Syracuse vs. Boston College NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament Preview

Boston College was heavily favored to win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Canisius, and the Eagles did not disappoint. They demolished the Golden Griffons, 21-9 on Friday afternoon at SU Soccer Stadium. Canisius took an early 5-2 lead before the Eagles kicked into high gear and dominated the rest of the game. The Syracuse Orange (15-6) will take on Boston College (14-6) at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday in the same location.

Offense

Goals Per Game: Boston College (13th in country) about 15. Syracuse (35th) at 13.

Free Position Percentage: Boston College 39%, Syracuse 40%

Major Boston College Scoring Threats

• Sophomore attacker Sam Apuzzo: 100 points with 67 goals and 33 assists
• Senior attacker Kate Weeks: 83 points with 65 goals and 18 assists
• Junior attacker Kaileen Hart: 60 points with 41 goals and 19 assists
• Senior attacker Kayla O'Connor: 57 points with 38 goals and 19 assists
• Junior attacker Kenzie Kent: 47 points with 20 goals and 27 assists

Here's a quick note about Kent. She plays on the women's ice hockey team and does not play lacrosse for over half the season. Those stats are for just eight games. If you average her stats out for an entire season, she could be well over 100 points for the year. Just sayin'...

Major Syracuse Scoring Threats

• Junior attacker Riley Donahue: 66 points with 41 goals and 25 assists
• Freshman attacker Emily Hawryschuk: 47 points with 38 goals and 9 assists
• Sophomore attacker Nicole Levy: 44 points with 23 goals and 21 assists (Levy was out for three games with an injury)
• Senior attacker Devon Parker: 37 points with 27 goals and 10 assists
• Junior attacker Alie Jimerson: 37 points with 25 goals and 12 assists
• Redshirt Freshman midfielder Mary Rahal: 36 points with 28 goals and 8 assists
• Sophomore midfielder Natalie Wallon: 31 points with 29 goals and 2 assists

Defense

Goals per game: Boston College about 12 a game, Syracuse 11-12 a game

Boston College Defensive Notes

• Sophomore defender Elizabeth Miller: 26 caused turnovers, 37 ground balls
• Sophomore midfielder Dempsey Arsenault: 19 caused turnovers, 37 ground balls
• Sophomore midfielder Brooke Troy: 20 caused turnovers, 30 ground balls
• Sophomore defender Christina Walsh: 20 caused turnovers, 27 ground balls

The Eagles split time between two goalkeepers in Senior Zoe Ochoa (who has started every game and has about 55-60% of the time on the field) and Sophomore Lauren Daly (has about 40-45% of the minutes).

• Zoe Ochoa: About 7 goals given up a game, 39% save percentage, 5 caused turnovers, 34 ground balls
• Lauren Daly: About 5 goals given up a game, 45.5% save percentage, 6 caused turnovers, 23 ground balls

Syracuse Defensive Notes

• Sophomore midfielder Natalie Wallon: (in addition to her offensive stats) 20 caused turnovers, 36 ground balls
• Senior defender Kaeli O'Connor: 13 caused turnovers and 40 ground balls
• Junior defender Kathy Rudkin: 11 caused turnovers, 33 ground balls
• Junior defender Mia DiBello: 14 caused turnovers, 23 ground balls
• Sophomore defender Alexa Radziewicz: 18 caused turnovers and 18 ground balls
• Freshman Goalkeeper Asa Goldstock: 11-12 goals given up a game, 42% save percentage, 15 caused turnovers, 50 groundballs

History

Unofficially, from what I was able to gather, SU leads the series at least 12-2 dating back to 2000 (not sure what happened before that but the Orange started their program in 1998). They played from 2000-2005, in which SU won all five contests. After a break from 2006 to 2011, play resumed in 2012 with SU winning the last non-ACC game. The Orange joined the ACC in 2013 and have posted a 6-2 record against the Eagles since then. The last few years have been especially competitive. In 2014 and 2015 they split contests with Boston College winning both regular season matchups while the 'Cuse gained revenge in the ACC Tournament, which includes the 2014 double overtime 14-13 win in the ACC quarterfinals.

This year, the Orange won the regular season contest with a commanding 18-8 victory in their season opener. The Eagles scored the first two goals of the game before Syracuse ripped off eight straight goals and never looked back. This one will almost certainly be a much closer affair and should be a high-scoring contest that could go either way.