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The last time Syracuse women’s lacrosse won 10 games in a row, the Orange made the Final Four.

SU’s 2023 season, which began with 15 straight wins, ended in a trip to Memorial Day Weekend. While the Orange ultimately fell to Boston College in the Final Four, it was one of their best seasons in program history.

The 2026 season, conversely, started on rather difficult terms for Syracuse with three straight losses. Nonetheless, SU stamped a season-defining turnaround with a 10th-straight win against Cornell Tuesday night — its first such streak since that 2023 season.

Here are some observations from No. 3 Syracuse’s (10-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) 10-8 win over Cornell (7-4, 2-1 Ivy) at Schoellkopf Field:

Good defense, better offense

Much has been made of Syracuse’s defensive efforts over the past several games. The Orange have held opponents to the third-lowest goals per game tally in the nation, averaging just seven goals per game. But Cornell’s defense isn’t too far behind the Orange. Entering Tuesday night, the Big Red were allowing just 7.2 goals a game, making them the fourth-best scoring defense in the nation.

On Tuesday, though, the offenses — which both rank outside the top 50 in scoring per game — showed up. They combined for 18 goals, above both defense’s averages.

It began with a first quarter that featured six goals, three for each team. Cornell took over the second quarter early with three additional scores. While the Orange couldn’t quite break down the Big Red early in the second frame, they tacked on three free-position goals to tie the game at the half.

Daniella Guyette wasn’t her usual stout self in net during the first half, failing to make a save for SU. But both Syracuse’s defense and Guyette settled down in the second half, holding the Big Red to just two goals after the break while Guyette finished with three saves. The SU offense kept rolling as well, tallying another four goals in the second half.

In total, the teams combined for 37 total shots, countering two of the nation’s best defensive units with an unpredictable offensive battle.

Draw dictates the game

During SU’s early-season losing streak, it wasn’t uncommon for head coach Regy Thorpe to blame troubles in the draw circle for his team’s struggles. While she’s been fantastic offensively for the Orange this season, Molly Guzik hasn’t quite evolved into the proficient draw specialist head coach Thorpe would love to have.

Much like most of SU’s opponents this year, one of the only real ways Cornell could hang around Tuesday was by controlling the game in the draw circle. In this back-and-forth game, the teams relied on possession. When the Orange won the draw, they controlled the game. When they didn’t, Cornell did.

It was most evident early, when Cornell led the battle 4-3. SU’s two early wins directly led to two scores, allowing it to go up 2-1. When Cornell settled down in the circle, the Big Red answered with two more goals to tie the game at three and nabbed three early goals in the second quarter. As Guzik picked up a few wins, winning the second-quarter draw battle by a 4-2 margin, the Orange answered with three free-position goals to tie the game again.

The Orange began to run away in the second half, partly due to two early wins in the circle. Cornell won the draw battle 5-2 in the second half, though, helping it stay close late and winning the overall battle 11-9.

Free position disparity

With two of the most physical, best defenses in the sport, fouls around the eight-meter fan are bound to happen. On Tuesday, though, Cornell paid the price of that physicality, conceding 11 free-position looks. The Orange scored three goals from the eight-meter, while Cornell failed to score on its lone free-position attempt.

After trailing by two goals at multiple points in the second quarter, the main reason Syracuse hung around was due to free-position looks. Two of SU’s three scores in the frame came via the eight-meter fan, where Caroline Trinkaus and Guzik both converted.

While SU began separating in the third quarter, Guzik uncorked another shot into the bottom corner from the eight-meter, punctuating a 3-0 Syracuse run. The Orange drew four more free-position looks in the third, and while they didn’t score, it didn’t matter. The three-goal third-quarter cushion was enough to secure a win.

Breaking away

While the two squads were tied at the end of both the first and second quarters, Syracuse was bound to break away late.

The SU defense finally settled down in the third quarter, holding Cornell without a goal thanks to Ellie Bergin’s disallowed score. Meanwhile, SU found goals from Joely Caramelli, Bri Peters and Guzik to take a then-game-high three-goal advantage.

In the fourth, Cornell chipped away with an early goal, although Syracuse answered with another Trinkaus score. The Orange ended up outscoring Cornell 4-2 in the second half, putting the finishing touches on their monumental 10th-straight victory.

Trinkaus on a tear

After a relatively slow stretch at the beginning of ACC play — at least for her standards — Trinkaus has settled in nicely for SU over the past few weeks. Syracuse’s second-leading scorer from a year ago logged a hat trick against UAlbany on March 24 and nabbed two more goals against Pitt Saturday.

She stayed hot Tuesday, tallying another three goals.

Trinkaus’ first score came on one of the final possessions of the first quarter, where she wheeled around a Cornell defender and finished past Mackenzie Clark. A free-position look in the second quarter allowed her to bounce a second past Clark to cut SU’s deficit to 5-4. Her third score in the fourth quarter shut down Cornell’s late upset bid, making it 10-7 Orange.

Trinkaus’ re-emergence — after going two ACC games without a point in early March — was an encouraging sign as the Orange stay scorching hot.

Published on March 31, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Contact Harris: harrispemberton@gmail.com | @HarrisPemb6