Syracuse women’s lacrosse drops 1 spot to No. 15 in IL Week 5 Poll
Syracuse women’s lacrosse dropped one spot to No. 15 in Inside Lacrosse’s Week 5 Poll, which was released Monday. Zoe Xixis | Asst. Photo Editor
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Syracuse women’s lacrosse (4-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast) dropped one spot to No. 15 in the Inside Lacrosse Week 5 Poll, which was released Monday. The Orange snagged two wins over Cal and Virginia Tech to extend their winning streak to four games, but the weakness of their opponents and Duke’s 11-goal win over Boston College and one-goal loss to Stanford boosted it over SU.
Syracuse is one of nine ACC teams in the ranking, with the first two spots occupied by conference foes in North Carolina and the Cardinal. The Orange got those meetings out of the way early, though, instead opening the week with the Golden Bears, Syracuse’s second of three straight unranked matchups.
Against Cal, SU grabbed a 13-3 win. Syracuse built off its dominant 19 caused turnovers against Louisville with a season-low three goals allowed on seven shots versus the Golden Bears. Izzy Lahah — who was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week — fueled the effort with four ground balls and four caused turnovers, helping hold Cal’s top attack Courtney Wong to zero shots.
On the offensive end, a season-best 11 players scored for the Orange, with Mackenzie Rich exploding for her first career hat trick.
While she held in check three days later, Syracuse still eclipsed .500 for the first time this year with a 13-3 win over the Hokies. Virginia Tech upset the Orange last season, paving the way for SU’s season-ending collapse, but it got payback Friday with an end-to-end annihilation.
Syracuse jumped out to a 3-1 first-quarter lead before scoring eight unanswered goals from the end of the first quarter until midway through the third. VT tallied two of its own in the final 19 minutes, but it was too little too late.
Molly Guzik led SU with four goals for the second time this season and won five draws for the second consecutive game. Coco Vandiver spearheaded the defense’s third straight impressive outing with four caused turnovers.
Unfortunately for the Orange, the fun may be over. The arduous part of Syracuse’s gauntlet restarts Thursday against No. 4 Northwestern before two more ranked battles versus No. 6 Yale and No. 21 Virginia in a nine-day span.
