Syracuse women’s lacrosse bested 15-13 in Kayla Treanor’s return to Boston College
SU lacrosse loses 15-13 in Treanor's return to Boston College
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — The stakes weren’t as high as they were last May, but the outcome was still familiar.
Despite a furious fourth-quarter comeback, Syracuse (13-4) ultimately fell 15-13 to Boston College (14-2) in a rematch of the 2021 National Championship game.
“We really wanted to come in here and make up for last year’s loss,” senior attacker and captain Meaghan Tyrrell said. “We didn’t do that tonight but moving forward, hopefully, we’ll see them again.”
Though the game had significance for all involved, for first-year SU head coach Kayla Treanor, the game meant much more than a showdown between top-five teams.
Treanor spent her last four years as an assistant on the Boston College staff, including facing off against the majority of this year’s Syracuse team in the national title game. She then took the head coaching job at her alma mater less than a month later.
“They were a big part of my life and growing up here,” Treanor said. “I really appreciate the time I got to spend with them and them being mentors for me.”
After the game, Treanor chatted with her former colleagues on the BC coaching staff, as well as fifth-year Eagles attacker Charlotte North. The two former National Players of the Year spent about ten minutes together, sharing a few laughs as cameras flashed from all sides.
North played a big part in the win, scoring three goals and adding three assists to lead all players in points. The Eagles also got a big lift from sophomore attacker Belle Smith, who matched her career high with five goals.
“They were a really special group of girls,” Treanor said. “It’s good to see people that you care about and I’m happy for their success.”
On the Syracuse side, there were both strong stretches and extended lulls. The Orange allowed a 4-0 run to the Eagles between the end of the first quarter and the first nine minutes of the second. They answered with a four-goal run of their own in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to one goal, but BC eventually seized momentum back.
Boston College players celebrate after scoring a goal during a game at Alumni Stadium on Friday.
Syracuse Head Coach Kayla Treanor pleads her case to the officials at halftime on Friday.
Sophomore BC defender Sydney Scales made an incredible maneuver to poke the ball free from SU attacker Megan Carney’s stick and recover the ball on the fly. Smith scored her fifth goal of the game shortly thereafter.
Carney played Friday after missing the previous three games due to a nagging injury that has limited her since the team played Temple on March 26. She finished with a goal and an assist, as well as a career-high four turnovers.
“We didn’t really possess the ball on offense,” Tyrrell said. “Off the draw, we couldn’t grab it. [There were] a lot of things that went into it, not one specific thing.”
Though the game finished just 16-15 in draw controls due to Syracuse winning eight of the final nine, draw struggles were a key reason for the deficit the Orange faced throughout most of the game. Junior draw specialist Kate Mashewske ended the game with 11 draw controls but also turned the ball over three times.
Mashewske has had three turnovers just one other time in her career—last year’s national title game.
“I think she just has to be confident with the ball and not want to just give it up,” Treanor said. “She can take it to goal if she wants. I think she picked it up and was able to be more confident in the fourth quarter.”
It was one of the sloppier, more physical games SU has played all season, and the pace seemed to work out in the Eagles’ favor. The hosts totaled eight free-position chances to four for the Orange, plus Syracuse midfielder Jenny Markey was forced to leave the game due to a pair of yellow cards, the first time a Syracuse player has been disqualified all season.
“They got three goals in man up and a bunch of goals on free positions,” Treanor said. “That’s tough, we don’t have a lot of control over that, but we were able to come back and make it a game.”
Syracuse will now look forward to the ACC Tournament, leaving for the opening round at Notre Dame on Wednesday. As the fourth seed, due to finishing with the worst goal differential in the three-way tie for second place in the regular season, the Orange will face either Virginia or the host Irish, depending on Notre Dame’s result against Louisville Saturday.
Moving forward, Treanor and her squad know that they will have to go through teams like the Eagles to accomplish their ultimate goal of winning a national championship.
Games like this one and the close loss on April 2 against No. 1 North Carolina have proven that the Orange are right there with the nation’s best… but they still have improvements to make.
“I just don’t think we played our best lacrosse tonight,” Treanor said. “Hopefully we get another chance to play these guys in the postseason.”
is an aspiring baseball and football analyst and contributor for The NewsHouse with a knack for pointing out the funniest thing that happened on the field.
is a multimedia, photography and design graduate student and contributor for The NewsHouse.
