Women's Lacrosse

Syracuse falls victim to Boston College 2nd-half draw control switch

Kailah Kempney was trying to find something that would work.

In the first half, she and Syracuse could hardly lose a draw. But in the second, Boston College brought midfielder Kara Magley off the bench to take draws.

Matched with a new opponent and a new stick, Kempney was sent running to the sideline at several stoppages in play to switch her stick.

“(I was) just trying out different sticks seeing what’s going to work, what’s not,” Kempney said. “It’s a different stick than I’m used to going against.”

Though SU went into the break leading 9-2 in draw controls, Boston College’s second-half switch paid off. The Eagles managed a 6-4 draw control advantage over the Orange in the final frame and No. 6 Boston College (4-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) defeated No. 2 Syracuse (5-1, 1-1), 10-8, in front of a crowd of 926 at the Carrier Dome on Saturday.



“Kailah is unbelievable, probably the best I’ve ever seen,” Boston College head coach Acacia Walker said. “… The game plan was to keep it out of Kempney’s stick, which is a tall order considering how good she is, and hopefully aim to shoot and win those 50-50 battles.”

BC midfielder Mikaela Rix started the game in the draw circle, but the team struggled. Kempney popped the first one directly to SU midfielder Kelly Cross, who went on the attack and just 1:05 into the game and Halle Majorana put SU up 1-0.

Kempney tossed the next one forward to herself and SU midfielder Taylor Gait scored on the ensuing possession. Syracuse goalie Kristiana Ferguson and defender Caroline Grosso linked arms and kicked forward, doing a can-can dance on the sideline.

In the first three minutes, Syracuse scored three goals on three possessions gained by draw controls, and kept the ball away from Boston College for the first five minutes of the game.

“Kailah has been on fire and you just need her to get a couple hot, get a couple in a row and then she’s off and running,” SU head coach Gary Gait said.

But in the second half, the Eagles sent Magley out to take draws for her first action of the game.

She pushed the first one forward to Rix, who came sprinting into the center of the circle and Boston College scored on the possession.
Kempney ran over to the sideline and grabbed a stick from a teammate before the next draw, which she won.

“We just put a really strong pusher on the draw who came in and she’s been a spark for us off the draw,” Walker said.

Magely held a height advantage, limiting Kempney’s ability to win the high balls. She was also pushing the ball forward to the center of the circle, leaving Kempney jogging behind the play, hoping one of her teammates could pick up the ball.

More often than not, they weren’t.

“It was more off the line scrums where we weren’t picking up the ground balls,” Gait said. “We want our players to compete and we want them to get after it.”

With just 44 seconds left and SU down by one, Kempney and Magley lined up for the final draw.

The ball popped straight up into the air. As Kempney jumped in to snag the ball, Magley knocked it down from behind. BC midfielder Rachel Igoe scooped the ball off the turf and the Eagles called a timeout.

Boston College attack Kate Rich charged onto the field pumping her arms in celebration as her teammates huddled for the timeout.

In the second half, Boston College scored twice off possessions from draw controls. And when SU needed the ball on the draw to respond, it couldn’t get it.

“Mikaela Rix pulled it and the other girl pushed it,” Kempney said. “Just different draw, different game.”





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