The Syracuse University women’s lacrosse team begins their National Championship run this Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The team enters the national tournament as regular season champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference. A 16-2 overall record, bolstered by All-American talent fromMeaghan Tyyrell and Delaney Sweitzer, Syracuse will take on the winner of the University of Massachusetts and Johns Hopkins University who face-off 2 p.m. Friday at SU soccer stadium.
Women's lacrosse head coach Kayla Treanor said the team is trying to focus on one game at a time.
"We have either UMass or Hopkins and they're both really talented teams," Treanor said. "I think that's a big part of our formula in order to move forward is you just have to take it one game at a time and focus on your opponent that you have."
One player who has stepped up for Syracuse but may not receive the recognition as others is Olivia Adamson. Adamson fulfilled the role of taking draws toward the second half of the regular season and the confidence she has built she said has been the reality of the amount of time the team has left together.
"We only have potentially four games left to the season," Adamson said. "You have to own every moment of every game because it could be our last and that's kind of the mentality that we're just trying to bring."
The team has had lots of time to prepare since losing in the semi-finals of the ACC tournamentto the University of North Carolina.
But another added advantage in the NCAA tournament, is the ability to have a home game on Friday to get watch the opponent they will face on Sunday.
“I think the biggest advantage for us is that we’re able to watch the teams live and scout, as the players don’t have that opportunity all year," Treanor said. "Hopefully, we’re able to use that to our advantage and the players will feel confident in the game plan for Sunday.”
Opening whistle is set to blow at 3 p.m. Sunday.