Syracuse women’s lacrosse: ACC Tournament quarterfinals vs. Virginia

With the regular season for the Syracuse Orange women’s lacrosse team now complete, we turn our attention to the ACC Tournament taking place this weekend in South Bend.

Syracuse earned the No. 3 seed after finishing the regular season 6-2 in conference play, and will play the No. 6 seed Virginia Cavaliers in the quarterfinal round tonight. The game will be televised on ACC Network and will start at approximately 7:30 PM, although it will likely be a little later since it’s the last of four games on the day taking place on the same field.

The main storyline for this game is the fact that Virginia finished the regular season with a record of 8-8, meaning that they have to win this game in order to be eligible for the NCAA Tournament with a record of .500 or better. The biggest challenge for Kayla Treanor and the Orange will be matching the energy and intensity of a team that is literally in win-or-go-home mode.

The Virginia offense is headed by Rachel Clark and Ashlyn McGovern, who lead the team with 52 goals each. Morgan Schwab handed out 25 assists to lead the team, while Mackenzie Hoeg, Kate Miller and Jaime Biskup were all 20-plus goal scorers this season.

The Cavaliers rank second in the ACC with 17.8 draw controls per game, with Aubrey Williams leading the way with 128 draw controls. In goal for the Cavs, Ashley Vernon has a 13.09 goals-against-average and a .384 save percentage on the season.

The Orange are coming into this game off a tough, 15-13 loss in their regular season finale last Friday against Boston College, so they’re looking to get back into the win column. But they better be careful about the energy level they bring to this game, because they’re playing a team whose season is on the line tonight.