Instant Classic!

It always seems like there's that one postseason game where conditions break down. The weather becomes sloppy, the ground gets wet and the raw cold cuts right through everyone's bones. It always creates that atmosphere of a grueling game that taxes athletes down to their core soul.

Those conditions finally hit the ACC Women's Lacrosse Championship on Friday, and a hovering fog and heavy mist hung on the shoulders of Boston College's semifinal matchup with Syracuse. In the end, a torrential downpour rained down on the Alumni Stadium turf, and Taylor Walker scored a virtual buzzer-beating goal as the No. 1-ranked Eagles rallied from a three-goal deficit to defeat their archrival Orange, 14-13, and advance to the final round on Sunday afternoon.

"We didn't play very well, and Syracuse is very threatening," head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. "That we came out on top, this is definitely top three in my seven years (at BC). (The players) were fearless, never afraid and never nervous. That was crazy because I was (on the sideline), and I was afraid and nervous."

It didn't take long for the game to turn into an emotional, physical affair, and the teams traded stiff checks and body blows to the tune of three yellow cards. Syracuse used its advantages to open up a 4-2 lead over the first 15 minutes, but the Eagles clawed back, scoring three times over a four-minute span to turn a 5-3 deficit into a 6-5 lead.

The physicality just kept on ratcheting up from there. Sloppy fundamentals and a lack of crisp passing created ground balls and a number of failed clears, all of which favored the Eagles. Syracuse committed 13 turnovers in the first half and went just 4-of-11 on clear attempts, while BC grabbed 14 ground balls. It sprung BC for a 17-9 shot advantage, but Syracuse's opportunism kept the game tied at 7-7 into the halftime break.

"We were way too excited and were playing way over our tips," Walker said. "We weren't playing BC lacrosse. We were wrapped up in the environment, and it took until halftime (to clean it up). We came inside (to the locker room at halftime), which we never do, and we reviewed the game plan. We got the players thinking more with their head and not with their hearts. They do a really good job of being steady, and that's something we had to go back to."

Dempsey Arsenault played a big role in the BC comeback, teaming up with Kenzie Kent to help push balls to the back of the net. Arsenault had two goals in the first half as part of a hat trick performance, and Kent added two goals and an assist. Kent's helper on Jordan Lappin's goal came off of a turnover out by midfield, where she added a quick, one-touch pass to the streaking attacker, who subsequently buried a shot past goalkeeper Asa Goldstock. It electrified the Alumni Stadium crowd, coming at a time when Syracuse led by two.

"As a team, we're playing together as the season winds down," Arsenault said. "We're really focusing on one day at a time and one game at a time. I trust everyone, so it's a game-time decision to find someone and help other people make a play."

Later in the half, though, Syracuse responded with a rally of its own. BC's Sam Apuzzo found herself with a breakaway against Goldstock, who was 20 yards outside of the crease. Both players hit the afterburners, and it turned into a race for the cage with nobody within five yards of them. Apuzzo deked Goldstock but missed her shot over the crossbar. It would have extended a BC lead to two goals, but it backstopped a quick exchange for the Orange, who scored behind Emily Hawryschuk with nine seconds remaining.

That goal was Hawryschuk's third of the game, and her dominance away from the ball became evident from the opening whistle. It forced the Eagle defense to make an adjustment at halftime, and the unit returned to the field intent on making her uncomfortable in the second half. It worked to a degree, especially in the early goings when Hawryschuk remained off the score sheet, and it helped BC build a 10-9 lead. But she broke through in the latter stages of the game, scoring her first second half strike with 13:55 remaining to even the game at 10-10, the eighth tie score of the game.

"I think Syracuse has the best midfielders in the country," Walker said. "Mary Rahal, Natalie Wallon and all those girls are so impressive. Our girls knew how hard they had to work. We don't have half the depth that they do, but we were ready for the challenge (after the run)."

The epic continued from there; Syracuse scored three more times to take a 13-10 lead before BC stopped momentum. Dempsey Arsenault scored off of a feed from Kent, which gave the Eagles a little bit of juice. The team then started to throttle back when goalkeeper Lauren Daly, who had come on earlier in the half in relief of Abbey Ngai, made a huge save with just over six minutes left to spur a drive that ended when Cara Urbank fell down, got up and stuffed a goal by Goldstock with 5:29 left.

That's when things got really hairy. Goldstock made a massive save with two minutes left and pushed an outlet pass to Kerry Defliese on the left side. Two Eagles converged, and Defliese tried to push a pass back in front of the crease to her goalkeeper. The pass missed its mark by an ever-slight margin, and Apuzzo crashed the play, picking up the ground ball and deking through two defenders to bounce in the game-tying goal as the heavens opened and set up the deluge of drama at the game's conclusion when Arsenault found Walker with the assist on the winning strike.

"I was really impressed with how composed every single one of the girls were," Walker said. "We gave them 15 different messages during all of those timeouts, but they just consumed (the words). It took a lot of poise. I'm just proud of all the different pieces of teamwork that it took to come back into the game. I see them every day, but I was just very impressed by (the athletes)."

"There was never any doubt that we could come back," Arsenault said. "We kept saying that we had time left that we could stay composed and play our game without forcing anything. It was a beautiful goal and an awesome play by (Walker)."

The win stamped an incredible comeback that buoyed by Daly's reemergence into the lineup after missing time earlier this season due to illness. Her second half save ultimately etched itself into Boston College lacrosse lore, and it set the stage for the last-second heroics by the attack. It defined what Walker said in between rounds this week when she pointed to the defense as the backbone of the program.

"It was an amazing play," Walker said. "(Volunteer goalkeeper coach Tommy Connelly) was making the decision on when to go to (Daly), and he knew exactly when to do it. She was ready for the moment, and the team trusts both her and Abbey. When you have that trust, anything can happen. Lauren was ready, and she made a ridiculous play."

"Abbey has been great all season, and I wasn't thinking about anything for myself," Daly said. "I was just thinking that there could be a moment to make a save, and in the moment, I dialed in. Everyone on this team is so ready at any moment. I knew that when my number was called, I just had to be ready."

Every postseason run has one of those games that becomes part of a program's legend. This one offered a little bit of everything; it had lead changes, momentum swings and tie scores. It had the resurgence of a former postseason hero that added a new chapter, and it offered the latest news story in the growing stardom of so many others. It had unique conditions under the pouring, pounding rain, and it hardened and tested a roster that's seen so many of these in the past. The players are now tied together, forever, in an ongoing rivalry that is quickly emerging as one of the best matchups in the nation's best lacrosse conference.

"We grow up watching sports and sports movies," Walker said. "You get into that mood when the rain is coming, and it's sideways. It makes you sit back and say, 'Well this is inspirational. This is a memory. Let's do it.' We just came out on the right side of (the final score)."

"It was so crazy," Arsenault said. "The crowd was so loud, and they were awesome. We hope that we have it again on Sunday."

BC now awaits the winner of the ACC's second semifinal matchup. The Duke-North Carolina game was originally scheduled to begin after the first matchup concluded, but the stormy weather brought thunder and lightning over Chestnut Hill, precipitating a postponement that lasted until the late hours of Friday night. The decision was made late to postpone the game altogether until Saturday, when it will be played at noon.

The ACC Championship is still scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m., where the winners will play for the right to hoist the final conference crown. All games will be televised on the ACC's Regional Sports Network, with local coverage in New England scheduled for NESNplus.

Players Mentioned

Sam Apuzzo

Dempsey Arsenault

Lauren Daly

Kenzie Kent

Jordan Lappin

Abbey Ngai

Cara Urbank

Taylor Walker

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