Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2024, our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking one last look at 2023.
After all, you have to look at the most recent results before making projections for what’s to come. To do that, we’re taking a journey through the top 30 teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse — what went right, what went wrong and what we should all think of that team’s season.
Was it a success? A failure? A mixture of both? You’ll find out our thoughts over the next month or so.
SYRACUSE WOMEN’S LACROSSE
Nike/USA Lacrosse Preseason/Final Top 20 Ranking: 6/3
2023 record: 18-3 (8-1 ACC)
WHAT WENT RIGHT
Syracuse’s offense was utterly gorgeous for 15-plus games. It was as if the game slowed down for the Orange. Between Emma Ward’s no-look scoop passes from X, Meaghan Tyrrell’s low-key dominance and Meg Carney’s casual sidearm rockets, the game flowed easily for the Orange.
Delaney Sweitzer looked fantastic in net, finishing the year eighth in Division I in save percentage (.505).
For the first time in two years, Syracuse stayed almost completely healthy. When draw specialist Kate Mashewske went down, a matchup with NCAA draw control leader Maddie Jenner and Duke looked like a trap game. Nope. Syracuse won 16-10 because of how well Olivia Adamson stepped up.
Syracuse edged defending champion North Carolina 14-12 in Chapel Hill and looked sure to finish the regular season with a perfect record when it took an 11-7 halftime lead over Boston College in the final game. (We’ll go there in a sec.)
After some bumps and an ACC semifinal exit, the Orange got the No. 2 seed and a bye into the second round of the NCAA tournament. Syracuse rebounded with a school-record 25 goals against Johns Hopkins and beat James Madison in the quarterfinal round to return to the Final Four.
Tyrrell was a Tewaaraton Award finalist for a second straight year, finishing her fifth year No. 4 in Division I in points per game (5.10). She also became the program’s all-time points leader.