What to know before No. 9 Syracuse women’s lacrosse visits No. 20 Virginia
Kate Galica leads No. 20 Virginia in goals, ground balls and draw controls. Our beat writer has more on UVA before it hosts Syracuse Saturday. Charlie Hynes | Staff Photographer
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Revenge has been exacted.
After falling to Northwestern and Yale last season, Syracuse earned back-to-back top-10 wins against them as the underdog.
Molly Guzik continued her surge as a top-10 scorer in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a career-best six goals against the then-No. 4 Wildcats. The sock trick made her the conference’s Offensive Player of the Week.
That was just the beginning. The Orange dispatched No. 5 Yale, which ended their season last year. SU goalie Daniella Guyette’s third-quarter heroics fueled her season-best performance.
The ranked slate rolls on Saturday against No. 20 Virginia, with a six-game winning streak on the line. Here’s everything to know about No. 9 Syracuse’s (6-3, 3-2 ACC) next opponent, the Cavaliers (5-5, 3-2 ACC), before opening draw Saturday:
All-time series
Syracuse leads 18-9.
Last time they played
While the Orange escaped 13-12 on March 29, 2025, the contest elicited quite possibly every emotion.
The sides split four goals in the contest’s first six minutes. It became a game of runs with three Cavalier goals in 95 seconds, followed by a trio of SU goals — two of which came from Mileena Cotter — in under two minutes to knot things at five. And that was just the first quarter.
The second frame was Syracuse’s best with a 4-1 rout. The squads traded blows in the third, but Annie Parker’s goal in the final minute seemed to be the dagger to give the Orange a 12-8 lead.
But lo and behold, a Cavaliers comeback. Led by Abby Manalang, UVA scored four times in under three minutes. Knotted at 12, Caroline Trinkaus, who’d been suppressed all day, scored the game-winner with under three minutes left.
The Cavaliers report
Like SU, Virginia has faced at least six ranked opponents. But it’s only dethroned one top-five team to Syracuse’s three. Yes, the Orange are more battle-tested, but that doesn’t mean they’ll take the Cavaliers lightly.
UVA has five players with more than 12 goals to SU’s two. Juniors Kate Galica and Jenna DiNardo have combined for 37. They’re constantly set up by midfielder Madison Alaimo, whose 29 assists lead the ACC.
Galica is steady on the draw with 80 controls, third-most in the conference and doubling Guzik. Alex Reilly and DiNardo have gotten their fair share of tries at the center circle, too, combining for 43 victories.
Virginia isn’t special defensively with a near-even goals-to-goals-allowed ratio. Kate Demark leads it in caused turnovers with 15, tied for 10th place in the ACC. Lara Kology’s scooped up the most ground balls of any Cavaliers defender with 10.
One non-defender who has more than Kology is goalie Elyse Finnelle with 21. While she’s halted her opponents to single digits five times, she conceded 33 goals across contests against Maryland and Stanford.
How Syracuse beats Virginia
Despite the trite saying that defensive wins championships, that’s the unit the Orange need to rely on Saturday. They haven’t conceded more than six goals in their last four games.
As if Coco Vandiver and Kaci Benoit weren’t intimidating enough, Izzy Lahah’s been even more frightening, leading SU in caused turnovers with 23. And if Syracuse requisites what head coach Regy Thorpe calls his “last resort”, Guyette can save the day.
On the other end, if Guzik and Trinkaus throttle the Cavaliers like the Terrapins and Cardinal did, the Orange will be hard to stop. The biggest challenge will be the draw, given SU controls the least per game in the ACC. It’s something Thorpe always comments on when Syracuse has a subpar performance.
Stat to know: 4.29
Lacrosse games come down to turnovers, and Syracuse knows that firsthand, causing 19 against Louisville, the most it’s forced in seven years.
The Orange have a clear advantage over Virginia in the caused turnover battle, creating over four more per game. SU ranks second in the ACC in the category with almost 12 per game, 4.29 more than the Cavaliers, who slumped to the rim of the top 10.
With Lahah’s breakout and Vandiver close behind with 22 caused turnovers this season, the defense is a brick wall. They’ll be tasked with guarding ball-dominant players like Alaimo, who’s given up the ball 32 times this campaign. Meanwhile, UVA’s defense may not be able to generate similar production on the Syracuse offense.
Player to watch: Kate Galica, midfielder, No. 5
When you watch Virginia on the attack, the ball’s in Galica’s stick. When it’s defending, she’s covering the opposition’s best shooter. Oh yeah, and she commences play at the center circle, where she’s the Cavaliers’ all-time draw controls leader as just a junior.
There’s a reason why Galica was ranked as the No. 5 player in the country ahead of the season, per Inside Lacrosse. She does everything. Galica’s 20 goals lead UVA. So do her 80 draw wins and 23 ground balls, while she ranks second in caused turnovers with 13.
The junior’s 4.16 expected goals added a game, per Pro Lacrosse Reference, ranks 97th percentile. That’s no surprise, considering Galica scored 47 times last year and made the All-ACC First Team.
