No. 8 Syracuse women’s lacrosse (7-4, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) is red hot ahead of Saturday’s matchup against No. 11 Virginia (7-3, 3-2 ACC). The Orange are winners of three of their last four ranked matchups, including a 12-11 win over then 20th ranked Notre Dame last Saturday. However, the Cavaliers possess their own challenges.
UVA wins nearly 60 percent of its draws, a top 25 mark in the country. Meanwhile, SU only wins around 40 percent of its draws, which places the ’Cuse at 100 nationwide. These struggles in the circle have impacted the Orange in previous games. In last week’s win over Notre Dame, the Irish were largely able to get back into the game because of a strong stretch in the second quarter.
“(Notre Dame) was able to string together a couple draw controls in that quarter, and were able to go down and capitalize on them,” attacker Emma Ward said.
The Cavaliers also feature some of the top underclassmen in the country. Three of the Cavaliers leading scorers, attackers Jenna Dinardo, Madison Alaimo and midfielder Kate Galica, are all sophomores. However, the Orange can counter that with another one of the nation’s top young players, attacker Caroline Trinkaus. The freshman scored four goals last time out and gave credit to her teammates for such a strong performance.
“All the energy everyone brings everyday, through practice… just helps so much with my confidence in the game,” Trinkaus said.
Trinkaus’ standout play has also stood out to her head coach. Kayla Treanor noted how Trinkaus, among other freshmen, continued to step up for SU when called upon.
“Caroline Trinkaus’ score really sealed the win for us,” Treanor said. “That’s a freshman making a play for us. Against Stanford, that was also a freshman making a play for us…(The freshmen) are making plays when they need to and that’s giving us key experience.”
All the focus won’t be on underclassmen tomorrow, however. It’s Senior Day, which means standout players like attacker Emma Ward will play their last regular season game in the JMA Wireless Dome. The Orange have had success against the Cavaliers on Senior Day. Two years ago, Syracuse blew out Virginia 21-9 in its final regular season game in the Dome that year. Opening draw is set for noon on Saturday. Follow the game action with @n8martin24 on X.