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Ten minutes into the first half, Boston College was getting closer and closer to scoring a goal. Syracuse seemed to be having the same problems it’s had all season. But when Lysianne Proulx punted the ball upfield to Telly Vunipola, the offense came to life.

Vunipola turned and began driving towards the BC goal. In front of her, Hannah Pilley and Meghan Root made darting runs behind the defense to Vunipola’s left and right. Vunipola chose left and sent Pilley in on goal. With the angle for a shot tightening, Pilley squared the ball to an onrushing Root, who tapped the ball into the net for Syracuse’s first shot of the game, first goal of the season and first lead of the season.

“I think (the first goal is) the weight of the world off their shoulders,” head coach Nicky Adams said. “We scored a goal, and it was a fantastic goal. It was a great transition, everything we’ve been working on.”

But the lead would last only 16 minutes, as Boston College (1-5, 1-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) picked up its first win of the season by storming back to beat Syracuse (0-6, 0-6) 3-1. The Eagles won two penalties, scored one and had one saved, but scored on the rebound. Proulx tied a career-high, single-game saves record with 14 after setting the record last week against UNC. After scoring on their first shot of the game, the Orange couldn’t find that finishing touch for the rest of the game.

“The problem is we stopped doing what was working, and that’s a problem, right?” Adams said. “We had plenty of opportunities to pull the trigger. We had prime opportunities to get in line, and we made poor choices.”

SU players were not made available for comment at the postgame press conference.

One of the biggest challenges for Syracuse is playing a complete game instead of just one good half, Adams said. It happened in the second half against Louisville and in the first half against North Carolina and Duke. Syracuse had the best return on offensive play in Thursday’s first half, when the team scored its first goal, but Boston College began to take control after.

Before the Syracuse goal, Boston College had already come close to scoring. Eagles head coach Jason Lowe said his team was, “wasting service down there,” as many of the Boston College crosses hit the first Syracuse defender.

But the breakthrough for Boston College came in the 25th minute, as Zoie Allen drove down the right side of the Syracuse defense. As Allen entered the box, Clarke Brown went to ground and seemed to tackle the ball before Allen, but as Allen tripped over Brown’s outstretched legs, the referee blew his whistle for a penalty. Assistant coach Brandon DeNoyer erupted on the sidelines and pleaded for the referee to check the pitchside monitor, but the referee stuck with the call.

Boston College’s leading scorer, Jenna Bike, stepped up and rifled a shot into the left side of the net as a diving Proulx was sent the wrong way. The first penalty call was a sign of things to come, as the referee’s decisions continued to affect the game.

The referee called fouls against Syracuse throughout the night, and the Orange displayed their frustration. DeNoyer pleaded for fouls to go Syracuse’s way, to no avail. Eventually, the referee showed a yellow card to DeNoyer for dissent.

In the second half, Kate Hostage received a long ball from the SU defense and was in on goal, only to be tackled in a challenge that was similar to the penalty called on Brown in the first half. Usually quiet, Adams went over to complain to the fourth official. Adams said she’s been happy with the refereeing throughout the season, but not tonight.

“I questioned a lot this evening. I don’t think the first (penalty kick) they called for them was a PK. I’m going to have to go back and watch, but what I remember is we cleanly got the ball, and then the girl tripped,” Adams said. “I don’t understand why we didn’t get a PK call when a player takes out Hostage’s legs and misses the ball completely.”

Despite the refereeing decisions, the Orange still failed to capitalize on any scoring chances they created after the first goal. The second BC goal, right before halftime, was a self-inflicted mistake. One of Brown’s throw-ins went right to an Eagles player, and on the ensuing counter-attack, Laura Gouvin lasered a shot into the bottom left corner minutes before halftime to give Boston College a lead it wouldn’t give up. The third and final goal came off a penalty decision that Adams agreed with, as Proulx saved the penalty, but Boston College scored the rebound.

“I thought we were poor defensively in the first half, we were matched up on the middle, but we were giving them way too much space,” Adams said. “I just honestly think we were our own worst enemy a lot of the times in the second half, just not taking care of the ball.”

For a program in the middle of its worst-ever start to a season, the Orange will have to find a way to put together a full 90 minutes. Its first goal was a step in the right direction, but with just two games remaining, a winless season edges closer for Syracuse.

Published on October 22, 2020 at 11:53 pm

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu