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Take a deep breath, Regy Thorpe. You can finally relax. Kind of.

Thorpe couldn’t have asked for a more daunting gauntlet to begin his Syracuse head-coaching tenure. The Orange took on the nation’s top three squads in North Carolina, Maryland and Stanford and unsurprisingly dropped each meeting.

But, as Thorpe has said multiple times this season, you come to Syracuse to play the best — not duck them. He chose this path, and he also chose to live with its consequences. So, yes, the top three squads won’t face Syracuse again — barring an unforeseen postseason matchup. But it doesn’t get much easier.

Next up is No. 13 Loyola, which snagged a ranked win over then-No. 6 Princeton Saturday. It certainly won’t be a walkover, but it’s Thorpe’s best shot at earning his first win at SU thus far.

Here’s everything to know about the No. 13 Greyhounds (2-2, 1-0 Patriot) before they hit the road to take on No. 15 Syracuse (0-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) Tuesday:

All-time series

Syracuse leads 16-4. The Orange have won 11 straight against the Greyhounds, dating back to May 16, 2015.

Last time they played

A meeting between the Orange and Greyhounds has become an annual event, but it’s been an awfully lopsided one. SU has run the table by an average of five goals in the last 11 matchups. On March 19, 2025, then-No. 9 Syracuse downed then-No. 17 Loyola 14-12 to improve to 6-4.

Emma Muchnick’s game-winning goal with just under 14 minutes left sealed the Orange’s victory. It capped a career-day for the midfielder, who scored a career-high five goals and had a hat trick in the first quarter. Muchnick was aided by a supporting cast of Gracie Britton, Caroline Trinkaus and Joely Caramelli, who each finished with two scores.

SU’s defense forced 16 turnovers and goalie Daniella Guyette saved 11 shots, keeping the Greyhounds’ attack at bay.

The Greyhounds report

Loyola quickly made up for its underwhelming 1-2 start with a dominant 14-10 win over Princeton. Even more impressive is how the Greyhounds did it. They flipped a 2-2 first-quarter knot into an 11-2 second-quarter lead with nine unanswered goals.

Momentum is real, and Loyola is bringing it to the JMA Wireless Dome Tuesday. So are Morgan Quade, Mim Suares-Jury and Emma Talago, who each notched hat tricks in the Greyhounds’ win. And that trio doesn’t even include Loyola’s top scorer, Elisa Faklaris, who ranks fifth in the Patriot League with 12 goals through four games.

The quartet has allowed the Greyhounds to average 14 goals a game, the 24th-best mark in the nation. It’s far beyond SU’s average of 6.67, which ranks 119th among 120 Division I teams.

The defensive end is where Syracuse can exploit Loyola. The Greyhounds allowed double-digit goals in each game, while the Orange haven’t reached that mark offensively. Even against unranked Lehigh, Loyola surrendered 11 goals, including a three-goal run in the fourth quarter. A few three-goal runs could be enough for Syracuse to take over.

How Syracuse beats Loyola

For SU to earn its first win of the season, it’s as simple as pinning shot after shot on Loyola goalie Kennedy Buntrock. Even just 10 shots may do the trick for the Orange against the Greyhounds’ keeper, whose 26.7% save percentage slots in as the fifth-worst mark in the nation.

While Syracuse’s offense has far from flourished, players like Muchnick, Trinkaus and Molly Guzik provide it the firepower to turn a game on its back pretty quickly. The Orange have tried 25 total shots per game. It’s not a mark to gloat about, but it’s surely enough to test Buntrock, who’s saved 17 of the 60 shots on goal she’s faced.

SU has dipped its shot output each game. But if it puts on even half as many shots as it did in its season-opener against Maryland (38), it should be well on its way to a win in the Dome.

Stat to know: 74.3

Of all the things that have gone wrong in Syracuse’s first three games, there’s been none as great as the draw control. Growing pains were expected for Guzik, who’s assuming SU’s draw specialist role after Meghan Rode left for Richmond. But by swapping her out early for Caramelli in Syracuse’s loss to North Carolina, Thorpe revealed where his trust lies.

The Greyhounds rank second in Division I with a 74.3% draw control percentage. Syracuse, in comparison, comes in at 65th with a 47.3% clip. Loyola looks to Mae Murphy in the circle, whose 56 draws rank second in the nation.

Murphy will try to keep Guzik in check, while Syracuse’s sophomore looks to further solidify her spot Tuesday. Whoever wins the battle will likely be a significant reason their team pulls ahead.

Player to watch: Elisa Faklaris, midfielder, No. 24

Faklaris is already up to two hat tricks through four games, and if her 2025 campaign is any indication of what she’s capable of, Syracuse should be scared. The senior broke out with 51 goals and 23 ground balls for the Greyhounds last season.

Incredulously, that goal mark only ranked third on Loyola, but it would’ve greatly surpassed Muchnick’s SU-leading 34. With Chase Boyle and Georgia Latch — the Greyhounds’ previous leading scorers — having graduated, Faklaris was expected to fill their void. Thus far, she’s done it with ease.

Published on February 23, 2026 at 9:50 pm
Contact: jordankimball28@gmail.com | @JordanKimball_