to the final. She redshirted the 2018 season to have a full 2019 campaign with Walker-Weinstein’s program.
When all was said and done, Kent wrapped her BC lacrosse career with 255 points (124 goals, 131 assists).
Now, she’s working under her old associate head coach (Treanor) as an assistant coach. And she’s about to coach against her old head coach (Walker-Weinstein), mom (Jen Kent) and teammate (Apuzzo). It’s confusing in writing but, simultaneously, fascinating.
The connections between BC and Syracuse are uncanny.
And that’s without mentioning the obvious: The programs faced off in last year’s National Championship.
They’re meeting for the first time since Friday night in Alumni Stadium in the teams’ regular season finale.
Yet again, Syracuse has endured critical injuries, most notably losing star middie Emma Tyrrell for the season. And BC has lost a pair of one-goal games to North Carolina and Duke.
They’re both out of the running for the ACC regular season title.
But they each have the talent to make another run at a national title.
Not just on the field but on the sidelines, too.
