Izzy Lahah, Syracuse defense continue to impress in 10-goal win over Cal
Syracuse’s defense delivered another impressive performance in its 13-3 win over Cal Tuesday. The Orange allowed a season-low seven shots and three goals. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer
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Izzy Lahah was asked to do everything and nothing all at once. She’d take the field on offense and then immediately move to defense. She’d repeatedly run through the same drills, and as Syracuse’s first unit tuned up for a big game, she’d patiently wait off to the side as the opponent.
In Lahah’s first two seasons with the Orange, she spent most of her days on SU’s scout team. She remembers impersonating players like Northwestern great Izzy Scane before matchups with the Wildcats and was asked to literally be someone she’s not. Over and over and over.
Scane’s not an easy player to impersonate. She capped her five-year college career as one of women’s lacrosse’s most decorated players. She was a two-time Tewaaraton Award winner and became Northwestern’s all-time leading scorer.
But Lahah, who went under the radar in high school with zero stars, was willing to do whatever Syracuse asked of her. Even if it meant preparing her teammates to face the best player in the sport.
“From freshman year, I didn’t come in with much confidence,” Lahah said. “I was happy to take that role on and scout and help our team get those wins.”
With two years of scout team under her belt, Lahah learned to replicate low defenders and dominant attacks. As she made plays on both ends of the field, her confidence grew, and in her third campaign, it’s finally showing in meaningful contests.
On Tuesday against Cal, Lahah continued her blazing start to the season with five ground balls and four caused turnovers, both of which led the Orange. Her performance fused with the rest of Syracuse’s (3-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) defense to hold the Golden Bears (3-4, 1-2 ACC) to three goals, the fewest SU has allowed in a game since a 20-2 win over Binghamton on Feb. 16, 2020.
It wasn’t Lahah’s first eye-catching performance, though. She’s started all six of SU’s games — after receiving just two starts across the two years prior — and leads Syracuse in ground balls (17) and caused turnovers (16). She also added a goal on her lone shot of the year in SU’s 13-10 win over Louisville Saturday.
“I’m really just taking this opportunity. It means a lot to me being able to play after sitting for two years,” Lahah said.
“I’m having a great time, so I’m hoping to keep it going,” she added.
It was fitting that Lahah continued to prove herself Tuesday. Just 29 minutes before the opening draw, the junior defender earned her first-career ACC weekly honor and became Syracuse’s first recipient of a conference award this season.
Lahah logged a team-best seven ground balls, seven caused turnovers, one draw control and scored the aforementioned goal in SU’s wins over then-No. 13 Loyola and the Cardinals. Yet she was far from Syracuse’s only defensive standout.
Coco Vandiver — who’s stepped in as SU’s devoted backer following Hallie Simkins’ departure in 2024 — is matching her 11 ground balls with 11 caused turnovers, both marks ranking second on the Orange. Kaci Benoit has seven in each category as one of SU’s defensive captains.
Mackenzie Salentre, who’s listed as a midfielder, has been a pleasant surprise in her first season with the Orange after taking America East Defensive Player of the Year honors at UAlbany in 2024. The quad nearly single-handedly willed SU to its most caused turnovers (19) since 2019 in its win over Louisville.
“We really work well together. We click,” Lahah said. “Playing post with Kaci, then having Coco behind you and (Salentre) on my side and in the middies. It’s definitely having a lot of trust in each other, and it’s allowed me to take those chances, go for those back checks and get those ground balls.”
After SU’s 0-3 start, its first since 2001, the Orange were in desperate need of performances like those Syracuse’s defense has delivered in recent games. Especially Tuesday, when SU’s offense sloppily committed 10 first-half turnovers, head coach Regy Thorpe needed the defense to serve as a security blanket.
Cal isn’t a team that’s meant to hang around with the Orange. It barely scraped past Florida State, which is in its first season as a program, and lost its past 10 ACC games aside from that. It provided Syracuse’s defense an opportunity to make the statement Thorpe’s been searching for.
Now, after allowing just three goals, SU is .500 for the first time this year. It hasn’t surrendered more than 13 goals in a game — which came against No. 1 North Carolina — and Thorpe’s vision is regularly becoming a reality.
“Defense got it back for us when they were hitting the back checks all day long,” Thorpe said. “Led by these guys, Izzy and Kaci and Coco and (Salentre) and the whole D unit, they make it really tough to score in practice. They do it every day, so it’s just good to see it translate to the field.”
As long as Lahah continues to play as she has and pieces like Vandiver, Benoit and Salentre keep connecting, Syracuse’s defense will remain a reliable unit. Although Thorpe constructed the most difficult schedule in Division I lacrosse, the Orange will continue to make statements with the protection they’ve got in the back.
“They’ve been the backbone of our team,” Thorpe said.
