Beat writers unanimous in Syracuse’s 2nd round ACC Tournament matchup

Coming off a first round victory over No. 7 Virginia, No. 4 Syracuse (15-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) will face No. 1 Boston College (18-0, 7-0). In February, SU took a five-goal lead over the Eagles but Sam Apuzzo and BC came back to defeat the Orange, 14-12, in the Carrier Dome. Since, Boston College has stayed undefeated and Syracuse has risen into the top-five.

Here’s what our beat writers predict to happen.

Eric Black
Not ready
Boston College 15, Syracuse 11

I think Syracuse can beat Boston College, and I wanted to pick them in this matchup. But between the fact that the Eagles are playing this game at home and Syracuse’s second-half struggles have returned in three of its last four games, I just don’t think the Orange are primed to pull off the upset right now. BC is both the hottest team in the country right now and the best. If it jumps ahead of Syracuse early, the Orange are as good as done. If the two teams meet in the NCAA tournament, I could see this going a different direction. On Friday, it should be all BC.

KJ Edelman
Get em’ next time
Boston College 14, Syracuse 12

Undefeated Boston College has blown out lots of teams but its closest game of the season came in the Carrier Dome. Down five, the Eagles battled back behind Sam Apuzzo’s seven goals. SU head coach Gary Gait said he knows that his team knows what’s coming, and he thinks SU is a different team from then. This team has played well against the top-tier of women’s lacrosse, most notably BC and Maryland, and its only jarring loss was to North Carolina where the Orange only mustered five goals. Syracuse will play the Eagles close and I think it’ll handle Apuzzo better than its first matchup, but Boston College will take over at the end of the game. BC will win the ACC tournament, but I don’t think this will be the last time these two matchup this season.

Kaci Wasilewski
That’s the tea
Boston College 17, Syracuse 13

Syracuse was back in form against Virginia on Wednesday, beating the Cavaliers. Because of its season trend, don’t be surprised if Syracuse keeps this game close. The last time Syracuse beat BC was during the regular season two years ago. When SU faced BC again in the first round of the 2017 NCAA tournament, the Eagles beat the Orange, 21-10. Apuzzo, last year’s Tewaaraton Award winner, had seven points against SU in the early season matchup. If Syracuse can stop her, it has a chance. But if it hasn’t figured out how yet, I don’t see it happening on Friday.