In the 24-year history of the Syracuse women’s lacrosse program, there have been a great many players who made their imprint on the winning culture the team has built.
But upon picking up the record book and flipping through its pages, there are three names that begin to stand out from the rest.
The first is Katie Rowan ‘08, SU’s all-time leader in points and assists. The second is Kayla Treanor ‘16, all-time leader in goals and three-time IWLCA National Player of the Year. And the third is current sixth-year attacker Emily Hawryschuk.
She makes it look so easy - Emily with 4 goals so far this afternoon 🔥
— Syracuse Women's Lacrosse (@CuseWLAX) April 16, 2022
📺 ACCNX pic.twitter.com/JemrbnuLAL
Tuesday, Hawryschuk will take to the turf at the Carrier Dome for the 87th time as a member of the Orange. She’ll look to one sideline and see Treanor, her own head coach. She’ll look to the other and see Rowan, now known as Katie Rowan Thomson, the head coach of the UAlbany Great Danes.
And if she scores three times, she’ll surpass Treanor as the most prolific scorer ever to set foot on the campus of Syracuse University with her 261st goal.
“She’s a really dynamic player, great athlete, really aggressive, strong,” Treanor said of Hawryschuk, who she coached against for four years at Boston College before joining forces this year. “She’s been [in] an important role on every team she’s played on here.”
For her part, though, Hawryschuk isn’t paying much attention to what the record book says about her career. She’s made it clear throughout the year that she’d trade every individual achievement for a national championship.
“I think it’s awesome, but ultimately, I just want to win a national championship,” Hawryschuk said after the team’s Apr. 2 win over Pittsburgh.
As the fourth-ranked team in the nation, the Orange all share that championship aspiration. And if a team wants to hoist trophies at the end of May, they need to take care of business against teams like the Great Danes in mid-April.
It would be an upset of historic proportions if UAlbany could take down Syracuse—the Orange have a 14-0 all-time record against the Great Danes, the last meeting a 16-6 thumping a year ago.
UAlbany is 6-6 on the season, including 0-3 against ranked opponents. They are also 1-2 against their three common opponents with Syracuse, three teams Syracuse defeated by anywhere from three to 16 goals.
But every game has a purpose. And with Boston College next on the schedule—the team that took down Syracuse in the national title game a year ago, this game is an essential building block.
“All these games really matter, we don’t want to take any steps back,” Treanor said Thursday. “We want to use these as opportunities to get better each game and hopefully that will prime our postseason run.”
Highlights from today's win vs Louisville 🎥 pic.twitter.com/vwEYFrvtHP
— Syracuse Women's Lacrosse (@CuseWLAX) April 16, 2022
Still, all eyes will come back to Hawryschuk, who is averaging 3.3 goals this season, including twelve in her last two games. Records like the one she is on the precipice of breaking aren’t challenged often in collegiate athletics and breaking them on one’s home field only adds to the excitement.
And there’s one person in particular who especially wants to see the record fall on Tuesday: the same person who currently owns it.
“We want her to score a lot of goals—if she scores a lot of goals, we’re in a position to win,” Treanor said, laughing. “I want her to pass [the record] quickly.”
Hawryschuk’s date with history begins with the opening draw at 4 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. The game will be broadcast on ACCNX and WJPZ 89.1 F.M.