Syracuse Win First ACC Title, Beat Boston College In Shootout After Scoreless Final
Seventy-five minutes couldn’t separate them. A shootout finally did, and Syracuse are ACC champions for the first time ever.
The Orange beat Boston College 2-0 in the shootout on Friday afternoon at Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill, after the two sides played out a 0-0 stalemate through regulation and overtime. It was Syracuse’s second straight shootout in this tournament, and this time they finished the job.
Jessie Eiselin was the difference. The Syracuse keeper stopped all four of Boston College’s shootout attempts, and Sammie Goin and Taylor Bigbie buried two of the Orange’s three to seal it. When the last BC attempt was turned away, Syracuse had the trophy they’d never lifted before.
This wasn’t a fluke run. Syracuse had already ended one dynasty to get here, knocking out nine-time defending champions North Carolina in the semifinals, 3-2 with a 3-1 shootout win. Boston College earned their place too, edging Virginia in overtime in the other semi. For the first time since 2016, someone other than North Carolina would lift this trophy, and Syracuse made sure it was them.
The final itself was a grind. Neither side could find a way through in open play, and the longer it went scoreless the more it felt like one moment would decide it. That moment belonged to Eiselin. Four shootout attempts faced, four saved. That’s how you win a first title.
Syracuse now go into the NCAA Tournament as the ACC’s automatic qualifier. They’ll learn their postseason opponents on Sunday night, when the NCAA Selection Show airs at 10 p.m. ET. Whatever the draw throws at them, they arrive as conference champions, and nobody in Chapel Hill will forget how they got there.
