After a week off the Syracuse Orange women’s lacrosse team finally learned their NCAA Tournament path last night.
Syracuse (13-5) were not one of the top six seeds, so they will head on the road to face Loyola (Md) at Navy. The game will be Friday night at 7:00 pm with television details still to come.
The two teams met at the JMA Wireless Dome earlier this season with the Orange earning a 15-7 win in what was Regy Thorpe’s first win as Head Coach. It was a game that Syracuse jumped out a 13-4 lead and kept the Greyhounds from mounting a second-half comeback. Now the teams will face off at a neutral site with the winner advancing to face the winner of UMass and Navy.
The Orange started the season 0-3 and it looked like NCAA Tournament hopes would be just a dream, but the team reeled off 12 straight wins to vault into the top 5. Syracuse does enter the NCAA Tournament losing two of the last three and will look to get back to the defensive level that sparked the win streak.
Molly Guzik led the Orange with 40 goals and 50 points this season and Syracuse hopes that Caroline Trinkaus and Emma Muchnick can step their play up to help a Syracuse offense which has struggled against tougher opponents this season.
ACC Goalie of the Year Dan Guyette has been outstanding in net for the Orange, allowing 7.81 goals per game while saving 46% of shots faced. Syracuse will need Guyette to continue coming up big in key situations.
The semifinals and championship will be played at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium on the campus of Northwestern University on May 22 and 24, respectively. We’ll be following the Orange until their post-season journey ends.
