#9 Field Hockey Faces #6 Syracuse in ACC Tournament

Nov. 4, 2014

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - No. 9 Boston College field hockey (13-5, 3-3 ACC) kicks off the opening round of the ACC Tournament with No. 6 Syracuse (13-4, 2-4 ACC) on Thursday, Nov. 6 at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 here. 

BC OPENS ACC TOURNAMENT WITH SU

 Third-seed Boston College, ranked 9th in the nation, will face sixth-seed Syracuse, also ranked sixth in the nation, in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Tournament on Thursday, Nov. 6 at 4 p.m.

 The winner will face the winner of the No. 7 Duke-No. 2 North Carolina game on Friday, Nov. 7 at 3:30 p.m.

 The Eagles (13-5, 3-3 ACC) defeated the Orange (13-4, 2-4 ACC), 3-2, in one of their eight overtime contests during the regular season.

 This marks the second year in a row that Boston College and Syracuse have faced each other in the opening round of the ACC Tournament.

 The Eagles are still looking for their first ACC Tournament win since joining the conference in 2006.

TAKING ON THE ORANGE

 Syracuse leads the all-time series, 19-10. The Orange have won six of the last ten matchups.

 Sixteen of the 29 meetings have been decided by one goal. Three overtimes have been played between the Eagles and the Orange, including this year's Sep. 20 game. In 2004, the teams battled to a 2-1 double-overtime win by the Orange. In 2011, SU won, 3-2, in overtime. 

 This is the Orange's second appearance in the ACC Tournament. The old rivals have meet four times in conference tournaments - all in the BIG EAST affair. Both teams came away with two wins. In 2009, SU earned a 6-2 victory against the Eagles in the NCAA Tournament.  

DUKING IT OUT

 This is Duke's third time hosting the ACC Tournament in the last 20 years. The Blue Devils hosted in 2008, 2002, and 1996.

 Of the seven ACC teams participating, five ranked in the top ten nationally (North Carolina 1, Syracuse-6,  Duke-7, Louisville-8, Boston College-9). All seven teams are ranked in the top 15 (Wake Forest-11, Virginia-13) and have been for the majority of the season.

TOE-TO-TOE WITH TOP TENS

 The Eagles are facing a top-ten team for the sixth time in 2014. They are 4-2 against teams ranked in the top ten.

 BC has handed two top-five teams losses this season as they beat then-No. 2 Connecticut, 3-2, at home in two rounds of shootouts on Sept. 14 and took down then-No. 4 Syracuse, 3-2, in overtime at Coyne Field on Sep. 20. Both games were considered upsets, as the Eagles were ranked 15th and 11th, respectively.

 The only other times BC has beaten a No. 2 team was last year in a 4-3 overtime win over UConn and when the Eagles defeated the Huskies, 2-0, in Chestnut Hill on Oct. 14, 1998. They have never earned a victory over a top-ranked team since the NFHCA Coaches poll began in 1998.

 Both of the Eagles' losses to top ten teams have been decided by one goal and gone to overtime (Sep. 26, No. 1 North Carolina, 3-2 & Oct. 10, No. 9 Duke, 2-1).

 BC was ranked sixth in the nation for one week (Sep. 22-29), tying second-highest ranking in school history. The highest came in 2006 when the Maroon and Gold was ranked fourth.

EAGLES IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT

 Boston College, in its tenth year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, is still looking for its first win in the conference tournament. 

 The Eagles have made a first-round exit in each of the previous seasons. In six of the previous nine years, BC has lost by one goal. Twice the game has gone into overtime. In 2007, when the Eagles hosted for the third time, they dropped a 3-2 overtime game to Virginia and in 2010, they lost, 2-1, to Wake Forest.

 BC enters this year's ACC tournament at its highest ever seed (#3). BC has been the fourth seed four times and the fifth seed three times. It has been the lowest seed in 2008 (sixth) and this year in 2013 (seventh).

 BC faced Syracuse in the opening round of last year's tournament. The previous four tournament matchups have been against Wake Forest. BC has also played Virginia twice (2007, 06) and lost to North Carolina, 2-1, in 2006.

OVERTIME THRILLERS

 The BC Eagles have gone to overtime eight times this season--the most ever in program history. All but one of the Eagles' games against ACC opponents have been decided in overtime. The only ACC game BC has won in regulation was against No. 8 Virginia on Oct. 24 (5-3).

 Boston College is 4-4 in overtime games. The Eagles defeated Boston University, UConn, Syracuse, and Louisville while dropping games to North Carolina, Wake Forest, Northeastern, and Duke in extra time.

 Boston College has played 83 minutes and eight seconds of extra time this season--the equvilant of 1.19 additional games.

LAST TIME OUT

 Then-No. 11 Boston College field hockey defeated Harvard, 1-0, Tuesday night at Jordan Field in its last regular season game of the year. The Eagles improved to 13-5 and extended their win streak against the Crimson to nine games with their victory.

 The Eagles started the scoring early as junior forward Kelcie Hromisin netted her seventh goal of the season on a pass from sophomore midfielder Emily McCoy to put Boston College up, 1-0, in the first minute of play

 Harvard capitalized on a loose ball in the Boston College circle with seconds remaining in the game to fire off two quick shots on goal, both saved by junior goalkeeper Leah Settipane. Settipane recorded seven saves against the Crimson to secure the Eagles' 1-0 victory.

 The Crimson edged the Eagles in shots, 11-4, but couldn't capitalize on any of its chances. 

LAST TIME vs. SYRACUSE

 No. 11 Boston College field hockey (6-1) defeated No. 4 Syracuse Saturday, Sep. 20 in the Eagles' second win against a top-10 opponent this season. The Eagles handed Syracuse its second ACC loss of the season.

 The Orange attack struck first, with Emma Russell netting a goal three minutes into the game, but the Eagles were quick to answer. Emily McCoy tied it up on her third goal of the season after senior midfielder Katlyn Soucy set up the shot off a stick stop. 

 Emma Plasteras notched the go-ahead goal for BC eight minutes into the 2nd. Syracuse's Annalena Ulbrich answered to tie the game at two with less than 12 minutes left in regulation.

 Romée Stiekema scored the game-winner off a corner in overtime for her first career goal. Katlyn Soucy recorded her second assist of the day on a pass across the circle to Stiekema.

#9 Field Hockey Faces #6 Syracuse in ACC Tournament

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