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Another year, another Emma leads the charge.

In 2024, Emma Tyrrell’s 70-goal, 92-point campaign placed her eighth in Syracuse women’s lacrosse goal and point record books. Still, the Orange were swamped 10-7 by No. 2 seed Boston College in the Final Four.

Doubt permeated the air when Tyrrell graduated, but SU had another hoorah with Emma Ward, its all-time assists leader. It couldn’t abscond No. 7 seed Yale, falling 9-8 in the NCAA Tournament Second Round.

Now, senior Emma Muchnick takes the reins under first-year head coach Regy Thorpe. With a front-loaded schedule, featuring three top-7 opponents to start the season, SU can’t afford to start flat. Twenty-five returners join 13 newcomers on all sides of the field.

Here are positional grades for No. 11 Syracuse before it embarks on a grueling 2026 campaign:

Attack: C+

No position took a larger hit this offseason than attack. Ward’s 76 points — 33 higher than any teammate — will be challenging to replicate, and 2024 leading scorer Olivia Adamson (58 goals) fled for NCAA runner-up Northwestern.

SU knows what life’s like without Adamson after she was sidelined with a lower-body injury early last year and never returned. It also lost draw control specialist Meghan Rode to Richmond but has reinforcements in the midfield.

Gracie Britton and Ashlee Volpe return to lead the unit, but their 35 combined goals last season won’t match Ward and Adamson, who reached 30 apiece in every full season at SU. Carlie Desimone started five games last season and could receive increased playing time.

Ward and Adamson’s replacements won’t be determined overnight, but the Orange have the right idea. One of their biggest gets was Ella Peers, Inside Lacrosse’s No. 35 recruit in the class of 2025. She’s apt on the draw, accruing 249 draw controls at Fairport High School (New York), and could replace Rode.

In the portal, SU gambled on three sophomore attacks — Savannah Hodges, Angela Beardsley and Harper Jones — who played sparingly in 2025. Its one proven product is graduate student Courtney Maclay, who improved her output in each of her four years at Stony Brook. After scoring zero goals her freshman year, Maclay recorded 30 last season; six of which came in the NCAA Tournament First Round against Loyola.

It’d be shocking if this unit reaches the heights it did under former head coach Kayla Treanor, but Syracuse has long-term pieces. Britton, Volpe and Co. must step up sooner rather than later to give SU a respectable attack.

Midfield: A

Syracuse’s midfield is full of gems.

When the Orange needed someone to complement Ward, Muchnick stepped up, increasing her goal total from 14 to a team-high 34 in 2025. Caroline Trinkaus was a pleasant surprise, too, earning All-Atlantic Coast Conference Third Team honors after scoring 32 goals as a freshman — Syracuse’s second most.

Outside of SU’s top two scorers, the Orange return plenty of depth. Alexa Vogelman and Mileena Cotter each found back iron 21 times and started double-digit games. Even Joely Caramelli and Molly Guzik scored 10-plus goals.

The unit is loaded front to back, and it was bolstered through the high school recruiting ranks. Syracuse’s five-star and top recruit — Mackenzie Borbi — set season-high (172) and all-time (555) draw control marks at Shawnee High School (New Jersey). Another draw option is top-80 freshman Ireland Mistretta, who notched 354 at Brighton High School (New York).

This is a near-perfect position group, but something’s keeping it from an A+.

The Orange had their hands on the nation’s top freshman recruit in Alexa Spallina, who joined SU on Sept. 21, 2023. But less than a year later, she flipped to Clemson. Spallina could’ve continued Syracuse lacrosse’s legacy with top recruits, as her brother — class of 2022 No. 1 recruit Joey Spallina — plays on the men’s team.

Nonetheless, the midfield is the Orange’s preeminent unit. It would’ve been encouraging to see SU bounce back from the Spallina loss with a portal addition, but aside from Sam DeVito’s graduation, it didn’t lose anyone too crucial.

Zoey Grimes | Design Editor

Defense: B+

Syracuse doesn’t return much on its backline, but it brings back stability. All eyes are on Coco Vandiver to lead the unit in Year 4 after breaking out with 34 ground balls as a junior. She’ll have Kaci Benoit at her side, who notched the same mark last year.

How the rest of the defense will fare is a mystery. The No. 14 recruit in the class of 2024, Lexi Reber, returns from a leg injury that sidelined her after eight games. The unit stays young with SU’s second-ranked freshman, Julia May O’Connor, who could see immediate action. One of its biggest mysteries is 2025 commit Nina Autry — the daughter of Syracuse men’s basketball head coach Adrian Autry — who played locally at Jamesville-DeWitt.

SU’s biggest defensive loss is Superia Clark, who joined Florida State in its inaugural season. But Syracuse replaced her with UAlbany transfer Mackenzie Salentre, who scooped up 92 ground balls and caused 70 turnovers in four years with the Great Danes.

After all, SU needs four capable starters and at least one competent reserve to thrive in the ACC, which it has. It’s not a deep group, and it certainly has question marks. But by no means is it a liability.

Goalkeeper: B

This is Daniella Guyette’s position to lose, and there’s no reason she should. After briefly subbing in for Delaney Sweitzer in 2024, Guyette emerged with 162 saves as a junior, the second-most in the ACC. But her 11.36 goals against average placed eighth in the conference.

Behind Guyette, sophomore Allie Hanlon and freshman Kalena Mandeville slot in as reserves. But barring egregiously subpar play or an injury from Guyette, they shouldn’t see much time.

It’s a prove-it year for Guyette, and she has the tools to emerge as one of the ACC’s premier netminders.

DISCLAIMER: Courtney Maclay is a contributing writer for The Daily Orange. She did not influence the editorial content of this article.

Published on January 28, 2026 at 11:53 pm
Contact Jason: jaglick@syr.edu | @jason_glick