Syracuse gave Boston College its toughest test of the regular season and the Orange had the No. 1 ranked Eagles on the ropes on a rainy Friday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals, but BC scored four goals in the final seven minutes of the game to post a 14-13 victory.
The game was tied eight times before No. 4 Syracuse (15-4) went on a four-goal run to take a 13-10 lead on Meaghan Tyrrell’s goal with 8:10 remaining in the contest.
Syracuse dominated the draw for most of the game, but following Tyrrell’s goal, Sam Apuzzo won the draw and Dempsey Arsenault converted a man-up goal to cut the Orange lead to 13-11 with 6:53 left.
Syracuse won the next draw, but BC goalie Lauren Daly, who came on in relief of starter Abbey Ngai in the second half, made a big stop to give the Eagles the ball and Cara Urbank scored on an assist from Arsenault with 5:29 left.
Apuzzo won the next draw for BC, but the Eagles turned the ball over to Syracuse. BC’s defense came up big in forcing a long clearing opportunity and Syracuse ultimately turned it back over on a shot clock violation
Syracuse goalie Asa Goldstock saved a free position attempt with just over two minutes to play, but the Orange turned it over on the clear and Apuzzo tied the game with just 1:40 to play.
BC won the draw and converted as Taylor Walked buried a backhand shot from Arsenault with just 17 seconds to play to give the Eagles a 14-13 advantage.
BC STAYS UNBEATEN! WOW.
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 26, 2019
Taylor Walker with the BACKHANDER with 17 seconds left to cap a four-goal rally and give @BCwlax the 14-13 win over @CuseWLAX in an epic @ACCWLax semifinal.
Walker, Apuzzo and Arsenault with 3G. pic.twitter.com/TX1YViLYgQ
Syracuse’s Emily Hawryschuk was awarded the ensuing draw after a violation on the Eagles, but Apuzzo caused a turnover to deny the Orange a final chance to tie the game.
Arsenault led the Eagles (19-0) with three goals and two assists and Apuzzo and Walker each had hat tricks. Hawryschuk led the Orange with four goals and 12 draw controls.
The second ACC semifinal between Duke and North Carolina was postponed until Saturday at noon due to storms. The winner of that game will meet Boston College on Sunday in the championship game.
Pac-12 Tournament
No. 18 USC scored the first five goals of the game and cruised to a 16-5 victory over Cal in the semifinal round of the Pac-12 tournament at the University of Oregon. Izzy McMahon led the Trojans with five goals. McMahon scored four of her goals in the first half to help the Trojans to a 12-2 halftime lead.
USC is making its first appearance in the Pac-12 championship game and will meet Colorado on Sunday for the title. The Buffs started slow against No. 19 Stanford, but then poured it on in a 16-9 victory.
Stanford led 4-2 a little over 10 minutes into the game before Colorado scored eight goals in the final 17 minutes of the first half to take a 10-7 halftime lead. Stanford scored first to open the second half, but Colorado answered with five straight goals to take command.
Sadie Grozier scored five goals to lead the Buffs and Miranda Stinson added four goals and two assists. Julia Lisella made 12 saves to earn the win. Stanford was led by Areta Buness with three goals.
Atlantic 10 Tournament
Top-seeded Massachusetts got six goals from senior Kiley Anderson to down Saint Joseph’s 20-11 in the Atlantic 10 semifinal round. Kaitlyn Cerasi added four goals and three assists in the game with featured more than a two-hour delay for lightning.
UMass will meet Richmond in a rematch of last year’s A-10 championship game, which Richmond won 12-11 in overtime to end Massachusetts’ run of nine straight Atlantic 10 championships.
The Spiders advanced to the championship game by blitzing No. 2 seed and tournament host George Mason 19-4. Marissa Brown led the Spiders offense with four goals and four assists and Megan Gianforte made nine saves while allowing just three goals.
Big South Tournament
Sophomore Abby Hormes set a High Point single-season scoring record as the Panthers beat Campbell 16-9 in the semifinal round of the Big South tournament. Hormes had five goals and an assist to give her 92 points this season, breaking the old mark of 87 set by Samantah Brown in 2017 and tied last year by Brooke Stevens.
Winthrop used a five-goal run in the second half to break open a one-goal game and beat Longwood 12-9 in the second Big South semifinal. Mia Creighton had two goals and an assist during the key run and led the Eagles with three goals and two assists.
Winthop will play at High Point on Sunday in the Big South championship game.
MPSF Tournament
Kirstie Greenlaw and Harlowe Steele each scored five goals as San Diego State beat Fresno State 18-15 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinal. Leading 11-10 midway through the second half, Steele and Greenlaw scored back-to-back goals to ignite a four-goal run for the Aztecs and SDSU eventually led by as many as six before Fresno scored the final three goals of the game.
San Diego State advances to play UC Davis in Sunday's championship game.
Notable
• Loyola completed its sixth straight undefeated regular season in the Patriot League with an 18-3 win over Holy Cross, giving head coach Jen Adams her 150th career victory. Livy Rosensweig had a goal and seven assists to set the school’s single-season assists record with 54, breaking Annie Thomas’ mark of 51.
• Mount St. Mary’s won a school-record 11th straight game, defeating Sacred Heart 17-6 to clinch its first Northeast Conference regular season title since 2007. The Mountaineers will host the NEC tourney May 2-4.
• No. 15 Denver completed the Big East with a perfect 5-0 record after beating Villanova 14-8. Quintin Hoch-Bullen and Eliza Radochonski each had hat tricks for the Pioneers. Denver will be the No. 1 seed for the Big East tournament next weekend at Marquette.
• Kellie Gough scored five goals as Lehigh beat American 20-3 to wrap up the final spot for the Patriot League women’s lacrosse tournament. Lehigh, the No. 6 seed, visits No. 3 seed Army on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the quarterfinal round. Boston University and Colgate meet in Sunday’s other quarterfinal.
Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20 Scoreboard
No. 1 Boston College 14, No. 4 Syracuse 13
No. 3 North Carolina vs. Duke, ppd to 4/27 at 12 p.m.
No. 11 Loyola 18, Holy Cross 3
No. 15 Denver 14, Villanova 8
No. 18 USC 16, Cal 5
Colorado 16, No. 19 Stanford 9
Other Scores
Colgate 13, Lafayette 12
Elon 12, William & Mary 9
High Point 16, Campbell 9
Lehigh 20, American 3
Liberty 22, Howard 0
Massachusetts 20, St. Joseph’s 11
Mount St. Mary’s 17, Sacred Heart 6
Richmond 19, George Mason 4
Robert Morris 12, Bryant 11
San Diego State 18, Fresno State 15
St. Francis 13, Central Connecticut 9
Wagner 19, LIU Brooklyn 10
Winthrop 12, Longwood 9