Previewing Syracuse women’s lacrosse’s Saturday clash with Louisville
The Orange take on Louisville on the road Saturday, hoping to snag their first conference win of the season. Brody Schuffler | Contributing Photographer
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The wait is over. The monkey is finally off Regy Thorpe’s back. It took Syracuse women’s lacrosse’s new head coach a bit longer than he’d hoped, but the Orange are finally in the win column after beating No. 13 Loyola Tuesday.
Thorpe can not only breathe a sigh of relief now that he has his first victory, but also because SU is finally through its deadly early-season gauntlet — which featured four consecutive ranked games, including a trio against the top three teams in the country.
Now, with some momentum, the Orange get a more favorable matchup Saturday against Louisville. The Cardinals similarly have three losses, although they haven’t played nearly as tough of a schedule as Syracuse.
Here’s everything to know about Louisville (2-3, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) before it hosts the Orange (1-3, 0-2 ACC) Saturday.
All-time series
Syracuse leads 15-1.
Last time they played
On April 25, 2024, Syracuse defeated Louisville 17-8 in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals. The top-seeded Orange went on to lose in the conference championship before being eliminated in the Final Four a month later, with both defeats coming to Boston College.
Against the Cardinals, SU pounced early with eight goals in the first quarter — including four in a two-minute span — matching Louisville’s total on the day. Emma Tyrrell led the way with a game-high four goals for the Orange, while Emma Ward tacked on a hat trick and three others scored two goals.
The Cardinals Report
Saturday’s matchup will be Louisville’s second big test to start the season. The 2-3 Cardinals picked up losses to unranked Virginia Tech and Ohio State before getting pummeled 24-3 by No. 1 North Carolina. The Tar Heels beat the Orange a few weeks ago, albeit in a close 13-9 affair. Louisville’s two wins are over Kent State and Canisius.
It’s not too different from last season. Louisville’s consistently been toward the bottom of the ACC standings, and went just 7-10 last season with one conference win. The Cardinals failed to make the ACC Tournament.
They look to right the ship this year, though, primarily captained by junior attack Reese Whiteman. She’s tallied 13 goals in five games, including three outings with three or more goals. Charlotte Jackson and Ella Berg both have 14 points as well, with Jackson tallying nine goals and Berg totaling 11.
Still, Louisville is averaging just 10.6 goals per game and is losing by an average of nine goals per contest.
How Syracuse beats Louisville
While Syracuse certainly hasn’t had a great offense, averaging a historically-poor 8.75 goals per game through four games, the Orange can hang their hat on their defense this season.
SU is allowing just 9.25 goals a game, and even limited UNC to just 13. That same sort of tenacious defensive performance — especially against a slower-scoring squad in Louisville — will be key for the Orange to come out with a win Saturday.
On the other end, Syracuse is still looking to break out. Tuesday’s win gave a glimpse of what SU’s attack can be, notching a season-high 15 scores, and perhaps against a non-ranked opponent in Louisville, the floodgates will finally open.
Ultimately, Saturday’s game should come down to how the Orange perform offensively. If SU can ride Tuesday’s momentum and score north of 12 goals for just the second time this year, it should have a great chance of leaving Kentucky with a victory.
Stat to know: 20
In two ACC games this season, Louisville is allowing an average of 20 goals per game.
Granted, a big part of that total is the beatdown against UNC, where the Cardinals allowed a whopping 24 goals. But they’ve been unable to keep teams off the scoresheet in conference play.
Syracuse, meanwhile, is conceding just 10.5 per game. The Orange allowed just 13 against that same UNC squad before they held No. 2 Stanford to just eight scores in a two-goal loss Feb. 20.
If the win over Loyola is any indication, the Orange are finding their stride offensively. And against a Louisville team struggling to keep ACC opponents off the scoreboard, it could be time for SU to sustain Tuesday’s success offensively.
Player to watch: Reese Whiteman, attack, No. 6
As a sophomore last season, Whiteman tallied a team-leading 26 goals and 32 points, although the Cardinals failed to really compete with any of the ACC’s best teams.
This season, Whiteman’s already halfway toward that goal tally five games in. Her 2.6 scores per contest ties for eighth-best in the conference. She hasn’t been much of a set-up player, tallying just two assists, but still leads the team with 15 points.
For a team averaging just 10.6 points per game, the Cardinals will need a big game from Whiteman and her supporting cast to pick up a home upset over the Orange.
