Heading into the 2021 season, Syracuse coach Gary Gait knew he had a roster talented enough to compete for a national title. The Orange returned 10 fifth-year athletes from a team that went 7-1 last spring, led by All-American attacker Emily Hawryschuk and four-year starting goalie Asa Goldstock.

The season opener against then-No. 4 Loyola was a sign of a positive start — Syracuse won 18-6 behind a suffocating defensive performance and four goals from Hawryschuk.

But then came the injury bug, and this time, it left a particularly nasty bite. Before a matchup in the Carrier Dome with Stony Brook, Hawryschuk and midfielder Vanessa Costantino, another fifth-year captain, were both forced out with season-ending injuries.

Losing players early in the season is a blow on its own, but losing two captains, two fifth-years who came back with the goal of leading their team to a national title was another. So the Orange came together ahead of their Feb. 27 game against Stony Brook — the only opponent they’d lost to in 2020 — and made it clear that this setback wouldn’t stop them.

“The main thing on my mind was, ‘We need to win this game. We need to show the younger kids that we can do it.’” Goldstock said. “It was just about showing everyone that if you believe in yourself, we’re going to be good. We have all the tools to get there. It was just an adjustment finding them when you’ve been working in a system for so long with these players.”

Syracuse made those adjustments, and even without a Tewaaraton favorite there to lead the way, it hasn’t missed a beat.

Juniors Megan Carney tied a career-high with five goals in the 16-6 win over Stony Brook, and then Meghan Tyrrell did the same in a 15-5 takedown of Duke on March 6. Those two are the team’s leading scorers at the moment, but four other players have scored at least five times.

A two-game home series against then-No. 3 Notre Dame earlier this month posed the Orange’s biggest challenge of the season, but they met it, ending the weekend with two wins and bettering their record to 5-0.

The Fighting Irish went up early in the second game — the first time Syracuse faced a deficit all season — but the Orange rebounded behind a strong showing in both the circle and on the defensive end.

Through five games, all against top-10 teams, Goldstock has already tallied 51 saves, and at .564, she has the country’s second-best save percentage among goalies who have played more than two games, trailing only North Carolina’s Taylor Moreno.

The defensive backbone has provided a steady dose of experienced leadership to a unit that has played the same four starters since 2019. Across the rest of the field, Syracuse is seeing its younger players step up.

Sophomore midfielder Katelyn Mashewske made her first career start against on March 11 and finished with 25 draw controls across two games against Notre Dame, earning US Lacrosse Division I Women’s Player of the Week honors.

Freshmen Jenny Markey, Maddy Baxter and Emma Ward have all seen significant time, with Ward earning a starting spot on the attack. The Babylon (N.Y.) product has already scored eight goals with 13 assists on the year, stepping up to play a larger role with Hawryschuk shelved.

“I thought we were deep this year, and we had kids that were very talented who were going to take a secondary role but have stepped up,” Gait said. “It’s nice when you can give those young players an opportunity and they play pretty well, so I’m happy for them, and it’s definitely helped our team.”

Even if not in the way they anticipated, Hawryschuk and Costantino are also still helping the team, still coming to practice every day and carrying out their captain roles even from crutches.

“They’ve really stayed committed, and I think that’s going to help us as we continue along this year, to have that leadership,” Gait said. “It may not be on the field, but at least it’s on the sidelines.”

The No. 2 Orange had a week off to recover after the wins over Notre Dame, and they face Virginia Tech at home this weekend. The biggest highlight of the regular-season calendar is around the corner: a showdown against No. 1 North Carolina on April 3, a team they haven’t beaten since 2017.

Goldstock said she’s seen her teammates put in more individual workouts and pre-practice footwork and shooting drills this spring than in any season before. This group has faced adversity already, and it’s ready for its next test.

“It’s given a great chance for other kids to step up and become leaders and players that they had the potential to be,” Goldstock said. “The [injury] situation was not what you would want, but the way that people have responded, they’ve really come into their own with the responsibilities given to them.”