BC Closes Regular Season With Red Bandana Win Over No. 4 Syracuse
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
Sydney Scales turned a nightmare into a Red Bandana Game highlight under the Friday night lights of Alumni Stadium.
The Boston College sophomore defender watched Syracuse attacker Emily Hawryschuk deflect her pass and Orange freshman Olivia Adamson scoop up the subsequent ground ball. Adamson quickly pushed possession well past midfield, flinging a pass to Megan Carney, who had a sea of green in front of her and a 1-on-1 with BC goalie Rachel Hall.
“Acacia [Walker-Weinstein] said at the beginning of the game, ‘When you make a mistake, just forget about it. We’re gonna make mistakes, we’re not going to be perfect,'" Scales said. "I obviously turned the ball over, big mistake, but immediately just set my sights on, ‘Go get it back.’
“And I just chased her as hard as I can—gave it my all to try to get it back.”
Scales’ all was enough. She came soaring into frame and back checked Carney, redeeming herself and, more importantly, preventing what could have been a game-tying and fifth straight fourth-quarter goal for the Orange.
“Sydney epitomizes mental toughness in everything that she does,” Walker-Weinstein, the Eagles’ ninth-year head coach, said postgame. “She’s so reliable. She is such a superstar.”
After Scales’ hustle play, BC regained possession, and Walker-Weinstein called a timeout, which set the stage for Belle Smith’s career-high-tying fifth goal that gave the Eagles a cushion they wouldn’t relinquish.
BC closed the regular season with a 15-13 win over a familiar yet different Syracuse team—a group the Eagles faced in last year’s National Championship, except now is coached by former BC associate head coach Kayla Treanor and former BC icon Kenzie Kent.
The reunion added juice to the national title game rematch, which drew more than 4,500 fans.
And, for a while, Friday’s game was panning out just like that National Championship. No. 4 Syracuse (13-4, 6-2 ACC) staked itself to a first-quarter advantage, No. 3 BC (14-2, 6-2) bounced back to take a one-goal halftime lead and then caught fire in the latter portion of play.
This edition of the rivalry had an extra chapter, though: a four-goal Orange comeback bid.
At first, however, BC was the team that needed to dig itself out of a hole. Syracuse scored four of the game’s first six goals. BC was controlling the circle and possession. The Orange, on the other hand, were more efficient with the ball.
Meaghan Tyrrell, who finished with four goals on four shots, was Syracuse’s flag bearer on that front. Unfortunately for Treanor’s team, its four-goal surge in the first quarter was followed by an 11-minute scoring drought that allowed BC to tie the game and then take the lead.
Sophomore midfielder Kayla Martello scored back-to-back goals, the second on a free-position opportunity that was a byproduct of one of many Syracuse three-second violations, to tie the game at 4-4. Then—to cap a relentless, woman-up possession—Charlotte North drew a double team and dished a pass to Cassidy Weeks in traffic. Weeks scored to put BC ahead.
Soon after, Smith finished off a give-and-go with Caitlynn Mossman to increase the Eagles’ advantage to 6-4. Syracuse, however, got back on track with a pair of goals.
Before half, Hall caused a Hawryschuk turnover, which allowed North to work her magic on the other end. The reigning Tewaaraton winner wrapped around the cage and floated a pass to Smith, who cashed in with a quick-stick goal with 2.8 seconds remaining in the period.
A shorthanded Eagles goal to start the third quarter seemed to take the wind out of Syracuse’s sails. BC outscored the Orange, 5-2, in the frame. The Eagles won 5-of-6 ground balls, 5-of-7 draws and logged two free-position goals, most notably a heat-seeking missile from North.
North, now one of three active players with at least 400 career points, starred in the third quarter, piling up three points and two draws. She even put Syracuse defender Bianca Chevarie in the spin cycle earlier in the period.
To make matters worse for the Orange, Courtney Taylor won the fourth quarter’s first draw, and Smith added an insurance goal, courtesy of a Jenn Medjid assist.
That’s when Tyrrell took over. A Tewaaraton top-25 nominee, Tyrrell—the older sister of Syracuse’s prolific duo—jumpstarted a 4-0 Orange run, scoring or assisting on the first three Syracuse goals in that game-changing spurt.
She turned heads by somehow switching her stick from right to left before angling a near-post shot past Hall and falling to the turf.
The goal came after Katelyn Mashewske helped Syracuse win back-to-back draws for the first time all night. The Orange ended up winning four in a row in the circle, the third of which led to a Hawryschuk goal.
Ultimately, Scales’ heroic redemption play brought Syracuse’s sub-three-minute scoring spree to a screeching halt.
When Walker-Weinstein called the timeout, the message was simple.
“We knew we needed to score in that moment,” Smith said. “So it was all about taking our time and finding the right shot. Fortunately, Caitlynn Mossman was finding me a lot tonight. And that’s all on her. She’s a great feeder.
“I was just in the right place at the right time.”
Trailing behind the cage, Mossman located Smith in front of the crease, and the sophomore middie put the ball in the corner of the net.
Medjid pushed BC’s lead to three, and, although Hawryschuk got the Orange back within two, the Eagles held on for the victory.
North said that, after BC’s loss to Duke in Durham last weekend, she and her team wanted more “fight” this time around. Fittingly, fight was the theme of the Eagles’ purposeful performance during a night in which they honored the late Welles Crowther.
“Having each other’s backs is also something we talk about,” North said. “We wanted to demonstrate that.
“And I think we did that tonight.”
