Boston College (5-3-2, 3-2-1 Atlantic Coast) ended Syracuse’s (8-4-0, 2-4-0) two-game winning streak on Tuesday night at Newton Campus Lacrosse and Soccer Field in Newton, Mass. SU freshman forward Emil Ekblom continued his midseason dominance with his team-leading seventh and eighth goals, but the Eagles edged the Orange 3-2.

“We were second best to start off with,” head coach Ian McIntyre said. “Boston is a tough place to play. It was a very combative game and I give credit to Boston.

“They came out fast and were imposing themselves, but slowly but surely we got ourselves back in the game and I felt, going into the half, we could win the game. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be tonight.”

Ekblom collected three goals and an assist against North Carolina State on Friday, and on Tuesday was named the Disney Soccer/NSCAA Division I Men’s Player of the Week and earned a spot on TopDrawerSoccer’s National Team of the Week. His effort on Tuesday was strong, but it wasn’t enough for the Orange.

Boston College scored two goals in the opening eight minutes, putting the visitors in an early hole. In the sixth minute, defender Matt Wendelken scored off a Diego Medina-Mendez crossing pass. Two minutes later, Medina-Mendez scored a goal from 15 yards out to extend the lead to 2-0.

“We started poorly, put ourselves in a very big hole,” McIntyre said. “But give credit to us we really worked hard, clawed ourselves back into the game.”

In the 15th minute, the red-hot Ekblom put the Orange on the board with assists credited to Oyvind Alseth and Chris Nanco.

In the 53rd minute, Ekblom sent a ball from Jordan Murrell into the top-right corner of the net to tie the game. McIntyre called the goal a “quality finish.”

“He was very good again tonight, had another strong performance,” McIntyre said. “He’s been scoring big goals in big games.”

Syracuse’s comeback attempt was quieted in the 58th minute when Boston College’s Nick Butler scored off a corner to put the Eagles back in the lead, 3-2.

SU maintained pressure and had several corner kick opportunities in the game’s latter stages. In the 75th minute, Grant Chong hit the post.

However, SU couldn’t find the back of the net.

“This is a big week, three ACC games in seven days,” McIntyre said. “Boston College have traditionally won a lot of these home games against ACC teams. It’s a tough place and they’ve got a strong home record. We’ve got to kind of lick our wounds and come back and build upon the good parts of this game.

“We’re looking forward to coming home and getting back to work tomorrow.”

Published on October 8, 2013 at 11:42 pm

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu