Syracuse women’s lacrosse: Emma Ward will miss 2022 season

Last year’s Syracuse Orange women’s lacrosse team was defined by the adversity they had to overcome due to significant injuries suffered throughout the season.

Unfortunately, this year’s team is continuing that theme before the season even starts, as news broke Sunday night that star sophomore attacker Emma Ward will miss the entire 2022 season as the result of a lower leg injury.

Ward kept the attitude positive in her message to fans that the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team posted on social media on Sunday evening, saying:

“As many of you know, long-term injuries are not unfamiliar to me. Just as I have in the past, I will put all my time and energy into getting back to the best version of myself, both on and off the field. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, so along this journey I will continue to search for that reason and use it as fuel for the fire”.

She closed her message with an inspirational quote in reference to her recovery:

“A quote that I learned back in 2016 says ‘Rock bottom will team you lessons that mountain tops never will’. Time for me to continue to learn and heal while climbing back up that mountain”.

It’s good to see that she has such a positive, hard-work-focused perspective after suffering such a horrible injury. Big props to her for that!

Ward is coming off a phenomenal freshman season that saw her step up in the wake of Emily Hawryschuk’s and Meg Carney’s injuries to finish second on the team with 73 points on 43 goals and 30 assists.

She is a uniquely talented player who possesses a rocket of an outside shot. Just last week, she was named a preseason honorable mention All-American by Inside Lacrosse. Her loss is obviously a huge blow to a team with national championship aspirations.

So now, an Orange roster all too familiar with replacing injured star players, will have to do so yet again. The core of this group has proven that they typify the next-woman-up mentality. It sucks that they keep having to go through it, but we already know that they will just keep pushing forward with the remaining players they have.

The good news is that they still have a few weeks before their first game, so they at least have some time to practice together with their new, Ward-less lineup. Additionally, the Orange offense is so stacked with talent and depth, that we should still be able to expect big things for them this year.

Best of luck to Emma on a full and speedy recovery. We can’t wait to see her back on the field next year.