From the moment Emily Hawryschuk arrived at Syracuse, her name jumped to the headlines.

The Syracuse Post-Standard’s Lindsay Kramer wrote that the freshman standout was “hard to miss.”

The Daily Orange said she’s a key member of the “bench mob,” as an attacker that hasn’t started a game but currently leads goals.

Even opponents’ newspapers, like The Cornell Daily Sun, described her as “prodigious” prior to the Orange routing the Big Red 11-8 on Tuesday.

That may ring a bell, thinking back to 2013 when three-time Tewaaraton finalist Kayla Treanor was a freshman.

“Treanor’s emergence,” as the Syracuse Post-Standard reported then, “has given opponents another weapon to plan for.”

While she may not start, Hawryschuk has become that new weapon for the Orange this season.

In their 13-11 upset of reigning NCAA champion North Carolina on April 15, Hawryschuk led the way with a team-high four goals. She now has 31 goals, tying junior Riley Donahue for the team lead. For comparison’s sake, through April 20, 2013, Treanor had 36 goals.

“Seeing people like Michelle Tumolo, Alyssa Murray and Kayla Treanor become who they are today as an Orange is really big and it really inspired me to continue to work hard, play the way that they do and have the success that they had here,” Hawryschuk said. “With [Treanor] not being here this year, all around on the offensive end, we needed to step up and show that even without her, we can still be a force.”

What may make Hawryschuk’s play such a threat is her prior experience as a midfielder. She finished her high school career at Victor High School in Victor, N.Y., which is about an hour west of Syracuse, with 291 goals, 87 assists, 95 draw controls and 15 caused turnovers.

“Coming on as a midfielder then transferring to playing as an attacker, I still look to have cuts that only maybe middies would make or drives that middies might make,” she said. “I think just working hard whenever or wherever I am on the field defines me.”

Hawryschuk also considered Princeton, UConn and UMass, but ultimately, it was Syracuse’s tradition and history that drew her to the Carrier Dome. She began playing lacrosse in seventh grade, but by eighth grade, she knew Syracuse was the place for her after going to her first Orange game. She committed by October of her sophomore year.

Now, seeing her name in the headlines makes her want to work harder and play for her team, she said.

“Just being able to step on the field means the world, so it doesn’t matter to me if I start or if I don’t start,” Hawryschuk said. “We heard that some people thought [our win over North Carolina] was a fluke – that we just beat them by chance. ‘Maybe they had a bad game.’ But I think coming off that win with the score that it was, playing Cornell [on Tuesday] and beating them, I think it really defines us as a team and shows the potential that we have to go further.” 

Don't Count Out USC

On March 30, after USC fell to Cornell 11-10 and Stony Brook 9-7 earlier that month, US Lacrosse Magazine’s Justin Feil posed the question, “Is USC a contender or pretender?”

That answer is clear now.

The Trojans have won six straight games by a combined 101-31 score, hitting double digits in every game while holding each of their opponents to seven goals or fewer.

Most significantly, USC dominated MPSF rival Colorado 11-5 on Friday, which included a 7-0 second half shutout thanks to a strong team effort led by the No. 1 scoring defense in Division I women’s lacrosse.

While the Buffs received much of the fanfare earlier in the season as an unranked team during the preseason that went on to upset Northwestern, Denver and Penn State and earn as high as the No. 4 ranking in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Top 20, the Trojans quickly flipped the script when it was their turn to play Colorado.

“It’s easy for everyone on the outside to talk about our losses and count us out, but our players didn’t do that,” USC coach Lindsey Munday said. “People on the outside can think whatever they want to think, positive or negative, but it’s never about anyone else. … When we play, it’s about us. It’s not a statement to other people.”

USC, ranked No. 3 during the preseason after its undefeated run to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2016, now sits at No. 8, one spot ahead of No. 9 Colorado.

According to Munday, the losses her team has experienced earlier this season provided learning opportunities. It’s not about where the Trojans are at the beginning of the year. It’s about how they finish.

“The biggest change was not about what we wanted, but how we needed to get there,” Munday said. “We need to be in the moment, play in the present and just continue to get better – and honestly not look at what other people are saying about us.”

