Syracuse Downed in Final Game of the Season; ACC Win Still Out of Grasp
By: Timmy Weiss | @TimmyWeiss3
CHESTNUT HILL, MA – 2 minutes into the game Syracuse had a dream start with an early Erin Flurey goal. From outside the box, she slotted it into the bottom right corner. It was her 5th goal of the season and it propelled the team to a 1-0 lead over a formidable Boston College squad. But after that things changed and Boston College scored an equalizer under 10 minutes later. A tie wouldn’t be a bad result for SU, so things weren’t sour just yet. However, the tide of the game turned once again in the 30th minute when BC took the lead 2-1.
Unfortunately, the Eagles never looked back and ended up handing the Orange its 9th ACC loss. Boston College (11-5-2, 3-4-2 in Atlantic Coast) downed Syracuse (6-10-2, 0-9-1 in Atlantic Coast) 3-1.
Now a 3-1 loss doesn’t sound like a very close game, but this game was closer than the scoreline showed. Around the 60th minute of the second half, Syracuse trailed 2-1. At that same moment, a BC defender hit the ball with her hand, which seemed like an easy handball call. After replay review though, it was called no handball. After that, SU was obviously demoralized along with head coach Nicky Thrasher Adams and soon gave up a third goal of the contest. All the credit to Ella Richards for that banger of a shot that went in off the crossbar.
Somehow in the 87th minute, a similar situation occurred. Boston College took someone down in the box and the game paused to check for a penalty… but once again it was ruled no penalty. So after two unlucky breaks the Orange had nothing else to show for than one goal from Erin Flurey.
So, the season is over, but let’s forget about the ACC slate for a second and remember for one final time what this team has accomplished this season. The team was off to one of its best starts in history at 6-1-1 through the first 8 games. The Orange took down a very sold Northwestern team 1-0 in a marquee win and beat a Umass team that is likely to make the NCAA tournament. Also, they should have tied with the No. 1 RPI team in the nation UNC. The point is, there’s still a lot to be proud of if you’re on this team. After just 2 wins the entirety of last season, improvement was needed, and that happened. Through it all the team has battled to the final whistle in each game this season and showed character in wins and losses.
I want to thank everyone on this team for a fun season and the incredible effort shown on the pitch in every matchup. The ACC is without a doubt the best conference in women’s soccer, but SU’s record doesn’t reflect the change that’s occurred in this squad since last season. Battled to the end.
