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Until the season ends, Regy Thorpe said Syracuse’s mindset is to take each week as its own. Lacrosse is unpredictable, and with Northwestern handing No. 1 North Carolina its first loss since May 10, 2024, and Boston College then downing No. 2 Stanford, it seems anyone can beat anyone.

UAlbany also pushed the Orange to the brink Tuesday. Although SU pulled in front, it served as another reminder Syracuse can’t get complacent. If so, it’d be the next victim against a dangerous Pitt team that upset then-No. 14 Duke 17-10 on Feb. 12.

However, the Orange never let the thought creep in. Syracuse led 6-0 after one quarter and didn’t allow the Panthers to score until 27 minutes in, rolling to its ninth straight win.

Here are some observations from No. 5 SU’s (9-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) 16-7 win over No. 24 Pitt (5-7, 2-6 ACC):

Trinkaus is back

As Caroline Trinkaus scored her second goal of the afternoon with 4:21 to go in the first quarter, Dr. Dre’s 1999 hit “Still D.R.E” echoed in the JMA Wireless Dome. In the song is the phrase, “Guess who’s back.” It was a fitting choice considering Trinkaus is the one who’s back.

After a quiet start to her sophomore season, Trinkaus has ignited with five goals in her last two games, including two Saturday. She followed a first-half hat trick against UAlbany with two goals in the game’s first 10 minutes against the Panthers.

Trinkaus opened Saturday’s game with a doorstep finish after being fed by Molly Guzik from X. That was just 59 seconds in, but it was a sign of things to come.

Nine minutes later, with SU ahead 4-0, Annie Parker found Trinkaus at nearly the same spot. The ball was in the back of the net before Pitt goalie Molly Cain could even flinch. Sandwiched between Trinkaus’ two scores? A feed to the sophomore midfielder to Mackenzie Rich for her sixth assist of the year.

Trinkaus is key to Syracuse’s success, and even though Molly Guzik’s been SU’s spotlight, a revived Trinkaus absolutely helps. Deep into the first half, Trinkaus’ two goals and one assist were enough for an 8-1 SU lead. But why not add another assist for good measure?

Trinkaus finished Saturday’s matchup with two goals and two assists. While she was held without a point in the second half, it didn’t even matter. Syracuse had already sealed its ninth straight win.

Running away

Saturday’s contest was a 30-minute game. Not because they didn’t play a second half. It wasn’t very notable in the slightest, but it still occurred. Instead, the game was essentially over by halftime, with SU running away with a tied-for-season-best 10-1 lead.

It was arguably Syracuse’s best run of the year, which began with eight unanswered goals until 3:41 remained in the second quarter. The Orange scored six goals in the first quarter, five of which came in the game’s first 10 minutes and change.

But while the offense exploded, Syracuse’s defense was a stonewall, holding Pitt to just five first-half shots and one shot on goal. Sure enough, that one touched the back of the net, but at that point, it was nothing if a Pitt run didn’t follow. And it didn’t.

Thorpe said Tuesday that if Syracuse played how it did against the Great Danes, it wouldn’t be able to beat inferior squads. SU must’ve taken it to heart because, after a week of upsets, it extinguished any idea it would be next.

The Orange are the hottest team in lacrosse right now, and with eight-goal runs like SU’s Saturday, Syracuse’s championship aspirations feel increasingly in reach by the day.

Guzik and Rich

Molly Guzik is Molly Guzik. A multi-goal game has become the norm for the sophomore midfielder. With Rich involved Saturday, the pair was unstoppable. Guzik scored four goals and added two assists against the Panthers, while Rich put together a career-best three-goal, four-assist performance.

Rich grew up just an hour from Syracuse in Ithaca, but moving from North Carolina — where she spent her freshman season — to SU was a shot that seemingly hadn’t paid off. Over the last two seasons, Rich appeared in 15 games, not starting a single one. This year, though, she’s started nine of SU’s 11 games, and she proved why Saturday.

With Syracuse ahead 1-0, Guzik tried a low-to-high shot from just beyond the eight-meter arc. While Cain was there to stop it, Rich picked up the rebound and fired her first goal of the afternoon into the top right corner of the net.

Guzik followed with her 28th goal of the year less than a minute later, extending her goal streak to a perfect 12 games before Rich struck again two minutes later on a feed from Trinkaus. The netter marked Rich’s second game this season with multiple goals.

Although she quieted on the goal-front, Rich assisted Joely Caramelli to cap SU’s six-goal first quarter. Guzik and Rich seemed to be at the center of every play from then on. Guzik assisted an Alexa Vogelman goal to start the second before Rich found Mackenzie Borbi.

Finally, the two meshed for the first-half dagger, giving Syracuse its 10th goal with one second left until the break. Guzik got the score, while Rich earned the assist. A 10-1 lead clearly wasn’t enough for the pair, though, who opened the second half with the same sequence: Rich to Guzik.

Guzik’s always been a force to be reckoned with. Adding Rich makes Syracuse’s offense much scarier.

Making history

History was made in the Dome Saturday afternoon. Only 11 seconds into the first quarter, Coco Vandiver swatted a pass away from Pitt midfielder Riley Ebersole. It seemed like just another Vandiver-caused turnover, but it marked the 102nd of her four-year career, clinching the top spot on the program’s caused-turnovers leaderboard.

The previous record was set by Bridget Looney in 2009. Although Katie Goodale finished one shy of tying Looney by the conclusion of her five-year career in 2024, Goodale told The Daily Orange in January that “it was pretty obvious (Vandiver) was gonna make an impact.” In Goodale’s eyes, this was always going to happen.

Vandiver’s been buried on the stat sheet behind Izzy Lahah’s junior year breakout, but she’s still been key to SU’s defense’s success this year, holding opponents to seven goals per game prior to Saturday, the nation’s third-best mark. It’s even more impressive when you see Syracuse’s opponents: No. 1 North Carolina, No. 2 Stanford and No. 3 Maryland.

The Orange again produced a defensive masterclass Saturday, holding Pitt to two goals before their bench was emptied in the fourth quarter and not allowing it to score until 12 minutes into the second quarter. Vandiver finished with just two caused turnovers. But that first one will always be etched in the record books.

Published on March 28, 2026 at 12:03 pm
Contact Jordan: jordankimball28@gmail.com | @JordanKimball_