#15 Syracuse stuns #4 Northwestern in seismic upset
By Ryan Croke | @ryancroke_
Evanston, Ill. | Not many regular-season wins are as massive as the one No. 14 Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse (5-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) earned on Thursday. SU upset No. 4 Northwestern (5-2, 0-0 Big Ten) 9-6.
It’s just the second time ever that the Orange have beaten the Wildcats in Evanston.
It all started with midfielder Molly Guzik. The sophomore’s breakout season hit its highest point yet. Guzik scored six goals—three in the first eight minutes of play. Her final goal put the exclamation point on the biggest win of the young Regy Thorpe era.
Guzik is up to 23 goals on the year, more than double that of any SU player. Attacker Caroline Trinkaus is next in line with 10 after a singular goal in the win.
Goalie Daniella Guyette put on her finest performance of the season. The netminder stopped eight of 14 shots faced against the nation’s second-ranked scoring offense.
The SU defense came to play as well. The Wildcats scored just six goals, becoming the latest in a growing list of teams that have been held to their season-low by the Orange. 14 caused turnovers headlined another stellar night for the unit.
NU star attacker Madison Taylor was completely stifled for almost the entire night. The senior scored an NCAA single-season record 109 goals in 2025 and didn’t tally a point until she scored with 3:13 remaining. By that point, the game was already well out of reach.
The single-point performance snaps Taylor’s streak of multiple-point outings that spanned 51 games and dates all the way back to her freshman season. It’s just the fourth time ever that Northwestern’s all-time single-season points leader hadn’t tallied multiple points in a game.
Regy Thorpe has his first statement win as head coach at his alma mater. It’s the kind of performance that the Orange had shown proof of concept for, but had yet to find within them.
To beat one of the sport’s elite teams, you need to be great in all facets of the game. In SU’s first three games of the year against the nation’s current top three squads, the Orange came up short in at least one area.
Thursday saw Syracuse finally get over the hump. The Orange put together an all-around effort that only few teams could.
After an 0-3 start, SU has won five in a row. Make no mistake about it: The Orange have put the college lacrosse world on notice.
For live updates on SU’s next game against No. 6 Yale (6-0, 1-0 Ivy League), follow @ryancroke_ and @CitrusTVSports on X.
