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In 2019, head coach Gary Gait declared that Syracuse would be “a power-four team that competes for championships.” The Orange came up short, losing in the NCAA quarterfinals against then-No. 4 Northwestern 18-14. 

As the Orange pursued their first-ever national title in 2020, Syracuse was that “power-four team,” finishing at No. 4 in Inside Lacrosse’s rankings before the season got cut short due to the pandemic. A week ahead of the Syracuse-Northwestern rematch Feb. 22, 2020, Kerry Defliese, second-team preseason All-American, said SU would come out “guns blazing.” Senior Mary Rahal’s eyes widened when talking about revenge. 

Then-No. 7 Syracuse traveled to Evanston, Illinois, four days later and proceeded to upset the No. 6 Wildcats 16-11 behind six goals from Emily Hawryschuk and five from Meaghan Tyrrell. Two weeks later, the Orange traveled 365 miles and promptly topped No. 9 Maryland, the defending champions, 10-5. Maryland originally canceled its game in Syracuse due to “weather and travel concerns.”

This year, 10 of 11 seniors from last season’s team are back. With five All-Americans returning, with the best scoring defense in the nation, with a clear “power-four” team, Syracuse has all the pieces to win the program’s first national title. 

For the Orange, it has to be this year.

“They want to come back and they want to compete for a national championship and finish what they started last year,” Gait said Feb. 10.

The program has achieved perennial success since Gait took over in 2007. The Orange have made the national title twice and the semifinals several times. Gait knows what it takes to win it all: He engineered back-to-back-to-back championships as an SU player and was part of a coaching staff that won seven more with Maryland.

Frankly, he may never coach another Hawryschuk. She’s the second best lacrosse player in the nation — men’s or women’s — according to Inside Lacrosse’s 2021 rankings, and she’s on pace to rewrite SU’s record books by the end of this season. She sits sixth in program history with goals (205) and points (249). While SU’s 2021 regular season is condensed by three games, she’s on track to surpass the all-time goal record (250) by mid-April.

Sure, the No. 1 Class of 2021 recruit, Olivia Adamson, committed to SU and can dominate the draw and score in a bevy of ways. But there’s no one in women’s lacrosse who can both powerfully pinpoint corners from beyond eight yards and will her way through defenders to finish in close like Hawryschuk. 

Emily Steinberger | Photo Editor

Hawryschuk was IL’s clutch player of the year, too. She scored four goals in the final 10 minutes in Syracuse’s near-miraculous comeback against Stony Brook, and she finished second in the NCAA in goals last year.

If Syracuse doesn’t win a national championship with Hawryschuk, it may be years before Gait gets another player of her caliber. She’s the program’s cornerstone and is the best since Kayla Treanor. And unlike Treanor’s 2014 team — Syracuse’s best as of recent, though it fell short in the championship game to the Terps — this year’s is deeper and more experienced. 

Both Defliese and Sarah Cooper were second-team All-Americans in 2020 after anchoring the best scoring defense in the country. Syracuse’s entire starting backline returns for the third-consecutive season and has averaged under 8.7 goals allowed through its time together. Only two 2014 defenders, Natalie Glanell and Kasey Mock, had started prior to that season. 

As for the offense, Treanor and Alyssa Murray dictated the pace in 2014, but the drop-off beyond the two Tewaaraton finalists was drastic — SU didn’t have any other All-Americans on offense. Hawryschuk has two All-American honorable mentions flanking her in juniors Megan Carney and Tyrrell. 

In net, Asa Goldstock posted a .442% save percentage, and while her 8.19 goals against average is also indicative of the defense as a whole, she was an important key to the program’s fifth-best scoring defense ever. 

This is the year for Syracuse women’s lacrosse because last year couldn’t be. Aside from an early-season ego check by Stony Brook, 2020 was Syracuse’s to lose as well. That Orange team put a target on the back of every team ranked higher and delivered. COVID-19 robbed everyone from seeing what they could’ve done to No. 1 North Carolina, No. 2 Notre Dame or No. 3 Loyola. 

The Tar Heels return as the nation’s best, and they added the 2020 No. 1 recruit Caitlyn Wurzburger. But getting highly-touted freshmen up to speed amid a pandemic and shortened schedule will be challenging. 

The Atlantic Coast Conference will prove challenging for Syracuse. But it has all the pieces — and the experience — to live up to its aspirations, which Syracuse has already shown it can back up with unmatched talent and work ethic. Now, the Orange just need to show desire for winning a national championship. And their best players long since have.

Tim Nolan is a staff writer at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at tnolan@syr.edu or on Twitter @Tim_Nolan10.

Published on February 17, 2021 at 9:40 pm