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Some games are too close for comfort, yet Syracuse brushes them aside.

The Orange’s 11-game winning streak hasn’t come without close calls. Five of their last six contests were decided by two goals or fewer, including a pair against unranked UAlbany and Cornell. SU could be staring up at the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference had some of its shots fallen short or if its opponents converted more chances.

But those are hypotheticals, making the Orange so difficult to crack. Adrenaline never overwhelms them.

“When you get into so many dog fights, you get immune to it,” head coach Regy Thorpe said after Saturday’s 10-9 nailbiter over then-No. 18 Duke.

Nonetheless, SU’s made amends since its 0-3 start to climb the ACC ladder. It could inch closer to the second seed in the conference tournament if No. 2 North Carolina dispatches No. 7 Stanford Friday. But that’s also contingent on the Orange handling business Saturday.

Here’s everything to know before No. 3 Syracuse (11-3, 6-2 ACC) hosts No. 15 Notre Dame (11-3, 5-3 ACC):

All-time series

Syracuse leads 20-7.

Last time they played

Syracuse narrowly beat the Fighting Irish 12-11 on March 23, 2025. It aligns with SU’s current trend, marking the fifth time in six games its fate was decided by two goals or fewer.

SU’s 4-1 first-quarter shellacking of the Fighting Irish was abruptly thwarted when Kristen Shanahan, who reached a hat trick in the first half, awarded ND a lead with its fourth unanswered goal. But for about the last 23 minutes, Syracuse never trailed, in large part because it controlled six more draws in the game — its second-largest margin over an opponent last year.

That Sunday matinee was Caroline Trinkaus’ magnum opus, notching her first-ever four-goal performance and extending her scoring streak to seven games. The Orange had eight players find the net, which was sufficient to combat Shanahan’s five scores. A three-goal SU surge during a three-and-a-half-minute span early in the fourth quarter put the game out of reach.

The Fighting Irish report

There’s no school that can say it massacred its opponents by at least 13 goals in four of its previous five games. Well, that’s if Notre Dame didn’t exist. But that’s expected, given its rating percentage index is sixth in the ACC, and it didn’t face a ranked team during the stretch.

The Fighting Irish have the nation’s second-highest scoring duo, with Kate Timarky (52) and Madison Rassas (46) combining for 98 goals. They’re two of seven ND players, including standout freshman Maura Irish, with double-digit assists, securing the ACC’s third-best scoring offense.

Its defense is just as compact, conceding the third-fewest goals per game in the conference, thanks to freshman netminder Ceci Patterson allowing fewer than eight a game. It’s a team where everyone retreats, as 11 players have scooped double-digit ground balls. In her breakout season, Franny O’Brien leads that charge with 23 while causing 20 turnovers.

A week removed from a matchup with the ACC’s top draw specialist — Duke’s Ellie White — Syracuse faces the next-best option, Uma Kowalski, the only other player in the conference with at least 120 controls.

How Syracuse beats Notre Dame

There’s no expectation the Orange agitate Kowalski, given SU’s eight draw controls per game ranks last in the conference. But what it can do is make everything else nightmarish for Notre Dame.

That starts with restraining Timarky and Rassas. With Timarky at attack, Izzy Lahah, who’s emerged as one of the ACC’s most productive defenders, could shadow her. It’s essential midfielders revert to deal with Rassas in the neutral zone.

Even if the pair circumvents the back line, Daniella Guyette can act as a safety valve, saving nearly half of her opponents’ shots this season. After all, SU hasn’t surrendered double-digit goals since February. It ended Duke’s season-long stretch of eclipsing 10 on Saturday, while the Fighting Irish have fallen under that threshold just twice.

It’s imperative Syracuse gives Patterson a hard time with balanced scoring. It can’t solely be Mackenzie Rich teeing up Molly Guzik with just four unique scorers, like Syracuse had against the Blue Devils.

Stat to know: 68

The aforementioned abominations throughout ND’s five-game winning streak pile up to a 68-goal differential, scoring 93 and conceding 25. That’s in large part because its strength of schedule sits 34th, per Lacrosse Reference, the antithesis of Syracuse being dealt the toughest cards in the nation.

It’s not like Notre Dame isn’t battle-tested. After all, it upset then-No. 3 Boston College by three goals in February. But it hasn’t faced a ranked team in nearly a month. Still, 22-3 trounces of Florida State or 20-2 batterings of Robert Morris don’t transpire every day.

Player to watch: Kate Timarky, attack, No. 22

While Guzik’s leapt from 14 goals to 36 in one year, Timarky’s also jumped to the moon, more than doubling her 25-goal mark from last year to rank second in the ACC. Her 3.61 expected goals added per game place in the 96th percentile.

After converting under 40% of her shots on goal in her first two seasons, Timarky’s snowballed that to almost 56% as a junior. She’s also passing more than ever with 16 assists after never recording one as an underclassman. Even on defense, Timarky’s 19 ground balls this year exceed her cumulative total from the previous two seasons.

Published on April 8, 2026 at 11:42 pm
Contact Jason: jaglick@syr.edu | @jason_glick