SU women’s lacrosse rolls Virginia Tech for back-to-back 13-3 wins

Three weeks ago, Syracuse women’s lacrosse was 0-3. Friday night, they secured four wins in ten days.

The Orange dismantled Virginia Tech 13-3 at the JMA Wireless Dome, a performance as complete as the scoreline suggests. But the story isn’t just the win. It’s how this team got here.

“They don’t complain, they don’t make excuses,” head coach Regy Thorpe said. “I think with belief and hope, you can go a long way.”

That belief has been tested. Syracuse opened the season against three ranked opponents and dropped all three. A less-than-ideal start to the season. But somewhere in that stretch, something shifted.

“When you play three really tough teams to start the season, it exposes weaknesses,” said Thorpe. “The kids are just buying in. We’re learning a little bit every day.”

Friday was evidence of that growth. The Orange scored three goals in the first three minutes, with sophomore midfielder Molly Guzik doing most of the damage. By halftime, it was 8-1, and the outcome was no longer in question.

Guzik finished with four goals, tying a career high, as part of a balanced attack that saw seven different players score. Senior midfielder Emma Muchnick also added two, including a weaving solo effort in the third quarter.

“We played for each other today, and that’s why we were so successful,” said Guzik.

The defense was equally suffocating. Senior defender Coco Vandiver and junior defender Izzy Lahah anchored a back line that held Virginia Tech to just three goals, matching Syracuse’s season-low defensive effort from earlier in the week against Cal. Virginia Tech goaltender Malie Follet finished with 12 saves in a performance that kept the score from getting uglier.

For Muchnick and the Orange, Friday carried a little extra weight. Last year, Syracuse dropped a 14-11 road decision to these same Hokies.

“We talked about it a lot,” Muchnick said. “It’s important to remind each other of how it felt coming home with that loss. That was not a feeling we were going to have again.”

They didn’t. And now Syracuse turns its attention to something bigger — a road trip to face No. 4 Northwestern in Evanston, a program that will have had ten additional days of rest by the time the Orange arrive.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Thorpe said. “At this time in the season, it’s about getting ACC wins, and then when you go out of conference, it’s about trying to pick up wins [against teams] that are gonna be in the NCAAs, to build our own NCAA resume.”

Three weeks ago, this team was searching for answers. Four wins later, they might have found them.