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

After Syracuse women’s lacrosse lost its season-opener to then-No. 7 Maryland Feb. 6, head coach Regy Thorpe knew things weren’t getting any easier.

The Orange were dominated in Thorpe’s first game as head coach to the tune of a 9-5 home loss. But even that four-goal margin perhaps made the loss look closer than it was — SU never really stood a chance after the Terrapins sprinted out to a 6-1 first-half lead.

But Thorpe knows there’s no time to dwell on the past. Especially with the task that lies ahead this weekend. The Orange host No. 1 North Carolina — and Tewaaraton winner Chloe Humphrey — at the JMA Wireless Dome Friday with a chance to pull off a perhaps season-altering upset.

Here’s everything to know about the No. 1 Tar Heels (1-0, Atlantic Coast) before they take on No. 14 Syracuse (0-1, ACC):

All-time series

North Carolina leads 13-7.

Last time they played

UNC crushed Syracuse 16-8 when the squads last met in February 2025. The eventual national champion Tar Heels were ranked No. 2 at the time and ignited for a whopping eight goals in the first quarter. It was then-No. 4 SU’s first loss of the campaign after starting 3-0.

Most of UNC’s attack came courtesy of the nation’s best tandem: the Humphrey sisters, Ashley and Chloe. Ashley, who’s two years older, tallied five points, while Chloe totaled three. Both were finalists for the Tewaaraton Award last season, and Chloe won it.

Syracuse will only have to deal with a portion of that threat this season, as Ashley — and three of the Heels’ top four point leaders — graduated. Still, SU will have its hands full with Chloe, who’s Inside Lacrosse’s preseason No. 1 player.

The Tar Heels Report

Syracuse likely won’t face a better team this season than UNC. The reigning champions haven’t lost a game since May 2024 and boasted the best scoring offense (17.45 goals per game) and defense (6.86 goals against per game) in the nation last year.

The Humphrey sisters were a main part of that, combining for a mammoth 239 points. As UNC’s top returner, Chloe will be at the forefront of everything the Tar Heels do offensively. She scored 90 goals last season and tallied 118 points.

Aside from Humphrey, the Tar Heels don’t return a ton of their major producers. Marrisa White (49 goals last season) transferred to Boston College, while Olivia Vergano (39 goals) graduated.

That lack of turnover hasn’t seemed to be much of an issue so far, though. In UNC’s first game of the 2026 campaign, a 19-11 win over James Madison, senior Darcy Felter scored five goals and sophomore Addison Pattillo scored four, while Humphrey and Kaleigh Harden both logged hat tricks.

It’s only been one game, but the Tar Heels again look to have one of the most proficient offenses in the nation. They also return IL Defensive Player of the Year Sam Forrest to pair with fellow defensive anchors Brooklyn Walker-Welch and goalie Betty Nelson.

Simply put, the nation’s best team didn’t lose much since last season. And they don’t plan on losing many games, either.

How Syracuse beats UNC

This is the question just about every team in college lacrosse has been asking for the past year: How can anybody realistically beat the Tar Heels?

For starters, don’t give up eight goals in the first quarter, like the Orange did last time around. Syracuse’s attack is going to need to get going far earlier than it did against Maryland. New specialist Molly Guzik is also going to need to be stellar on the draw so the Orange can afford a few extra offensive possessions, and preferably that’ll give them the opportunity to stack a few-goal advantage early.

Realistically, UNC has far too many offensive stars for Syracuse to just focus on Humphrey. Even if it locks her up — which is virtually impossible — that’ll mean several other Tar Heels will explode, much like how, even when SU limited Maryland superstar Kori Edmondson, it still got shredded by the Terps’ other attacks.

The only thing that’s really going to give the Orange a chance to slow down this UNC offense is if Daniella Guyette is stellar in goal and SU can play most of the game in possession.

The thing about the Tar Heels, though, is that no team — at least over the past year — has actually been able to do that. Syracuse would need a flawless performance to be the first.

Stat to know: 17.45

You could pick just about any metric in the book to exemplify just how good this North Carolina squad was last season, but there’s perhaps none more jarring than the Tar Heels’ 17.45 goals per game mark. Their offense was just unstoppable last season.

For reference, Syracuse eclipsed 17 goals just twice last season. UNC did 13 times. Of course, the Tar Heels lost their leader in points and several top scorers, but appear to have really replaced those losses well. It showed against JMU — the Tar Heels already have a 19-goal performance this season as well.

Based on that stat alone, it’d be reasonable to say that SU would need to score upward of 15 goals and hold the Tar Heels well below last season’s average to have a realistic shot at winning. This attack has tormented just about every team in the top-25 over the past year. Syracuse will hope it’s an exception.

Player to watch: Chloe Humphrey, No. 2

Syracuse will not see a player better than Humphrey this season. That’s because there’s not one that exists in college lacrosse.

Humphrey’s 90-goal, 28-assist campaign last season led to her becoming the first freshman to ever be a finalist for the women’s Tewaaraton Award — let alone win it. She recorded a hat trick in 18 of UNC’s 22 games last season, with SU being an exception, and had nine outings with five or more goals. There’s no reason to believe she won’t do the same this year, or her two seasons after that.

She already has seven points on the season after her three-goal, four assist outing against JMU. That’s more than SU has as a team so far. Unless the Orange have the secret formula to lock her down, Humphrey will be all over the field on Friday. Syracuse will catch her if it can.

Published on February 12, 2026 at 1:13 am
Contact Harris: harrispemberton@gmail.com | @HarrisPemb6