#4 Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse Takes Some Good and Bad into Clash with #2 North Carolina
By Milo Hoffman | @mhoffnyc
CHAPEL HILL, NC – 4th ranked Syracuse gets ready for its second road trip of the young season against 2nd ranked UNC this Saturday. SU is fresh off an 18-10 win over Cornell on Tuesday. A nice margin of victory, but it doesn’t tell the full story. It was a game with both positives… and negatives, so let’s dive into both.
On the positive side for the Orange, Goalie Daniella Guyette had a career game. Despite allowing 10 goals, the junior notched a career-high 14 saves. It’s true that 10 goals given up is not stellar, but this is a Big Red squad that averaged over 11 last season in a competitive Ivy league.
After Tuesday’s bout, Guyette said, “I love that statline,” with a slight chuckle, “I love improving like that.”
That performance marked the second straight game SU’s net-minder set a career-high in saves, this after the California native had 11 against No.7 Maryland last Saturday.
Another positive take away from Syracuse’s win over Cornell was junior Gracie Britton’s performance. The Attacker collected her first career hat-trick. With that she’s already up to five goals on the year. Britton’s total after last season was seven, so improvement may be an understatement.
Even with this individual success for Britton, following the contest on Tuesday she said, “as a team we have a lot to look forward to, we haven’t even scraped our potential yet.”
But there’s no doubt Britton’s success makes the ‘Cuse attack, which doesn’t lack goal scoring prowess, that much more dangerous.
Now to the negative side. SU tied Cornell in Draw Control’s with 16. In the first half, it looked like the Orange were dominant on that front, winning 13, but out of the break they mustered up just three. Against Maryland, the ‘Cuse lost the battle in the circle 16-12. So the loss of Kate Mashewske is certainly visible.
Head coach Kayla Treanor says, “Draws are really a whole unit thing, and we’re trying new things.”
Attacker Meghan Rode has taken the majority of draws this season, but it seems like this may be a job by committee moving forward. Another couple area’s SU struggled against Cornell was the clear (20/26), and turnovers.
“We should be at under 10 turnovers,” Treanor says, “Boston College and Northwestern both are under 10 and that’s elite. We have to get to that level.” In total against the Big Red, the ‘Cuse had 20 turnovers, its most through the first three games.
The little mishaps and mistakes may fly against some teams, but if one thing is certain, UNC is not on that list. The Tar Heels are coming off a 14-9 win over 5th ranked Florida last Saturday and a huge reason why was Heels Attacker Chloe Humphrey. The Red shirt Freshman scored 5 goals. But here’s the kick, it’s not the first time Humphrey has tallied 5 goals this season. She did it against Liberty a week earlier. The 2023 inside lacrosse No. 1 recruit has 13 goals on the young campaign, so SU’s defense and GK Daniella Guyette will have to keep a massive eye on her.
Flip the field to defense, and UNC is still elite. In the Tar Heels first two games, they gave up just three combined goals. Heels Goalie Betty Nelson is averaging just over four goals against this season, with a save percentage nearing 60%.
All of that success is anchored by head coach Jenny Levy. She’s been at the helm for 30 years, and is the only person to ever hold that job at North Carolina. Levy helped start the program, and is considered one of the best head coaches in the sports history. The national lacrosse Hall of Famer has an all-time record of 12-7 against SU.
Opening draw at Dorrance field is set for 11 a.m. on Saturday. Follow Citrus TV Women’s lacrosse beat reporter Milo Hoffman (@mhoffnyc) on Twitter/X for live updates from Chapel Hill, NC.
