No. 15 SU shocks No. 4 Northwestern 9-6, earns 1st top-5 win in 2 years
With odds stacked against it, No. 15 Syracuse upset No. 4 Northwestern 9-6 for its first top-five win since 2024. Charlie Hynes | Staff Photographer
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Madison Taylor will never forget what happened in last year’s NCAA Championship. How could she?
Northwestern’s star walloped her competition all year. With an NCAA single-season record 109 goals, her five scores against Syracuse marked another day at the office.
But Taylor was held scoreless against No. 1 seed, watching Northwestern crumble by four goals, while she’d averaged north of that threshold. As she saw Chloe Humphrey hoist the national championship from afar, and the Tewaaraton Award, it was a feeling she’d never want again.
Olivia Adamson grimaced in pain in February last year. She couldn’t suit up for SU against UNC with a lower-body injury. That was her final memory in orange before transferring to the Wildcats this offseason.
No. 15 Syracuse (5-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast) put those same sour tastes in Taylor and Adamson’s mouth in its 9-6 upset over No. 4 Northwestern (5-2, 0-0 Big Ten), holding them to one combined goal. While she used to act as Adamson’s little sister, Molly Guzik stepped up, scoring a career-high six goals to propel the Orange to victory.
“Northwestern’s an unbelievable team,” Syracuse head coach Regy Thorpe said. “Very well-coached. One of the best in the country. So, to come out here on the road, it’s never easy.”
This wasn’t just any win. It was a statement. SU was yearning for such a triumph since its glory days of 2023 and 2024, making the Final Four both times. It had fallen into an abyss that didn’t seem avertable since its last top-five triumph two years ago.
The Orange needed a hero — not just any hero. Someone like Emma Tyrrell, who could rise to the occasion and score a season-high seven goals deep in an NCAA Tournament run. Or Adamson, who could tally over 50 in a season.
Guzik was that savior Thursday.
Every Batman needs their Robin, and the Orange found that Thursday in Mackenzie Rich. SU kept running the same play, and it disoriented the Wildcats every time.
The go-to play was elementary. It’s something Rich thrived at against Virginia Tech. She’d poach at X, processing the options laying before her.
Guzik moved without the ball, making the Wildcats pay for not covering her. The sophomore caressed Rich’s feed and slotted it past goalie Jenika Cuocco to tie things up just over a minute later.
The duo linked up again on the same playcall 51 seconds after. Then, it was Caroline Trinkaus with a lob over Cuocco’s cage for Guzik to punch home for a hat trick not even halfway through the first quarter.
“We anticipated a lock-in man, and they came out in a zone, and we were able to hit a couple of marks,” Thorpe said.
After a Taylor Lapointe goal late in the first quarter to trim the scoring mark to 3-2, the Orange ran an uncharacteristic concept to combat NU head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller’s recovery. The riposte was a Guzik isolation. This time, she scurried at X and cut inside for the finish. The Wildcats were flabbergasted.
That’s not to say they didn’t figure out the Orange on some levels. While Guzik was the draw specialist, she didn’t have a perfect outing at the center circle. Smith helped NU to an 11-6 rout amid occasional Guzik acrobatics to win the ball.
“Molly Guzik did a good job, not just scoring some goals but also managing the draws,” Thorpe said.
Less than a minute later, SU continued its countering efforts, letting Bri Peters go to work alone, ripping twine from the right flank to extend the lead to 5-2.
Child and Maddie Epke fought back to make things close, and despite Syracuse’s halftime lead, things weren’t smooth sailing at the end after Volpe’s late goal was negated with a green card for a dangerous stick launch.
Out of the break, Rich channeled the same tactic as Guzik used on her fourth goal. She could have easily found the cutting sophomore, floating around. But Thorpe and Co. needed to parry the Wildcats, so Rich took it herself and flushed the ball home.
“Then they jumped right into man, like good coaches do,” Thorpe said. “We kept making adjustments.”
It may have taken half of the third quarter, but that gave Syracuse a two-goal lead, and it wasn’t done. A couple minutes later, Trinkaus weaved through a sea of NU defenders and ripped twine to put the game fully out of reach. On the other end, Mackenzie Salentre and Izzy Lahah were scooping ground balls and Coco Vandiver caused four turnovers, holding NU scoreless in the third.
“It wasn’t our cleanest quarter,” Thorpe said. “We tried to make a couple adjustments going into that third frame.”
Guzik had more up her sleeve in the fourth, hunching up her stance and meandering into Cuocco’s crease for her fifth tally. She wanted the sock trick, though, near the city that’s the home to the White Sox.
Did you really think it’d be any other play call? The Wildcats had no idea what to predict. Of course, Rich stooped at X, found Guzik, who stomped inside for her sixth, negating Noel Cumberland and Taylor’s strikes on their final limbs.
As SU players stormed Ryan Fieldhouse, one by one, they hugged Guzik as the mosh pit dissipated. And on the other side, staring askance, stood Taylor and Adamson, befuddled by a familiar indisposed feeling.
“We’ve been right there with the top teams,” Thorpe said. “Tonight, we put a full 60 in, and fortunate to come out with a win on the road.”
