#5 Orange Down #17 Eagles in Season Opener

Saturday, February 11

12 pm

Syracuse University

1-0, 1-0ACC

Boston College

2-1, 0-1ACC

Boston College

Syracuse

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

2/11/2017 3:59:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Cuse TV: Highlights Cuse TV: Coach Gait Interview Cuse TV: Player Interviews Photo Gallery

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – No. 5 Syracuse scored six unanswered goals to start the second half to break open a tight game and defeated No. 17 Boston College, 18-8, in its season opener on Saturday, Feb. 11. Junior Riley Donahue tied her career high with seven points and four goals to lead the Orange offense.

"I thought that was a great opening game for the 2017 Orange," said Syracuse head coach Gary Gait. "I think my staff did a great job preparing our team and working with a bunch of players who have not seen game time before. I think we were prepared and our kids stepped up and made plays. Overall, good first game. I know when we watch the film we'll see a ton of turnovers and a ton of mistakes because we are young. I think that shows we have a lot more potential then we showed today."

HOW IT WAS DECIDED
Leading 9-7 at halftime, Syracuse (1-0, 1-0 ACC) opened the second half with six straight goals to take control of the game. Freshman Emily Hawryschuk scored the first goal of the half to spark the run. She posted four goals in her collegiate debut. Six different players recorded goals during the run, which featured a goal and an assist from redshirt freshman Mary Rahal. She finished with five points (3g, 2a).

While Syracuse's offense was clicking, freshman goalkeeper Asa Goldstock helped keep the Eagles (2-1, 0-1 ACC) off the scoreboard. She made seven second-half saves, giving her 10 for the game. The Orange defense held Boston College to a single-digit goal total after averaging 18.5 goals per game in its first two contests of the season.

The first half also featured a seven-goal scoring run for Syracuse. After Boston College took a 2-0 lead, Rahal scored the first goal of the season for Syracuse. She had two goals and assist during the run that gave the Orange an 8-2 lead. The Eagles responded with four goals of their own to cut the lead to 8-6, but senior Devon Parker found the back of the net on an assist from Donahue with 18 seconds on the clock to give Syracuse a 9-7 halftime lead.

OF NOTE
Freshman Morgan Widner made her debut in the draw circle for the Orange, replacing Kayla Treanor '16, who set the NCAA single-season record last season with 217. Widner finished with 16 draw controls, helping the Orange to a 20-8 advantage in the circle.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Someone like Kayla Treanor is so good and so dominant you want to have the ball in her stick all of the time. The other players that were on the field with her last year, like Riley (Donahue) and Nicole (Levy), were just getting less touches but they were performing very well when they did get them. I think they got just overshadowed a bit. We know that Nicole Levy and Riley Donahue are super-talented lacrosse players and they do a lot of great things. They have a great lacrosse IQ. That showed today. They made the passes when they needed to. They finished, they went to goal. They showed a little bit of everything. I was super happy that what we see every day in practice, they were able to deliver in the game." - Gary Gait

UP NEXT
Syracuse will play a doubleheader in the Carrier Dome on Saturday, Feb. 18. The Orange take on Canisius at 11 a.m. and Binghamton at 7:30 p.m.