WLAX Takes Down Massachusetts 17-8

By Ally Heath

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — For Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse, taking down Massachusetts 17-8 felt like just another day in the office. The Orange played with a balanced offense again today after 10 players found the back of the cage and six tallied assists. Gary Gait’s squad is undefeated after starting the season with four games at home, and each of those games saw the Orange come out on top by at least eight goals.

While the score may seem lopsided, it was a physical game that tested the Orange’s ability to rebound from mistakes.

“It was a super physical game which led to some turnovers on our part,” said Gait. “It was a great challenge to refocus. I’m happy with the plays we did make and it was a great opportunity to learn. [The team is] going to make mistakes, but it’s how they rebound from it and how they focus and prepare for the next games.”

Week after week, Gait emphasized how the team was learning from its mistakes in practice and in preparation for upcoming games, and it showed when Syracuse started to get comfortable after the first media timeout.

Freshman Emily Hawryschuk said that the team “knew what to look for” because it was well prepared for today’s matchup, and this allowed the Orange to turn on its high-powered scoring attack after only leading by one 13 minutes into the game.

Hawryschuk’s three goals and one assist solidified her role as a playmaker in the offense; this was the third time in the last four games she netted a hat-trick.

“I think it was a really good team effort out there,” said Junior Captain Riley Donahue, who had two goals and three assists on the day. “You know we have a lot of players shooting, we had a lot, if you look at the stat sheet there’s a lot of different players that got to score today. I think that says a lot about our team and just how we work well together.”

Syracuse continued to mesh together as a team as the season progresses, but after some dropped passes and missed ground balls, it’s clear the young squad still has a lot of room for growth.

The Orange have a quick turnaround this week, facing Albany (2-1) at 5 p.m. on Monday in the second of four games in eight days for the team.