After Comfortable Win, #6 Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse Enters Gauntlet Schedule
By Jake Klein |@kleinjake_
College Park, MD- Friday, No. 6 Syracuse women’s lacrosse handled UAlbany 21-9. Now, more than a week later, the Orange take a massive jump in competition when they face three top-10 teams in the next four games. It’s a stretch that starts Saturday, when SU battles No. 7 Maryland in College Park. No. 2 Northwestern and No. 3 North Carolina are also on the docket in the coming weeks.
“It’s definitely by design,” Syracuse head coach Kayla Treanor said of her team’s tough schedule, which includes meetings with 11 of the preseason Top 25 teams. “If you want to be the best team in the country, which we do, you have to play all the best teams.”
Saturday’s meeting with Maryland marks a rematch of last season’s thriller in the Dome. The Terps escaped with a 9-8 overtime win, but it was tight all the way. The game was tied six times, and neither side ever led by more than two goals. In the end, UMD grad student Hannah Leubecker found the back of the net 37 seconds into the extra period, lifting Maryland to its first win over Syracuse in three years.
Treanor says, for herself and her returning players, last season’s defeat to the Terps has lingered.
“I think it just makes us respect our opponent,” the head coach said. “Maryland is a really good team and we always play good games against them. We have to travel to go play them, so we’re excited.”
It’s true; before last season, SU had topped UMD in back-to-back meetings. The Orange won 20-11 in 2023 and 10-5 in 2020. Before that, though, Maryland won the first 19 matchups in the series, from 2002 to 2019, all before Treanor took over for former UMD assistant Gary Gait. That long list of Terps victories against SU includes the 2014 National Championship and the 2015 NCAA Semifinal.
Only so much can be gleaned about Syracuse from its win over UAlbany, a team against which SU is 18-0. Sure, the Orange saw 10 different players tally multiple points in a well-rounded offensive effort. Sure, freshmen Alexa Vogelman, Molly Guzik, Caroline Trinkaus and Mileena Cotter had three points each. But can SU keep it up when the competition steps up?
If it can, it’ll need senior Meghan Rode to improve at the draw circle. In her first game as the lead draw-taker following the departure of All-American Kate Mashewske, Rode won 11 draw controls, but the Orange only narrowly out-controlled the Great Danes at the circle, 19-14.
The same goes for goalie Daniella Guyette, who faced 9 shots on goal from UAlbany Friday, and made only three saves. She did cause a turnover and gobbled up a pair of ground balls. Still, SU’s level of comfort with Guyette is, presumably, a far cry from that with former Tewaaraton Award nominee Delanie Sweitzer between the pipes.
“She’s another player who just needs more game reps,” Treanor said. “I think she’s doing a really good job.”
Maryland itself experienced substantial changeover in the offseason. The Terps do return midfielder Kori Edmonson – a preseason All-American – after a strong sophomore campaign and defender Kennedy Major, who figures to be one of the top back-liners in the Big Ten. Beyond that, though, much is uncertain. Of note, goalie Emily Sterling has graduated, and redshirt sophomore JJ Suriano, who didn’t play at all last season, steps in.
“It was really cool for her to watch and learn from [Sterling],” UMD head coach Cathy Reese told USA Lacrosse Magazine. “JJ is such an eager and active goalie. She loves what she does. She’s not afraid of anything.”
Reese believes her 2025 squad – set to play its first game Saturday against SU – has a renewed energy. That freshness extends to the sidelines as well, where Maryland has made a change to its full-time staff for the first time in more than a decade. Caitlyn Phipps, one of Reese’s longtime assistants, departed for the head coach position at Georgetown, and Reese replaced her with Alex Aust Holman, a 2013 Maryland graduate and a current professional player with the Maryland Charm of the WLL.
Treanor acknowledged earlier in the week that Maryland, which hasn’t played a game yet, may have a slight edge in preparation because they have a game’s worth of Syracuse film to study. But she also noted that her team didn’t have any film of UAlbany either, and had no problems on Opening Day.
“We’ll be ready,” the SU bench boss said.
Opening draw in College Park is set for Saturday at 11 a.m. Follow CitrusTV’s women’s lacrosse beat reporter Jake Klein (@KleinJake_ ) on Twitter/X for live updates from College Park. You can also tune into CitrusTV’s live pregame and postgame coverage on YouTube and OTN: ’Cuse Countdown goes live at 10 a.m. before SU women’s and men’s lacrosse battle Maryland. Orange Press Pass is also live, with postgame coverage from both Orange-Terps battles at 5:30 p.m.
