Every year—in every college sport---hundreds of teams miss out on a national championship.
But only one comes within centimeters of the ultimate prize.
Syracuse women’s lacrosse fought its way to the last game of 2021—but came up just short, losing 16-10 to the Boston College Eagles in the national title game.
This year, the Orange are back, largely intact, and looking for redemption.
Seven players were named preseason All-Americans—including three who earned coveted first-team honors.
Senior Meghan Tyrrell returns to lead a deadly Orange attack alongside classmate and fellow All-American Megan Carney.
Sarah Cooper, one of just 25 nominated for last season’s Tewaarton Award, anchors the defense.
And Emily Hawryschuck is back after last year’s devastating ACL inury. She sits 51 goals shy of the Syracuse career record. A record ironically held by her new head coach.
Gary Gait is moving on to coach the Syracuse men’s team. Gait accomplished nearly everything in his last fourteen years—except win a national title.
One of his best players ever—three-time ACC Offensive Player of the Year Kayla Treanor—hopes to step in and achieve that goal.
"I want to bring a national title to Syracuse," Treanor said. "We've been really close, and my goal is to compete for championships every year."
Treanor knows what it takes to win it all.
In each of her three full seasons as a Boston College assistant, the Eagles advanced to the title game.
And last year, she took down her current and former team to win it all.
It seems the Orange have all the tools to make a run at a first national championship trophy. They start the season at number three in the polls. But they’ll be tested by an absolute gauntlet of a schedule.
SU plays eleven games against ranked opponents, including eight against their fellow top ten teams.
It’s a pressure-packed season, and it kicks off this Friday against Number 13 Stanford.
So is this the Orange team to finally put a women’s lax banner in the Carrier Dome rafters? Only time will tell.