Syracuse women’s lacrosse slated to take on Loyola in NCAAT 1st Round
Syracuse women’s lacrosse earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament Sunday and face Loyola in the first round Friday. Avery Magee | Development Editor
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For the 14th consecutive time, Syracuse women’s lacrosse is headed to the NCAA Tournament. The Orange earned an at-large bid Sunday evening and were unseeded, setting them up for a first-round matchup against Loyola on Friday at 7 p.m. SU beat the Greyhounds on Feb. 24 for its first win of the season.
After its tournament opener, Syracuse would face either UMass or Navy. The rest of Syracuse’s quadrant is filled by No. 3 seed Maryland, Princeton and Rutgers.
The Orange finished head coach Regy Thorpe’s inaugural regular season with a remarkable 12-4 record, which included a 12-game winning streak from Feb. 24 to April 16. In those 51 days, SU defeated seven ranked opponents and snagged a historic quadruple-overtime win over then-No. 15 Notre Dame, marking Syracuse’s longest game in program history.
Across the season, many players reached personal benchmarks, notably on the defensive end. Coco Vandiver became SU’s all-time caused turnover leader against Pittsburgh on March 28, Izzy Lahah set Syracuse’s single-season caused turnover record versus Virginia on April 22 and Dan Guyette was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Goalie of the Year Wednesday for the first time in her career.
While SU — ranked No. 11 to start the season — opened its campaign on the wrong foot with three straight losses, the defeats came against the top three teams in the nation. That arduous slate allowed Syracuse to pull off an upset on the road against then-No. 4 Northwestern and vanquish its recent demons against Yale in the Dome.
Despite the regular-season success, the Orange dropped two of their latest three games. They fell to Boston College on April 16 to conclude the regular season and struggled against top-ranked North Carolina in the ACC Tournament Semifinals on April 24.
However, the NCAA Tournament presents a fresh slate, and Syracuse, which has risen to as high as No. 3 in the Inside Lacrosse Poll, has proven it can beat almost anyone.
