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PITTSBURGH — Winning is never a guarantee in Division I lacrosse.

Any matchup can go either way no matter how each side matches up on paper, especially in the Atlantic Coast Conference. But entering its bout with Pittsburgh Saturday — a team who hasn’t defeated a ranked opponent since 2022 — it seemed a given that Syracuse would take home a decisive victory.

While its victory was not as sound as expected, No. 6 Syracuse (5-4, 2-2 ACC) defeated Pittsburgh (5-4, 1-3 ACC) 17-11 Saturday. SU struggled to pull away from the Panthers in the first quarter, but a break in the action due to inclement weather gave the Orange time to regroup. Scoring five of the next six goals out of the delay, Syracuse built a 10-4 lead by halftime that it never relinquished.

“It’s hard to keep that kind of energy and momentum going for three and a half hours,” SU head coach Kayla Treanor said postgame. “We were a little bit up and down, but I thought our second quarter was great.”

Pitt had only faced one ranked opponent before Saturday’s meeting with Syracuse. Still, the Panthers took it to the Orange right off the hop, looking like the hungrier team in the first three minutes.

After stealing the opening draw from Joely Caramelli, Pitt drew a foul to set itself up nicely with a free-position chance. Despite Daniella Guyette’s save, Pitt stayed determined. Scooping up back-to-back ground balls, the Panthers drew first blood on Kaitlyn Giandonato’s goal from the 8-meter.

At the other end, Pitt’s Abby Thorne kept tabs on Emma Ward as she hovered at X, face-guarding her as she vied for open space. Even with Ward kept in check, Syracuse’s depth pieces picked up the slack. Without Ward registering a single point, the Orange embarked on a 3-0 run backed by four unanswered draw controls by Caramelli and Co.

Leading just 4-3 at the weather break, Syracuse knew it wasn’t playing up to its potential. Forced to sit in the locker room and wait for the lightning to pass, SU made the most of the unexpected pause.

“We got together as a team and got to watch some of the film,” Treanor said. “We really just came out flat in the beginning of the game, so in the second quarter we had a lot of energy and were ready to go.”

The Panthers showed through the first 15 minutes they could hang with one of the nation’s best teams, trailing by just one. However, Syracuse found a new gear in the second quarter, while Pitt faltered.

Rather than hinder SU’s offense, the hour-long break had only strengthened it.

The Panthers continued to prioritize guarding Ward throughout the frame, which only benefited the Orange. While Pitt’s defenders sat outside the 12-meter fan or kept an eye on Ward at X, the front of the net became a playground for the rest of SU’s shooters.

One such shooter this season for SU has been Emma Muchnick. Unmarked, she wired Caroline Trinkaus’ pass home for the first of what would become five SU tallies in the quarter. Following a Sam DeVito free-position tally, Muchnick then combined with Caramelli to grow SU’s lead up to 7-3.

From there, Syracuse continued to pour it on, beating Pitt goalkeeper Molly Cain twice more before halftime. Including its goal at the end of the first quarter, five different players combined to grow SU’s run to 6-0 by halftime.

“Sometimes those are a blessing,” Caramelli said of the weather delay. “We listened to some music, we got our energy up, and then we came out pretty strong.”

The one odd part of Syracuse’s dominant scoring run? The absence of Ward’s name on the scoresheet.

While always a viable option at X, the Orange simply didn’t need to heavily rely on Ward with the chances the Panthers gave them in front of the net. Functioning as a distributor, even with Thorne’s relentless pressure in her face, Ward’s impact was barely seen on the scoresheet through the first two quarters.

She finally notched her first point of the afternoon with the primary assist on Molly Guzik’s tally, pushing SU’s cushion to 10-4 at the half.

Just as Syracuse had flexed its depth in the second quarter, the Panthers did the same out of halftime..

Led by Jenna Hendrickson’s two tallies, the Panthers moved within shouting distance again and outscored Syracuse 4-1 in the third quarter. Peppering Guyette with nine shots — six of them on target — the goalkeeper struggled to carry over her strong first-half performance into the second. Without Kaci Benoit or Superia Clark disrupting the play in front of her, she finished a lowly 1-for-5 on saves.

Syracuse’s draw control unit also sputtered, going just 3-for-14 in the circle across the second and third quarters alone. After showing promise against then-No. 6 Stanford, Caramelli’s unit finished with a 14-for-31 mark Saturday, signifying yet another step backward on the draw for SU.

“It’s unfortunate that we lost the draw control statistic, but I think (Caramelli) fights so hard and she just battles all game long,” Treanor said. “We’re asking her to do a lot right now, and she’s totally embraced it.”

Now ahead just 11-8, Syracuse’s offense had hit a lull. If it was going to avoid going to overtime for a third consecutive game, its offense needed to come alive again down the final stretch. The unit rose to the occasion.

While not nearly as dominant as it had been in the second quarter, Syracuse’s mixed bag of attackers did just enough in the fourth quarter to keep Pitt’s comeback attempt at bay.

Just 24 seconds in, Ward finally ripped home her first tally directly in front of the goal from the 8-meter line, making good on a player-up chance. Caramelli followed up her effort by capping off her first career hat trick. Assisted by four more goals down the stretch, the Orange cruised to victory behind 10 different goal scorers and never allowed the Panthers to come closer than within two goals.

Saturday’s victory over Pitt wasn’t a statement win by any means for Syracuse. Regardless, the positive result still provided a confidence boost for an SU team that sorely needed it.

“This was a super important one,” Caramelli said of the win. “It was a conference game coming off a few losses, (so) it was great just for our mentality and our energy.”

Published on March 15, 2025 at 2:42 pm

Contact Matthew: mgray06@syr.edu | @ma77hew_gray