Record day in draw circle powers No. 4 Syracuse women’s lacrosse to win over Louisville

With 5:36 to play in the fourth quarter Saturday against Louisville and her team already leading by ten goals, Kate Mashewske crouched into her stance to take a draw, as she has done thousands of times throughout her Syracuse career.

The draw that ensued, however, produced a landmark moment in Mashewske’s career. When she eventually picked up the ball after a long scramble into the Syracuse end, she totaled her 19th draw control of the game, tying an all-time single game record at SU.

It was the culmination of a year-long upward trajectory for the junior Mashewske, who also moved into fourth place on the single-season draw control leaderboard with 120 through 15 games. When those final five minutes ran out, her team had a 23-13 win.

“This year I’ve just been more confident in myself,” Mashewske said. “Winning the ball and pushing over the 30 and just creating that transition.”

Whose record did Mashewske tie? Her head coach’s, of course. Kayla Treanor was the first Orange player to snag 19 draw controls in a game back in 2016 against Loyola.

“I worked with Kayla actually yesterday, before practice, just to re-dial it in,” Mashewske said after the win. “Learning from one of the best to do it, she’s pretty helpful.”

Despite the lopsided final score when the final horn sounded, Syracuse (12-3) very much needed the big day they got from their draw specialist to defeat Louisville (6-9).

The score was deadlocked through much of the first half, with Syracuse holding an 8-7 lead at the outset of the third quarter. But in that third quarter, SU controlled 12 of 14 draws, with Mashewske winning nine of them herself. And accordingly, the Orange outscored the Cardinals 12-3 in the period to seize complete control of the game.

“Elite players play well all the time,” Treanor said. “Big games, games that other players might overlook... and I think [Kate] brought it all day.”

On this cold, damp day on the turf at Christian Brothers Academy, Syracuse got contributions up and down the roster, particularly in the second half. But when the team needed a spark to keep pace with Louisville early, there was only one player to turn to.

Senior captain Meaghan Tyrrell scored all five of her goals before intermission, adding to her team-leading 58 on the season.

“We weren’t really attacking the cage as much as we wanted to,” Tyrrell said of the first half. “Moving forward throughout the game, [we were] actually attacking instead of just making those passes or flips across the eight.”

After the teams emerged from the tiny locker rooms at Alibrandi Stadium, though, a different Orange offensive unit took the field.

Sixth-year attacker Emily Hawryschuk scored all five of her goals in the second half, putting her just two behind Treanor for the all-time Syracuse record and setting up the chance to break that record in the Dome on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a trio of other players scored hat tricks. For sophomore Jenny Markey, it was the first since the Final Four a year ago against Northwestern, while for junior Savannah Sweitzer and freshman Olivia Adamson, it was the first of each of their respective careers.

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“You could see when they got the ball, they were asking players to clear through and they really wanted it today,” Treanor said of her more unheralded offensive players. “I thought that was awesome and that’s what we’ve been looking for from them.”

It may seem a luxury for Syracuse to have this kind of depth in their offense—after all, the Orange had nine goal-scorers Saturday. But with Emma Tyrrell lost for the season and Megan Carney still sidelined with an injury of her own, those players will continue to be vital to the team’s success.

Next up for the Orange is a visit from UAlbany and their head coach, Orange legend Katie Rowan Thomson. Rowan Thomson had her #21 jersey retired at the Dome earlier this season, and will now be in the building when Hawryschuk attempts to take the program’s all-time goal record. Opening draw is set for 4 p.m.