A

sa Goldstock knows the Syracuse women’s lacrosse schedule by heart.

“I know we’re supposed to play Boston College tomorrow … UMass the week after that,” Goldstock said in a Zoom conference call with local and national media Friday night.

The sting of the lost lacrosse season is still fresh in the goalie’s mind, but now she has a certain future. She’ll be back in 2021. As will her friend, teammate and Tewaaraton candidate Emily Hawryschuk. Both players announced their intent to return to Syracuse Friday afternoon.

“For me, right away, it’s like a no-brainer,” Hawryschuk said. “You go and put your heart and soul into Syracuse lacrosse for so long, and then you have it taken away. Initially, the first easy answer is, ‘Of course, one more year.’”

Goldstock and Hawryschuk became friends before committing to Syracuse, though their bond has only strengthened as teammates and captains of the Orange. They’ve provided each other emotional support through the entire process, though last week brought much-needed relief when the pair found out Syracuse would allow them to return for a final season.

Chasing a national championship is both players’ main focus.

“We committed when Alyssa Murray and Kayla Treanor were still playing at Cuse, and these big names that made you want to go there,” Goldstock said. “We wanted to follow in those footsteps. We wanted to go to a program and be like those role models we had before us.

“We did make a pact together to make this program just like it was and just love it like they did.”

Hawryschuk spoke to US Lacrosse Magazine contributor Mark Macyk about her unrelenting love for the Orange and her desire, even at a young age, to play home games in the Carrier Dome. Even before officially committing, Hawryschuk told Goldstock that they would bring a national championship to Syracuse.

So it’s not a surprise that they chose to announce their comebacks on the same day.

“We wanted to do it together,” Goldstock said.

***

Hawryschuk still has moments of disbelief when she looks at her phone to see Gary Gait’s name and number flash across the screen.

“Throughout the process, we spoke a lot,” Hawryschuk said. “I think I talked to him on the phone more in the last week or two than I did the entire four years because we were always in person together. It is funny to think that I’ve got Gary Gait calling me.”

She said her coach always knew she’d come back if given the chance. Naturally, news of her decision didn’t come as a shock.

“He definitely had that feeling just because he knows how much I love this team and how much I truly do want to win a national championship,” she said. “He knew I wouldn’t leave without using everything that I had and using all the opportunities to come back and do that.”

Gait, who was recently featured on the US Lacrosse Magazine podcast “Overtime” with Paul Carcaterra, said bringing a national championship to Syracuse keeps him up at night. With his star player in the fold for one more go, he has a good a chance as any other coach in the nation.

“It was exciting when I talked to him earlier this week and everything was finalized,” Hawryschuk said. “He calls me and I answer the phone, and it was funny to hear him say, ‘Hi, is this Emily Hawryschuk, member of the 2021 national championship team?’”

***

Goldstock and Hawryschuk can recall the day they found out their season was over in nearly minute-to-minute details.

Syracuse was in Virginia, getting ready to play its ACC rival. That Tuesday (March 10), players found out about the Ivy League’s decision to cancel all spring athletics. Hawryschuk said she felt for those seniors but never thought it’d happen to her or her team.

On March 12, hours before playing Virginia, Gait led his team through a walkthrough. Two hours later, the season was over. There was no game that night.

“Initially, my heart sunk,” Hawryschuk said. “I thought it was going to be the last time I was ever going to put my jersey on. It was a lot of emotions going through me for the following hours, and then once the NCAA released their announcement on Friday, it made me feel a lot better.”

And even though it’s full steam ahead on reaching their goal in 2021, Goldstock and Hawryschuk still reflect on the season lost. Hawryschuk said you can never truly forget about what happened.

Goldstock agreed.

“As excited as I am for next season, I’m still deeply saddened that we lost this opportunity with everything we worked hard to get to,” she said.

But Goldstock continued to say that 2021 could be a high point for the sport, echoing the sentiments of other players across the country who have been deprived of lacrosse. Personally, Goldstock is excited to play in the Carrier Dome again and experience what it’s like playing in the legendary arena after construction is finished on the new roof.

Under that new roof, Goldstock and Hawryschuk hope to continue breathing new life into the Orange. It’s championship or bust.