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Although it took more work than in recent years, Syracuse punched its ticket to the second round of the NCAA Tournament Friday, knocking off Brown. The victory extended SU’s streak of advancing past the tournament’s opening round to six consecutive seasons.

In the wake of their game one loss in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament to Stanford, the Orange were deflated. Sixteen days off gave head coach Kayla Treanor’s squad time to create a plan to escape its three-game slump.

But the question still remained: what version of Syracuse would take the field Friday? The one that downed skilled opponents even without its greatest weapon, or the hapless squad that fell to unranked Virginia Tech and barely put up a fight against its biggest rival?

Fortunately for Syracuse, the latter showed up against the Bears. SU thrashed Brown 15-9 behind a dominant second quarter that saw seven Orange players find twine. Its duo of Emma Muchnick and Emma Ward took charge, finishing with three goals apiece and combining for nine points.

But if Syracuse wants to keep its national title hopes alive, it’ll have to go through another Ivy League contender in Yale. Despite coming off a narrow 12-9 victory over UAlbany in the first round, the Bulldogs hold the ninth-best scoring margin in the nation (5.44 goals per game).

Here’s everything to know about No. 7 seed Yale (15-3, 5-2 Ivy League) before it takes on Syracuse (10-8, 5-4 ACC) Sunday in the NCAA Tournament Second Round:

All time series

Yale leads 3-2.

Last time they played…

It could be argued Syracuse’s loss to then-No. 13 Yale on April 2 is the main reason it was forced to settle for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Heading into the matchup, everything SU touched seemed to turn to gold. A four-game win streak had completely flipped its season at that point, raising it to a strong 8-4 record before its matchup in New Haven.

But the reigning Ivy League Tournament champions were a step ahead of the Orange the entire contest, taking it 13-10. The Bulldogs dug Syracuse into a 3-1 hole early and never trailed the rest of the way. Yale’s Fallon Vaughn, Taylor Lane and Jenna Collignon — three members of its four-pronged attack — burned the Orange with a combined 13 points and three-plus goals each. Ashlee Volpe put up one of her best games of the season with a team-high four tallies, but her performance was overshadowed by the crushing defeat that started Syracuse’s end-of-season spiral.

The Bulldogs report

Yale has enjoyed a similar 2025 season to last year’s campaign. With just three blemishes on its record, the Bulldogs haven’t lost since March 29 and enter their rematch with the Orange red-hot, riding an eight-game winning streak.

They finished their campaign with a 5-2 conference record, locking up the No. 2 seed in the Ivy League Tournament. In the conference playoffs, the Bulldogs pulled out a gutsy one-goal win over Penn before easily dispatching Princeton in the championship. The triumph marked Yale’s second consecutive Ivy League championship.

The Bulldogs faced a slight scare in their NCAA Tournament First Round meeting with UAlbany. Coming out cold in the first half, they allowed the Great Danes to pot three unanswered tallies in the first quarter. It wasn’t until the 11:09 mark of the final frame that Yale finally grabbed its first lead of the day. Powered by UAlbany’s 16 turnovers and a 6-2 fourth quarter, Yale barely scraped by the Great Danes to save itself from a monumental collapse in the opening round.

How Syracuse beats Yale

To avenge their earlier loss to the Bulldogs, the Orange will need to continue to rely on their draw control unit to secure timely possessions. Although the unit has struggled for Syracuse throughout much of this season, it turned over a new leaf against Brown on Friday under the guidance of Meghan Rode. The junior’s strong day produced an 8-3 advantage in the circle in the second quarter alone and led the Orange to a sharp .577 win percentage.

On the other hand, Yale’s unit is still reeling from its lackluster performance on Friday. The Bulldogs scooped up just 4-of-15 draws across the game’s first three quarters before it finally returned to form in the fourth.

Stat to know: 10.50

A big factor in Yale’s near-spotless 15-3 record has been its consistent ability to clamp down on the ball. In eight of their games this season, the Bulldogs have coughed up the ball fewer than 10 times. Their 10.50 turnovers per game rank second in the country behind only Florida’s airtight 9.90. Even during one of its worst games of the season against UAlbany on Friday, Yale kept the ball glued to its sticks. Compared to the Great Danes’ disastrous 16 turnovers, the Bulldogs tied a season-low with six amid the tight contest.

Player to watch: Fallon Vaughn, midfielder, No. 7

In her second-ever contest against the Orange earlier this season, Vaughn quickly became their worst nightmare. With a game-high five tallies, she helped Yale stay in front for all of the contest and ultimately put SU’s lengthy winning streak to bed. The goal total is still tied for her most versus any opponent this season.

A consistent starter all four years with the Bulldogs, Vaughn’s team-high 71 points have allowed her to obliterate previous career bests in goals, assists and points as a senior. She’s recorded at least four points in 10 games so far, highlighted by a career outing against Harvard on April 19 where she notched 10 points in a single game for the first time ever. Vaughn has also shown flashes in the circle, accounting for 37 total draw wins.

Published on May 11, 2025 at 12:47 am
Contact Matthew: mgray06@syr.edu | @ma77hew_gray