Syracuse women’s lacrosse remains at No. 3 in Week 9 IL Poll
Syracuse stayed at No. 3 in the latest Inside Lacrosse poll, which was released Monday. The ranking comes after SU beat then-No. 18 Duke 10-9. Tara Deluca | Asst. Photo Editor
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Syracuse women’s lacrosse stayed at No. 3 in the Week 9 Inside Lacrosse poll, which was released Monday. The ranking comes after the Orange snuck past then-No. 18 Duke 10-9 on Saturday.
Hat tricks from Emma Muchnick, Molly Guzik and Ashlee Volpe, who gave it refreshing second-half energy, propelled SU to victory. After embarking on a four-goal run across the final two quarters, the Blue Devils stormed back with three scores before Muchnick nabbed the go-ahead tally with just over two minutes remaining. Syracuse held Duke to single digits for the first time all season.
This week marks the first poll in which the Orange remained in their spot from the prior week. Granted, top-ranked Maryland just won its 13th straight game and is the only undefeated team in the country. No. 2 North Carolina has only lost once this season, and both squads have a pivotal head-to-head tiebreaker over SU.
At the same time, there was no leeway for Syracuse to drop, given it beat No. 4 Northwestern. While the win over the Blue Devils wasn’t much of a resume-booster due to its one-score margin, the Orange continue to thrive in tight games. Five of their last six wins have been decided by two goals or fewer.
SU sits second among Atlantic Coast Conference teams, behind UNC, and it’s positioned for an auspicious first-round matchup in the ACC Tournament in just over two weeks. Other ranked ACC foes include No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 Boston College, No. 11 Clemson, No. 15 Notre Dame, No. 17 Duke and No. 24 Pittsburgh. Syracuse faces the Fighting Irish and the Eagles to close out the regular season.
