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Regy Thorpe knows what hurts the best teams in college lacrosse — complacency. The feeling that just winning is enough. That scraping past opponents, no matter how sloppy or ugly, is all a team really needs.

While the wins are really what matter, the first-year head coach knows he must keep his team pushing for more. He often reinforces his saying that his team has to take the season day by day. They can’t get caught up in the highs of wins and the lows of losses.

That’s exactly why — after starting the season 0-3 — his team responded with eight straight wins. And it’s why, now, as the hottest team in women’s collegiate lacrosse, the Orange still can’t be complacent. Thorpe warned his team of that fate after Tuesday’s narrow win over UAlbany.

“I thought we were a little complacent tonight,” Thorpe said Tuesday. “I think we can beat any team in the country. I also think we can lose to any team in the country. You got to show up every day, and you got to play a full 60 or more minutes. We haven’t played our best full 60 (minutes).”

Saturday’s win over Pitt, though, was about as close to Syracuse’s best 60 minutes as it’s shown all season.

No. 5 SU (9-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) handled the No. 24 Panthers (5-7, 2-6 ACC) 16-7 at home Saturday morning for its ninth straight win. The Orange scored eight unanswered goals to begin the game, fueling their highest-scoring outing of the season. Syracuse had four different players with two or more goals. Molly Guzik led the way with four goals and six points, while Mackenzie Rich tallied a career-high seven points on three goals. The Orange defense also limited Pitt to just two goals through three quarters.

“It’s a great win for the program,” Thorpe said postgame. “We knew (Pitt) was gonna be tough, but we got off to a great start. (Guzik) got us going on the draws, we cashed in, and our defense did what they always do.”

Thorpe’s rundown simplified an awfully dominant early stretch. The Orange’s 8-0 first-half run dug the Panthers’ grave by halftime.

The first of a million cuts to Pitt started with an early Caroline Trinkaus score. Emma Muchnick cleared the ball off Guzik’s opening draw win, and SU earned a player-up opportunity after a green card on Aidan Carr. A few passes around X allowed Guzik to tee up a cutting Trinkaus at the doorstep for SU’s first goal of the day.

Rich added a second score six minutes after the opener, cleaning up a Guzik shot that hit the post and slamming it past Molly Cain. A Riley Ebersole green card put Pitt a player down again promptly after, allowing Guzik to find her first score of the day. She evaded defenders while moving to her left and ripped a quick shot into the top shelf to make it 3-0 Orange.

SU’s defense has undoubtedly been the highlight of its recent nine-game run, holding opponents to just five goals per game over its past six contests. Daniella Guyette’s also quietly become one of the best goaltenders in the country, allowing just 6.90 goals a game this year. She stood tall on Pitt’s first good look of the afternoon at the 5:48 mark in the first, brushing a free-position shot wide.

For the most part, though, Guyette wasn’t too busy, tallying just one save on three shots before Allie Hanlon took over in the fourth quarter. Her defense made it a relatively easy day at the office, totaling 11 caused turnovers and allowing just eight shots on goal.

“They’re the best defense in the country,” Thorpe said.

Most of the action was on the other end, where Rich and Trinkaus both found a second goal and Joely Caramelli added another before the end of the first quarter. The Orange peppered Cain in net with nine first-quarter shots, leading 6-0 after one frame. Pitt, meanwhile, had just one shot.

Syracuse’s Caroline Trinkaus and Annie Parker celebrate after one of SU’s 16 goals versus Pitt. The two combined for five points in the Orange’s decimation of the Panthers. Tara Deluca | Asst. Photo Editor

With how well Syracuse’s defense had been playing entering the contest, a six-goal deficit after the first quarter was practically a death sentence for the Panthers. The second quarter only compounded matters.

The Orange were sloppier than usual on their first few possessions of the quarter, logging two quick turnovers. Syracuse’s inevitable breakthrough came via Alexa Vogelman, who received a pass from Guzik, spun, jumped and finished into the top left corner to make it 7-0. Mackenzie Borbi followed less than a minute later with an eighth off a feed from Rich.

“Last game, we weren’t really happy with how we didn’t play together,” Guzik said. “This game, we really went out there and just played for each other.
It was just so much fun.”

Pitt finally broke the dry spell at the 3:41 mark in the second as Gigi Leonzi teed up Kaitlyn Giandonato, who faked high and finished past Guyette.

It gave the Panthers a sliver of optimism. But it ended there.

Muchnick placed another shot past Cain off a feed from Trinkaus at the 1:48 mark, restoring SU’s eight-goal advantage. Guzik finished her hat trick with a leaping finish just outside the crease a second before the third-quarter buzzer.

At halftime, the Orange led 10-1 while Pitt’s offense was virtually nonexistent. The Panthers had over twice as many turnovers (12) as shots (five), and SU’s defense caused six of them.

The game was essentially put to bed by the end of the first half, but Syracuse still didn’t leave anything to chance in the final 30 minutes.

Three minutes into the half, Guzik received a pass from Rich at X and uncorked a laser into the top right corner for her fourth of the game. Mileena Cotter then answered a Pitt goal with a sidearm rip that restored the double-digit advantage.

Rich completed her hat trick after to make it 11. Guzik sniped a free-position shot to make it 12. Caramelli scored on the run to make it 13. The goals just kept coming.

Pitt never truly threatened again. It didn’t even get close. While the Panthers strung together five unanswered goals in the fourth quarter against SU’s backups, which made the final score look closer than it was, it didn’t stop the Orange from closing an utterly dominant victory.

Still, the final few minutes — where SU was outscored 5-1 — left a bad taste in Thorpe’s mouth. It could’ve been a 14-goal win. Instead, it was an equally dominant nine-goal win.

So, when Thorpe was asked postgame whether his team had finally played the perfect 60 minutes he’s long coveted, he smiled. Of course, he would never say yes.

No matter how many goals the Orange score, or how few they allow, or how many wins in a row they collect, Thorpe won’t say it’s enough. That’d mean he’s being complacent. And he knows that to be the last team standing on Memorial Day Weekend, his team needs more.

“About 45 (good minutes),” he said. “We gotta clean things up on the draw.”

Published on March 28, 2026 at 12:05 pm
Contact Harris: harrispemberton@gmail.com | @HarrisPemb6