2024 Women’s Lacrosse preview
Rahill Jaiswal | @RahillJaiswal
After nearly a year, Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse is back in action this weekend. SU enters the season ranked number five in the nation. It opened its season on Saturday against the defending champions Northwestern.
After a 15-0 start to the season, the Orange seemed primed for a national championship run. However, SU could not get it done. Syracuse lost in the final four to Boston College. Now as the new season begins, head coach Kayla Treanor and her squad hope to finally get over the hump. However, Syracuse enters the season with lots of questions.
For the first time in five years, Syracuse’s roster won’t feature Meaghan Tyrrell and Megan Carney. Tyrrell finished her career with 418 points, the most in program history. The attacker led the team with 107 total points in 2023. Meanwhile, Carney was also one of SU’s core attackers. The graduate student had 66 points in the 2023 season. That was the 4th most points on the team. With Syracuse losing two of its four best attackers. Where do the goals come from?
Well, the offensive load is going to fall on Emma Tyrrell and Emma Ward. The duo had the second and third most points last year. Ward finished the season with a team-high 53 assists. Emma Tyrrell scored the second most goals on the team with 52. The Emma-to-Emma connection will be the key to Syracuse’s success. If the two of them are clicking, the offense has the capability to be one of the best in the country.
Syracuse also brings in a great freshman class. The class is highlighted by Midfielder Alexa Vogelman. The Pennsylvania native is ranked the fifth-best player in inside lacrosse’s top 100 freshman rankings. The freshman is a three-time all-American and helped guide her team to the 2023 State Championship. In the final Vogelman came up huge. The midfielder tallied nine total points and forced two turnovers. The freshman class doesn’t stop there. The Orange also managed to get another five-star in Ashlee Volpe. The New York native is rated the 21st-best player in the incoming class. Volpe has shown an incredible amount of resilience over her high school career. The attacker has managed 54 goals and 33 goals in 2022 after tearing her ACL twice in the span of 21 months.
Flipping to the defense, SU is sorted. Goalie Delaney Switzer enters the season rated one of the best net-minders in the nation. Switzer tailed over 180 saves last season which was good to finish in the top ten. The Goalie was the only SU player to be named to the preseason All-American first team. The Orange back line is going to be anchored by Katie Goodale. The senior was one of two SU players to be named a preseason All-American honorable mention.
The Orange will have one of the hardest schedules this year. Of the 16 teams they play, 10 of them finished in the top 20 last year. However, Syracuse fans should still expect this team to compete for a national championship.
