Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Since the conclusion of last season, it’s been unclear who would step up for Syracuse in 2025. Now, even past the halfway mark of SU’s season, the question still looms large.

First, the onus to take on an expanded role was shared between Olivia Adamson and Emma Ward. Following Emma Tyrrell’s departure — who finished No. 8 on Syracuse’s all-time points list — the duo was expected to author the next chapter of SU’s offensive front. Just three games into the campaign, that idea was scrapped following Adamson’s season-ending injury.

Ever since, Ward has done her best to pick up the slack, but it simply hasn’t been enough. Despite her 24 points across Syracuse’s last six games without Adamson, the Orange won just two of them and sat at just 5-4 overall entering their bout with Loyola.

To establish their first-ever winning streak without Adamson, someone else needed to step up. On Wednesday, Emma Muchnick rose to the occasion.

Supported by Muchnick’s career-high five goals, No. 8 Syracuse (6-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) escaped with a 14-12 road victory over No. 17 Loyola (5-5, 2-0 Patriot League), marking SU’s third ranked win of the campaign. After completing her hat trick just 13 minutes into play, Muchnick continued to push the envelope. Following a fourth goal early in the second quarter, the junior capped off her historic day with one more in the final quarter that proved to be the game-winner.

Across her 13 appearances as a freshman at Maryland, Muchnick never started a game. Instead, she received minimal minutes as she watched from the sidelines as consistent starters Kori Edmondson, Shaylan Ahearn and Shannon Smith padded their statistics.

During her sophomore season at Syracuse, she continued to rise up the ranks. Still a nonstarter, Muchnick nearly quadrupled her point output from the previous season with the Terrapins (seven) in 2024 with 14 goals and 13 assists. Fast forward to this season, Muchnick’s finally a consistent starter.

Through nine games, she’s made the most of it. Already on pace to set new career bests in single-season goals, assists and points, she hoped to continue that upward trend against Loyola Wednesday. Just 1:26 in, she set herself up for a signature outing.

Abandoning her usual spot at X, Ward clogged up the middle of the 8-meter arc by placing herself directly in front of the cage. Naturally, the Greyhounds’ defenders gravitated toward her. This left the right side of the fan wide open for Muchnick, who curled toward the goal without much resistance. One-on-one with the goalkeeper, she didn’t miss.

“Starting that early and getting a little bit of juice in the beginning with the girls was really beneficial for our team, but also me too,” Muchnick told CitrusTV postgame.

A minute later, Muchnick again found twine from the exact same area.

As Ward sat poised to strike from her usual free-position spot, she stared at Muchnick on the right. Instead of taking it herself, Ward opted to dump the ball off to Muchnick. Faking high, she snuck her shot below Lauren Spence’s stick for her second of the game.

“We are starting to get comfortable in a lot of different situations this season,” Muchnick said after Syracuse’s overtime loss to then-No. 7 Johns Hopkins.

Up until the two-minute mark of the first quarter, Muchnick wasn’t called upon much other than for the occasional midfield pass. While she stayed off the ball, Syracuse’s underclassmen found their form. Following Caroline Trinkaus and Joely Caramelli’s three combined tallies, the Orange jumped ahead 5-1 at one point.

Just when the Greyhounds seemed to be generating some momentum via a 2-0 run, Muchnick was there to shut it down early in the second quarter.

Posted up at the right side of the 12-meter fan, Gracie Britton drew a shooting space. Just as Ward had confided in Muchnick earlier, Britton did the same on the ensuing free-position. Flipping the ball to Muchnick past Ellie Rinehart’s stick, Muchnick attained her sixth-career hat trick behind a rocket of a shot.

“She’s good on the line, so I think her energy and excitement certainly fuels other people,” SU head coach Kayla Treanor said following Syracuse’s double-overtime win over then-No. 6 Stanford.

For much of the next two quarters, Muchnick’s attempts were largely kept in check by the Greyhounds. Across the next 29 minutes, her impact on the scoreboard was silenced as she fell amid a longstanding scoring drought. Even when held off the ball, her contributions didn’t go unnoticed as the Orange clung to their once-7-3 advantage.

Without Muchnick taking charge on the attack, Syracuse’s lead quickly shrunk. Despite Muchnick scooping up four ground balls across the second and third quarters, all she could do was minimize the damage as the Orange were outscored 8-6 during the span.

Tied at 12 in the final frame, Syracuse again called on Muchnick to break the deadlock. Less than a minute in, she answered the bell.

With Ward finally back at X, she combined with Caramelli and Britton to clear up space for Muchnick down the middle of the 12-meter fan. Slicing through a trio of Loyola defenders, she beat Spence for a fifth time from close range. Throwing her stick down on the ground, she gathered her teammates in a brief huddle as though to tell them, “this isn’t over yet.”

Since her first game in a Syracuse uniform on Feb. 10, 2024, Muchnick showed she had the potential to become Syracuse’s next game-changing midfielder. On Wednesday against Loyola, she finally embraced that role.

“We have a very unique team compared to last year, and I’m someone on our team that’s been in certain situations before with a little more experience,” Muchnick told CitrusTV postgame. “I (try to) remind them that I have their back. I trust them, and they need to trust themselves, too.”

Published on March 19, 2025 at 11:37 pm
Contact Matthew: mgray06@syr.edu | @ma77hew_gray