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There’s no player Regy Thorpe is prouder of than Ashlee Volpe. She’s been through the ups and downs of two ACL surgeries. She began the season in Syracuse’s starting lineup, but Annie Parker and Gracie Britton filled in as she dealt with a lingering lower-body injury.

Thorpe said that Volpe’s still working to be 100% healthy. She’s continuing to develop, and soon enough, she’ll reach her full potential. Even though she’s not there yet, Thorpe has still instilled immense trust in his junior attack throughout the season.

“We’re asking Ashlee to do some things for us,” Thorpe said. “She’s really coming into her own.”

Saturday’s meeting with Duke was another chance for Volpe to take a step forward. It was her fifth straight game entering off the bench, and she’d been held relatively at bay in that span, recording one goal and three assists. Against the Blue Devils, however, she couldn’t have been asked for much more.

When Volpe entered the game, she became the hot hand. She flipped Duke’s three-goal second-half burst on its head, turning in three goals of her own to give No. 3 Syracuse (11-3, 6-2 Atlantic Coast) a three-goal lead in its eventual 10-9 win over the No. 18 Blue Devils (9-5, 5-3 ACC).

“She’s really grown into a player,” Thorpe said of Volpe. “She made some big plays to give us a little bit of breathing room, and we needed every one of those plays as that clock ticked out.”

SU was reeling. The Orange had gone over 13 minutes without a goal, attempting just four shots — one on target — in that span. Meanwhile, Duke had clawed back with three straight scores, tying Saturday’s matchup between the ACC foes at 6-6.

Syracuse hadn’t taken a timeout all afternoon. Maybe this was a good time to. Or just put all your faith in Volpe and let her go to work, a bold choice that ironically worked once before. No, those probably weren’t Thorpe’s only two options, but it certainly seemed like it.

The Orange’s offense hadn’t looked much worse all season, and against a high-octane attack like Duke’s — which entered Saturday averaging over 14 goals per game — SU might as well have kissed its 11th straight win goodbye.

But then Volpe received the ball. Thorpe wasn’t sure what was going through Volpe’s head — or any of his players for that matter — but he assumed it was composure. Calmness, poise, control, balance. That’s what the Orange’s offense had to be thinking. Right?

Well, their on-field performance told a different story. Because when Volpe parked outside the crease mere seconds before her first goal, her feet were frantically moving, and she insisted on receiving the ball.

She called out to Emma Muchnick, who set up at the 8-meter arc. When she received the pass, Volpe stepped back, pivoted off her right foot and ripped a howitzer past Blue Devils’ goaltender Hope Schoudel in net. Volpe then slammed her stick down on the turf, pumped her right fist and embraced a scrum of hugs by her nearby teammates.

The tight opening in the net’s upper right corner was nothing new for Volpe, who put 71% of her shots last season on target and is already at 10 assists on the year.

But if Volpe stopped there, Syracuse would’ve lost. Simple as that. So, she kept finding the ball in her stick, and SU kept scoring. One minute and 38 seconds later, she was called upon again.

This time, Volpe wasn’t waiting. She curled around X as Duke’s zone defense gazed beyond her. Blue Devils midfielder Caitlin Barrett clung to Volpe’s hip as she received a pass from Mackenzie Rich. Volpe wouldn’t stay caged forever. Definitely not after that magnificent first goal that kept SU afloat.

So, Volpe ran upfield, gaining enough space on Barrett to rip a sidearm shot into the bottom left corner of the net. Schoudel fell to her knees far too late. She had no chance. A similar celebration from Volpe followed. A similar amount of excitement managed her teammates. But the job wasn’t finished.

The final encore came just over six minutes later in the fourth quarter. Muchnick had added on her second goal of the afternoon, but in the meantime, Volpe remained in the game. When she ripped mesh for the third time, she seemingly put any Duke comeback to rest.

Volpe received a pass from Mileena Cotter at the left goal-line extended. She was guarded one-on-one with Blue Devils defender Madison Beale, and her release wasn’t even heading for the net. But, as it skipped across the crease to a crashing Molly Guzik, Duke’s Amanda Paci flashed her stick out. The ball rattled off Paci’s stick’s head, ricocheting past a disgusted Schoudel and into the net.

“When you get into so many dog fights, you just get immune to it,” Thorpe said. “You don’t get too rattled.”

As Volpe’s stick fell to the ground for the third time, maybe Thorpe was onto something. Maybe Volpe really did feel calm, composed, poised and everything in between. Yet, her performance would be nothing without a win. As the finishing touch on a legendary day, Volpe found Muchnick crashing in for Syracuse’s game-winner to keep its double-digit winning streak intact. The perfect ending to a spectacular performance.

Published on April 4, 2026 at 7:59 pm
Contact Jordan: jordankimball28@gmail.com | @JordanKimball_