Observations from SU’s win over Cal: Defense’s day, Guzik dominates draw
Syracuse’s defense had a dominant performance against Cal Tuesday, allowing a season-low seven shots and three goals. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer
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Through five games, Syracuse hasn’t received many gimmes. But based on the mammoth schedule Regy Thorpe constructed, that was expected. Therefore, when the Orange gets an easy opponent, they can’t let it slip.
Tuesday’s matchup was one of those games. Cal is inching toward the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference. It finally earned its first-ever ACC win on Feb. 13, but a seven-goal dud to No. 24 Duke on Feb. 28 proved it’s got a ways to go before it can compete with conference juggernauts like Syracuse.
Many things would’ve had to go right for the Golden Bears to upset the Orange. Few things did. SU paced Cal in pretty much every statistic, stretching a 3-1 first-quarter advantage into a 10-goal win.
Here are some observations from No. 14 Syracuse’s (3-3, 2-2 ACC) 13-3 win over Cal (3-4, 1-2 ACC) Tuesday in the JMA Wireless Dome:
Guzik finally shines on the draw
It’s been a shaky start for Molly Guzik. Not because of her offensive production. Her team-leading 12 goals were actually a pleasant surprise after scoring just 14 in her entire freshman campaign. But she had big shoes to fill in the draw circle, a spot that’s synonymous with some of SU’s best players in program history.
Kate Mashewske ended her career in 2024 as Syracuse’s all-time leader in draw controls with 577, and the Orange have been trying to find her replacement since. Despite a rough start for Guzik in her first year as SU’s specialist, she showed glimpses Tuesday that she could be the Orange’s next great. Guzik won five draws against Cal.
SU’s sophomore won the first five tries, shaping a 3-1 first-quarter lead for Syracuse. The only reason the Orange’s advantage didn’t grow was due to their sloppy offense, which turned the ball over seven times in the first quarter.
Cal’s Ashleigh Masterson entered Tuesday with more experience and success than Guzik, but Masterson’s struggles didn’t subside until SU held a 4-1 lead five minutes into the second quarter. Even when the Golden Bears’ sophomore won her first draw, a turnover by Cal’s Courtney Wong led to a Bri Peters score.
Guzik’s five draw wins in the first half neared her season-best seven she set against Loyola, but she came up just short as she was replaced in the circle for Ireland Mistretta. Nevertheless, Syracuse has been looking for a spark from Guzik on the draw all year, and on Tuesday, she finally delivered.
Keeping the pressure on
Defense hasn’t and probably won’t be a problem for Syracuse all season. Players like Coco Vandiver and Kaci Benoit bring three-plus years of stability, and Izzy Lahah and Mackenzie Salentre are nicely filling roles Sam DeVito and Superia Clark left behind.
In fact, Lahah even earned SU’s first weekly award of the season just minutes before the opening draw after forcing four turnovers and picking up four groundballs, as the Orange put together their best defensive showing since 2019 against Louisville Saturday.
The momentum has to continue for Syracuse to fight in the ACC, and it surely did Tuesday, as SU surrendered just seven shot attempts and allowed a season-low three goals. Initially, both teams matched up evenly on the defensive side. Cal’s man defense was suffocating Syracuse’s attack, and the same could be said on the other end.
But a 5-0 advantage for Guzik in the circle fueled an SU lead, and even when Masterson got going, Caroline Trinkaus and Ashlee Volpe forced turnovers. The moment Cal evened Syracuse at 1-1 was a distant memory as the first half waned. The Orange forced 15 turnovers in the first half, and their offense capitalized with a 10-1 advantage.
Cal didn’t change much early in the second half. Just nine seconds remained on the shot clock of its first possession of the second half when the Golden Bears passed directly to Vandiver’s stick for her third caused turnover of the day. Guzik added to SU’s lead 49 seconds later with her second goal of the day.
Although the Golden Bears added their second goal with one minute and two seconds left in the third quarter and tried three shots in between, SU’s defense continued to apply the pressure. Just when it looked like the Orange’s unit couldn’t get any better after their performance versus the Cardinals, they one-upped it against Cal.
Spreading it out
Thorpe walked back and forth a few times on the sideline and shook his head in approval before shaking Gracie Britton’s hand. The Orange hadn’t been this comfortable all season, and Britton’s free position goal to extend Syracuse’s second-quarter lead to 8-1 made it even sweeter.
Britton was SU’s eighth goal scorer of the evening, fueling a 26-shot effort that resulted in a 10-1 halftime lead for the Orange. Thorpe has said all year that lacrosse is a game of runs, but aside from a seven-goal spurt in its win over Loyola, Syracuse hasn’t come through there.
Finally, against the Golden Bears, when SU’s offense started firing, it didn’t stop. Not only would Emily Moes’ first-quarter goal be Cal’s only score until the third quarter, but also its only shot. In return, everyone got involved in Syracuse’s offense.
The Orange entered halftime with their largest lead of the year, and nine players had scored, while four of their goals had been assisted. It tied SU’s season-best of nine scorers against then-No. 13 Loyola and Louisville, yet Tuesday’s game was just 50% over. At that point, Mackenzie Rich led SU with a hat trick, easily surpassing the one goal she’d scored in games against Maryland, UNC and the Cardinals.
Not much changed in the back half. Annie Parker became SU’s 10th goal scorer with a free position goal with 2:31 left in the third quarter. It was Syracuse’s most scorers in a game since its 17-11 win over Pitt on March 15, 2025.
As Thorpe emptied his bench, Grace McHugh found the back of the net for her first career goal. Thorpe’s been looking for his offense to come together all season. On Tuesday, they finally did.
