No. 3 Syracuse women’s lacrosse downs No. 18 Duke on road with 10-9 win

On a day where No. 3 Syracuse men’s lacrosse took on No. 2 North Carolina, No. 3 Syracuse women’s lacrosse (11-3, 6-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) also played in the Tar Heel state against No. 18 Duke (9-5, 5-3 ACC). It was a nailbiter that came down to the final shot where SU netminder Daniella Guyette stood tall to give the Orange a 10-9 win.

“We knew going into it that [Duke] was really good offensively,” Syracuse head coach Regy Thorpe said. “We knew it would be a really good test for our defense.”

It was a great test for SU’s defense since Duke ranks 13th in the country with 14 goals per game, but it wasn’t so high-scoring in the first quarter. The Blue Devils found the back of the net just over a minute into the game, their only goal of the first frame. The Syracuse offense struggled to score, but fired off two goals to take a 2-1 lead into the second quarter.

The second frame was a neck and neck contest as each team traded scores. SU midfielder Molly Guzik led the way with three goals, her 6th career hat trick. Despite Syracuse trailing for 77 seconds in the first half, Duke kept responding. The Orange were up 5-4 heading into halftime.

Guzik wasn’t the only one with a hat trick. Duke attacker Ava Biancardi found twine 50 seconds after the break to level things up. That goal propelled a 2-0 run from the Blue Devils where they took their first lead since the opening score.

The Orange would then go on a run of their own as Emma Muchnick and Ashlee Volpe’s chemistry was on full display. Muchnick set up Volpe for SU’s sixth goal as Volpe returned the favor to Muchnick. The ‘Cuse ended the third quarter on a 3-0 run.

“There’s probably no kid I’m more proud of than Volpe,” Thorpe said. “She started the year and had some ups and downs, but she’s just starting to get healthy.”

Volpe added one more in the fourth to bring her total to three, but SU couldn’t get comfortable. Orange defender Izzy Laha picked up a two-minute non-releasable yellow card which the Blue Devils took advantage of.

Duke scored two goals in 38 seconds to cut the deficit to one and then fired off another six seconds before the yellow card was released. With five minutes left of the game, the score was all tied up at 9.

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Needing to break the deadlock, the Orange turned to their player who’s had clutch moments before: Emma Muchnick. The captain ripped a right-handed sidewinder shot off a feed from Volpe with two and a half minutes left of the game.

Still, Syracuse couldn’t sit comfortably. SU midfielder Bri Peters was issued a green card with 20 seconds left that gave Duke a chance on the power play. The Blue Devils worked the ball to Biancardi who’s shot hit off Guyette and then onto the post before the ‘Cuse picked up the ground ball to end the game.

“We got a little frazzled but I thought our kids showed really good poise and calmness,” Thorpe said. “Sometimes under fire you get used to tight games, so they made a few plays and squeezed a few ground balls.”

Syracuse has a week off before it aims to win 12 straight against No. 13 Notre Dame (10-3, 5-3 ACC) on Saturday at 12 p.m. Follow @WAERSports on X for live updates throughout the game.