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The Yankees versus Red Sox. Duke men’s basketball against North Carolina. Ohio State facing Michigan in football. These are historic rivalries that elevate sports to another level.

How players perform in these games cements their legacies. Team personnel are often remembered for their team’s performance with the most on the line. When rivals clash, national media and fan attention peak.

Syracuse’s men’s basketball’s rivalry with Georgetown has dwindled since SU joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013 and the rest of its programs have lacked a fierce competitor. Yet, SU women’s lacrosse quickly forged a rivalry with Boston College.

Despite Syracuse leading the all-time series 17-13, recent renditions have rendered the rivalry one-sided. Since the 2021 National Championship game, the Eagles have won six straight meetings.

“That’s just a big hill that we’ve been trying and a big hump that we’ve been trying to get over for so long is just beating BC,” said former SU attack Megan Carney. “…We see them every year now, if not once we see them twice or three times, and we just never seem to be able to get over that hump.”

Looking to avenge its championship loss, SU fell 15-13 to BC in its 2022 regular-season finale. Then in 2023, the Eagles snapped Syracuse’s then-undefeated regular season before defeating it again in the Final Four. Thus far in 2024, the Eagles have beaten the Orange twice, first in the regular-season finale then the ACC Championship.

In the next rendition of the rivalry and third in 2024, Syracuse (16-5, 8-1 ACC) meets Boston College (18-3, 7-2 ACC) in the Final Four, looking to advance to the NCAA Championship for the first time under Kayla Treanor.

“In most recent years, I think the rivalry has just been extra big because Syracuse faces BC whether it be an end-of-season matchup in the regular season, in the (ACC Tournament) or in a Final Four situation,” said Emily Hawryschuk, an attack for the Orange from 2017-22. “Typically the stake of that game when the matchup happens is a lot higher.”

While the programs had numerous bouts through the years, the magnitude reached a new level in 2021.

Heading into a doubleheader to close the regular season at the then-Carrier Dome, then-No. 3 Syracuse faced then-No. 4 Boston College as both teams held 11-1 records. Boston College got the better of Syracuse in the first game in a back-and-forth contest but two days later, SU cruised to a 16-7 victory.

Then for the third time in eight days, the programs met in the ACC Tournament semifinals in North Carolina. Despite blowing a six-goal lead, late goals from Emma Ward and Emma Tyrrell propelled Syracuse to a 19-17 win — the last time it defeated the Eagles. The win advanced SU to the ACC Championship, but it fell 9-4 to then-No. 1 North Carolina.

Placed on opposite sides of the NCAA Tournament bracket, SU and BC met again in the national championship. It marked the fourth matchup between the teams in 2021, setting a program record for the most times the Orange faced an opponent in a single season.

“Playing a team that many times, you learn their tendencies … every year changes obviously with different players but I think that one year it was very intense,” former SU midfielder Sam Swart said of facing Boston College in 2021.

Despite Syracuse leading the season series 2-1, the slate was wiped clean as both programs vied to win their first national championship. BC held a slim one-goal halftime advantage, yet the Eagles used two 3-0 runs to propel them to a 16-10 win.

After BC won its first title, a key coaching change vastly affected both programs and added a new element to the rivalry. Following Gary Gait’s transition from SU’s women’s head coach to men’s head coach, the Orange hired Treanor — a three-time IWLCA Attacker of the Year for them from 2013-16.

Treanor spent a year on Harvard’s coaching staff following her college career before joining head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein at BC ahead of the 2018 season. There, she helped the Eagles maintain one of the most efficient offenses in the country.

“I think it definitely enhances that rivalry knowing that (Treanor) was a big contributing factor to BC’s success over the course of the last few years as well,” Hawryschuk said.

While Treanor has sparked similar offensive success at Syracuse — No. 14 (2022), No. 1 (2023) and No. 3 (2024) in offensive efficiency — the student has been no match to the professor facing Walker-Weinstein.

In the first matchup since the national championship, Boston College prevailed late in the 2022 regular-season finale, winning 15-13.

While 2022 featured an adjustment phase in Treanor’s first season at the helm, 2023 was pure dominance.

After a 15-0 start, Boston College was the only team between SU and a perfect regular season. The Orange led 14-10 after a stellar three quarter, but BC roared back in the fourth quarter, outscoring them 7-2 en route to a 17-16 come-from-behind win.

“That sucked,” former Syracuse midfielder from 2019-23 Sierra Cockerille said of the game. “That whole year, I was like, wow, ‘We’re gonna go undefeated and do what (North) Carolina did the year prior, go undefeated and win the national championship.’”

While the Orange could no longer go undefeated, they were still in a prime position to win their first national championship. Despite an ACC Tournament semifinals loss to UNC, Syracuse cruised to the Final Four with wins over Johns Hopkins and James Madison.

Naturally, SU faced BC.

Though the game was significantly lower scoring, similar mistakes plagued SU. The Orange led 7-5 after three quarters, but a 3-0 fourth quarter run propelled Boston College back to the NCAA title game and past Syracuse for the fourth straight game.

“Having that team always be the one that has ended it in the worst times, them beating us in the national championship and then beating us before we even make it to the national championship, it sucked,” Cockerille said.

Now for the second consecutive year, the Orange are tasked with facing the Eagles in the Final Four after already suffering two devastating losses to them in 2024.

In the regular season finale in Chestnut Hill, Syracuse suffered its third straight one-goal loss to the Eagles in an overtime loss. Then in the ACC title game, SU gave away an early 5-1 lead and BC outscored it 8-1 in the second half leading to a blowout 15-8 defeat.

“They have a lot of real estate in our heads,” Carney said of Boston College. “… We just can’t seem to get over that hump, and that hump is them, which is unfortunate because we do play them in such crucial times of the season when it can be season-ending.”

With a win Friday, Syracuse can officially close Boston College’s winning streak and season, while clinching an NCAA title game berth. But another loss to the Eagles further cements them as SU’s kryptonite.

Assistant Sports Editor Aiden Stepansky contributed reporting to this article.

Published on May 23, 2024 at 10:54 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon