Syracuse’s brief ACC momentum fades in 1-0 loss to Boston College
After notching its first ACC win in three years over Miami, Syracuse fell back down to earth on Sunday with a 1-0 loss to Boston College. Christian Calabrese | Asst. Photo Editor
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.
Syracuse was riding an unfamiliar high following its first Atlantic Coast Conference win since 2022. The Orange downed Miami 1-0 on Oct. 11 behind Mia Klammer’s goal in the 78th minute, providing them a foreign feeling they hoped to maintain.
Although it defeated the Hurricanes, SU head coach Nicky Thrasher Adams had a strict message for her team. She constructed a game plan to prevent the Orange from getting complacent, voicing that even though just three games remained, the season was far from over.
The truth was, SU had little to play for. It’d already been mathematically eliminated from the ACC Tournament for the 12th straight year. For a fleeting moment, though, it felt like the Orange had turned a corner.
On Sunday against Boston College (5-6-5, 1-5-2 ACC), Syracuse (5-7-4, 1-6-1 ACC) reinforced just how fragile that glimpse of hope was, falling 1-0. The Orange’s cohesion they displayed against Miami was lost, and their offense fell flat. It resulted in SU dropping its final home game of the season.
“We struggled in executing our game plan, which results in panic, and it’s tough to change something so abruptly in a game,” Adams said postgame.
At halftime Sunday, the Orange entered the locker room bristling. They’d spent the entire week working on very specific technical and tactical adjustments, Adams said.
Adams knows teams can sometimes prevail even when they don’t find their footing until late. The Orange displayed that last week when Klammer scored in the game’s final 12 minutes, even though they were outshot and Miami doubled their corner kick production.
Adams didn’t want Sunday’s matchup with the Eagles to follow the same storyline. And neither did her team. So, she dissected BC’s offense and came up with a concrete plan. But Syracuse couldn’t figure it out.
“All the girls were talking about it,” Adams said. “It’s a problem if we can’t go out there in the second half and execute it.”
Boston College gets into an expansive shape, so instead of having their wingbacks wide on opposite sides, Adams hoped the Orange’s would be inverted. By being positioned that way, Syracuse would have enough depth in the back to prevent an Eagles opportunity while also having the ability to go long on one of its own.
Instead, SU struggled to connect from “point A to point B,” Adams said. For the Orange, it was that simple. They committed five or six players forward rather than the two or three they’d hoped for, opening up more chances for the Eagles.
Through 10 minutes, Syracuse had zero shots or corners, while BC had one corner. It was a heavily defensive game, prompting the importance of Adams’ game plan.
But when Sophia Lowenberg got the ball around 14 minutes in, the Orange felt their first real pressure. The senior midfielder pushed forward toward SU goalkeeper Shea Vanderbosch. She pinned the game’s first shot above the keeper, who rose to knock it over the net and give Syracuse a goal kick.
One more Eagles shot and four minutes later, the Orange finally reversed possession and attempted a try. After Ashley Rauch tackled Georgina Clarke, she found Klammer upfield.
Klammer then dished the ball to Gabby Wisbeck down the left channel, who, after evading BC’s Lydia Poulin, crossed back to Klammer in the 18-yard box. The Syracuse forward’s shot missed just wide left.
“It’s not like we didn’t create anything,” Adams said. “At the end of the day, we just didn’t put it in the back of the net.”
Across the first half, the story remained the same. Syracuse had opportunities like Klammer’s but couldn’t capitalize. Anna Croyle had an open attempt 12 minutes after Klammer’s. Jasmine Nixon and Klammer mixed in three more tries, but they couldn’t find the back of the net.
Meanwhile, BC also struggled offensively. Adams said she felt the Eagles weren’t creating chances themselves; instead, they were capitalizing on the Orange’s mistakes. That couldn’t have been more true 32 minutes into the first half.
Amalia Dray pushed downfield with Vita Naihin ahead. As she neared the goal, Naihin stayed hip to hip with BC’s defender. But when Dray attempted a shot, Naihin’s hand got in the way. After a video review, it was confirmed Naihin’s hand had touched the ball in an unnatural position, leading the Eagles to a penalty kick, their first of the season.
As Dray set up from inside the box, Vanderbosch clapped her hands and jumped around. Dray fired left, and though Vanderbosch guessed right, she was slightly too late. The goal put the Eagles up 1-0 solely off Naihin’s miscue.
“I don’t even think it was so much our backline,” Adams said. “We just have to be better in our individual roles and 100% commit to the game plan.”
With BC on the board, Syracuse focused solely on its attack. But the Orange continued to struggle deploying their wingbacks inward, allowing BC to control possession and run out the clock for the remainder of the first half.
As SU went to the locker room, it addressed its issues. When it came back out, little had changed. The Orange recorded six shots but couldn’t get one past BC goalkeeper Olivia Shippee. As it committed five fouls, giving the Eagles more opportunities, all hope looked lost.
Syracuse pushed late, but it wasn’t enough. As the clock hit zero, it was yet another reminder that, for all their effort, the breakthrough still hasn’t come.
“You can’t hope and keep going and giving it away and think by the 80th minute, it’s gonna work,” Adams said. “We gotta be better.”
