The 2021 women’s lacrosse season will be nothing like we’ve ever experienced before. The No. 4 Syracuse women will at least provide the lacrosse world at large with some continuity.
That continuity comes from its defense, which finished 2020 ranked as the top unit in the nation. Gary Gait returns every player from that defense — and all but one player on the roster overall — and it was apparent from the opening draw.
The Orange moved to 14-0 all time in season-opening games under Gait by holding No. 3 Loyola to just six goals in an 18-6 victory Saturday afternoon at Loyola’s Ridley Athletic Complex. Sam Swart and Emily Hawryschuk each scored four times, while Meaghan Tyrrell and Megan Carney each recorded hat tricks.
The defense was stifling. A frantic, high-pressure swarm met each Loyola midfielder when the Greyhounds attempted to clear. Loyola turned the ball over 15 times (10 times in the first half) and attempted just 14 shots as Sarah Cooper (four ground balls), Allyson Trice (three caused turnovers) and Kerry Defliese (two ground balls) wreaked havoc.
“We returned all of our defenders from last year who were just hitting their rhythm last year, and they just continued building their chemistry,” Gait said in a postgame Zoom conference. “We’re hoping we’re going to see this type of defense every game.”
Seeing a dominant Syracuse defense shouldn’t be surprising given how the unit excelled in 2020. It was noteworthy to see this performance against Loyola, though, as the Greyhounds averaged 17.6 goals in five games last spring before COVID-19 dashed their hopes of a run to Championship Weekend.
Loyola coach Jen Adams was straightforward in addressing her team’s season-opening loss. It had been 350 days since Loyola last played. It was also the fewest goals her team had scored since a 15-5 loss to Navy on May 7, 2017.
“We got outplayed. We got outcoached today,” Adams said. “It was an opportunity to get out on the field and give the 2021 season a test run, and I thought Syracuse came firing on all cylinders and we just didn’t have the answers.
“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. That talented team is still in there, we just didn’t see it get enough moments to shine today. We’ll be back. I’m confident in that.”
It was not a one-sided affair in the first half. Tyrrell assisted Swart with 13:31 left in the half for a 6-2 Syracuse lead, but Sam Fiedler (two goals) answered about 90 seconds later with a player-up goal for the Greyhounds.
That’s when Syracuse began building its lead. The Orange scored seven straight between the first and second halves, with five of the seven goals assisted. Overall, Syracuse assisted 11 of 18 goals, an unselfishness that Gait praised.
“It looked like we just continued from where we left off last March,” he said.
Where Syracuse left off last March was from a place of dominance. After Stony Brook came to the Carrier Dome and beat Gait’s team in a one-goal thriller, Syracuse ripped off six consecutive wins — including marquee victories over Northwestern and Maryland.
At the time their season ended, the Orange had the makings of a team bound for Memorial Day Weekend. That trajectory still appears reasonable. With a bona fide Tewaaraton favorite in Hawryschuk leading an offense with an embarrassment of riches to count on and a defense that should continue to pester opponents, the Orange might be as complete a team as there is in the nation.
Gait, perhaps showing some humility, wasn’t sure what type of performance his team would put together.
“You just never know because you [have only been playing] against yourself,” Gait said in reference to expectations after such a long layoff. “We have been [playing against each other] for the entire year with the little bit of time we had in the fall and in the preseason, both shortened from a normal year. They look sharp to each other, but you don’t know if they can play somebody.”
Though she was discouraged by her team’s performance, Adams knows her team is still brimming with potential. While Syracuse started 2021 with a bang, Loyola might need just a little more time to put it together. Such will be the case for many teams early this season, as most squads are starting from different points — an unfortunate consequence brought about by varying COVID-19 protocols across the country.
“I think ‘hope’ is the word. That’s still there,” Adams said. “We made a lot of errors. We looked like we hadn’t played lacrosse in 11 months today.”