While the Colorado win boosted the team’s confidence, USC now has to focus on MPSF perennial power Stanford, whom the Trojans played three times in three weeks last season.

“We have a huge game on Friday against Stanford and the win against Colorado was great, but we can’t be thinking about that,” Munday said. “They’re always a strong team, so you just need to be ready to play if you want to come out on top.”

Added Munday: The Trojans will “fight as much as we can.”

RPI Leaders

The NCAA released its first RPI rankings for Division I women’s lacrosse this week, taking into account games through April 16.

According to LaxPower, RPI, which stands for Rating Percentage Index, applies to a team’s record and schedule. The stronger the opponents, the higher the RPI rating. The weaker the opponents, the lower the RPI rating. To calculate an RPI rating, each opponent's strength is evaluated by examining its win-loss record as well as the win-loss record of its opponents.

The reigning national champion and No. 2 North Carolina has the No. 1 RPI, followed by No. 1 Maryland at No. 2, No. 5 Penn State at No. 3, No. 6 Princeton at No. 4 and No. 7 Syracuse at No. 5.

Of the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Top 20, all but four teams (No. 12 Notre Dame, RPI: 25; No. 15 Denver, RPI: 24; No. 19 Louisville, RPI: 31; and No. 20 Albany, RPI: 23) have an RPI in the Top 20.

RPI is one of the primary criteria that the NCAA selection committee considers when fielding the tournament with 26 teams, 13 of which are automatically earned by winning a conference tournament.

Primary criteria include RPI, head-to-head-competition, results against common opponents, significant wins and losses, and results against the top 10 teams based on RPI on an institution’s schedule to determine strength of schedule (SOS).

If the primary criteria aren’t sufficient, the committee looks to secondary criteria, which include late-season performance, which is defined as the last six games on an institution’s schedule, and results against teams that have already made the tournament.

Of note, 15 teams within the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Top 20 have Top 20 RPI and SOS rankings, the latter provided by LaxPower.

But only seven teams have Top 10 RPI and SOS numbers:

Some teams that might be flying under the radar without current spots in the Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20 include Duke, Johns Hopkins and Rutgers. They all have RPI and SOS rankings within the Top 25:

*Note: Records, RPI and SOS are through April 16, 2017.

Games To Watch

Here are some key games to keep an eye on this weekend (all times Eastern):

No. 8 USC at Stanford, Friday, 8 p.m.

The battle between the Trojans and Cardinal is always a good one. The perennial conference powerhouse Stanford and last year’s MPSF champion USC were the two teams from the conference to make the 2016 NCAA tournament. With a win over the Cardinal, the Trojans will secure the top seed and a first-round bye in the MPSF tournament.

No. 12 Notre Dame at No. 17 Boston College, Saturday, 12 p.m.

Since opening April with a loss to North Carolina after going 3-3 in March, Notre Dame hopes to secure its third straight win by defeating the Eagles. Both teams are currently 11-5, but Notre Dame has the edge over Boston College in conference play. The Irish are 4-2 in the ACC, while the Eagles are 2-4.

No. 2 North Carolina at Duke, Saturday, 1 p.m.

After falling unexpectedly to ACC rival Syracuse, the Tar Heels will be looking to finish their regular season strong. A lot is on the line for the Blue Devils. A loss for Duke makes its record 8-8. While the ACC tournament is on the horizon, a minimum .500 record is required to be considered for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

No. 6 Princeton at No. 10 Cornell, Saturday, 1 p.m.

Cornell has just three losses so far this year, but two of them came in the past three games. A win over Ivy foe Princeton would be a major confidence boost before finishing its conference slate against Harvard next week. Princeton dominated Yale 17-9, but then fell 17-12 to Penn on Wednesday. Can the Big Red hold steady at the top of the Ivy League?

No. 7 Syracuse at No. 19 Louisville, Saturday, 1 p.m.

After upsetting North Carolina, Syracuse is now tied for first place with the Tar Heels. Meanwhile, Louisville is at the bottom of the pack with 10-6 overall record and 2-4 ACC record. A win for the Cardinals would be huge, but a win for the Orange would keep their momentum rolling.