Syracuse women’s lacrosse rises 6 spots to No. 9 in latest IL Poll
Syracuse rose six spots to No. 9 in the latest Inside Lacrosse Poll after stunning then-No. 4 Northwestern 9-6 on the road Thursday. Charlie Hynes | Staff Photographer
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Syracuse women’s lacrosse (5-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast) rose six spots to No. 9 in the latest Inside Lacrosse Poll, released Monday. The jump — by far SU’s largest of the season — comes after the Orange stunned then-No. 4 Northwestern 9-6 on the road Thursday.
The Orange settle in as the third-best squad in the conference, behind No. 1 North Carolina and No. 2 Stanford.
Thursday’s win was indisputably SU’s best victory under new head coach Regy Thorpe. The Orange trailed for just one minute throughout the game and dominated the Wildcats on both ends of the field.
Offensively, Syracuse was led by midfielder Molly Guzik, who exploded for a career-high six goals, bringing her to a team-high 23 scores on the year. The Orange defense also locked down two of the nation’s best attacks in Madison Taylor and Olivia Adamson, forcing the pair to combine for just one point.
The victory marked SU’s fifth in a row, finishing a stretch where it also toppled then-No. 13 Loyola, Louisville, Cal and Virginia Tech.
The Orange have played one of the toughest schedules in the country, at one point having played the top 4 teams in IL’s poll. But prior to Thursday’s win, most of the victories came against unranked ACC foes, leading to a slight dip to No. 15 in last week’s rankings.
Now, after claiming its first win over a top-10 opponent this year, its first win over a top-5 opponent in two years and its second ranked win of the season, Syracuse sees a major jump into the top 10 for the first time in over a year.
