Daniella Guyette crumbles in SU’s ACC Tournament loss to Stanford
In her first ACC Tournament game as a starter, Daniella Guyette’s 3-for-15 mark hindered Syracuse in its 15-10 loss against Stanford. Courtesy of the Atlantic Coast Conference
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When Daniella Guyette speaks during postgame press conferences, she never talks about herself. Any time the Syracuse junior goalie is asked about her performance or a certain timely save, she immediately redirects all the credit to the defenders in front of her.
Following SU’s season opener against UAlbany, Guyette had every reason to be somewhat rattled with her team. In her first career start, she’d stopped just 3-of-9 shots that came her way. To make matters worse, SU head coach Kayla Treanor opted to pull her in the fourth quarter, ripping away any chance she had of rectifying her performance. But instead of dwelling on her mediocre outing, Guyette showed nothing but gratitude for the opportunity and players around her.
“None of this would have been possible without the defense in front of me,” Guyette said after the UAlbany game. “They’re the ones out there giving me the best looks I can get and helping to push me forward while the team is motivated.”
At the same time, when Guyette’s teammates are asked about playing defense, she’s all they talk about. The junior’s consistency between the pipes has been a focal point of Syracuse’s game in 2025. Through 16 regular-season games, Guyette backstopped the Orange with a .430-plus save percentage in nine of them. Sure, she still had occasional blips, but they never lasted long.
That’s why when Guyette broke down in No. 6 seed Syracuse’s (9-8, 5-4 Atlantic Coast) 15-10 loss to No. 3 seed Stanford (14-4, 7-2 Atlantic Coast), the Orange were doomed. Allowing goals on each of the first four shots she faced, Guyette looked never found any sort of rhythm. SU held an 8-5 lead at one point, but Guyette’s struggles coupled with SU’s frenzy of defensive errors in front of her enabled a 5-0 third-quarter Cardinal run, which ultimately cost Syracuse the game. The contest also marked the second straight game Guyette finished with a .200 save percentage.
In the wake of a historic loss to No. 2 Boston College, Syracuse’s defense was in desperate need of a strong start against Stanford. Recalling its last bout with the Cardinal, SU opened the game with a man defense in an effort to neutralize stars Ava Arceri and Aliya Polisky, who had burned the Orange last time the two sides met. But the strategy quickly fell flat.
With an SU player on either side of her, Lindsey Devir floated a bid on goal as she was falling down. Although she didn’t get all of it, the attempt was enough to fool Guyette. Thirty-nine seconds later, Rylee Bouvier ripped one Guyette from the exact same spot as SU’s defenders gave her little resistance. Following two more quick Cardinal strikes, Treanor tried to calm the waters with a timeout.
For the next 15 minutes, Syracuse’s offense gave Guyette a chance to breathe by establishing lengthy possessions in the Cardinal end, embarking on a 7-0 run across the first and second quarters. As halftime loomed, the Orange emerged with a three-goal cushion at 8-5, seemingly erasing the early missteps from its defense.
When Guyette was finally called upon to make another save with eight minutes left in the second, she relished the opportunity to redeem herself. As Polisky stepped up for a free-position shot with eight minutes left in the half, Guyette prepared to turn her performance around with a clutch stop. But her rough day in the cage continued.
With a quick flick of the wrist, Polisky notched her first of what would become four tallies and abruptly ended SU’s scoring run. The strike also brought Guyette down to a 0-for-5 mark on saves in the first half up to that point. Facing only one more shot the rest of the frame, it wasn’t until the 2:52 mark before the half that Guyette finally had a chance to log her first save.
Still ahead by a significant margin, Syracuse looked to squash any hopes the Cardinal had of a second-half comeback. Instead, SU’s sloppiness persisted in the second half. Back-to-back fouls on Emma Muchnick and Coco Vandiver set up the Cardinal with consecutive free-position opportunities. Left out to dry by her defense, Guyette watched both attempts sail past her and into the net.
When Stanford eventually knotted the game at 8-8 at the 6:41 mark of the third period, Treanor made the tough call to temporarily bench Guyette. With SU’s No. 1 goalie sporting a 1-for-9 mark on saves by that point, freshman goalie Allie Hanlon was tasked with trying to turn things around.
“It felt like for a while we couldn’t buy a save, and you’ve gotta try everything to win a game,” Treanor said. “We trust all our players, so we’re gonna give anybody an opportunity.”
When Guyette walked over to the sidelines, she didn’t sit down. She didn’t even take off her helmet or let go of her stick. Instead, she watched the game while juggling a ball in the netting of her stick, eagerly waiting for Treanor to call her back into action if needed.
After Hanlon gave up two quick goals, Guyette was recalled between the pipes as Syracuse’s backline grasped for straws. But with her team now trailing 10-9 and their hopes of a come-from-behind victory hanging by a thread, Syracuse’s disorganized defense continued to sabotage Guyette. Her struggles persisted down the stretch Syracuse’s ACC title hopes faded away.
While her job was made much harder by Syracuse’s 22 turnovers, defensive breakdowns and penalties in front of her, Guyette put up her best effort with the cards she was dealt. Still, her outing didn’t do the Orange any favors. For much of this season, Syracuse was confident it had found its next starting goalie in the form of Guyette. But her performance in goal Wednesday may have possibly put that idea into question.
“We just had a tough night tonight in goal,” Treanor said.
