Syracuse women’s lacrosse: Kayla Treanor leads strong Orange showing at World Lacrosse Championship

The 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship came to a close on Saturday as Team USA captured the gold medal with an 11-8 win over Team Canada.

It also brought to a close a very strong event for current and former Syracuse Orange players.

In total, 10 Orange participated in this tournament for five different countries. And nobody shined brighter than current women’s head coach Kayla Treanor. Here’s a quick list of Kayla’s accomplishments from this tournament:

1. Led Team USA in points with 34 (20G, 14A)
2. Named to “All-World Team”
3. Became USA Lacrosse’s all-time leading points and goals scorer

So, yeah, I guess you could say Kayla had herself a good time in Towson the last two weeks.

Kayla has now played in two World Championships for team USA, and she has led the team in scoring both times. She has also been named to the “All-World team” both times.

She’s been so good, in fact, that she broke USA Lacrosse’s career points record (world championship events only) of 69 held by — wait for it — Katie Rowan. Kayla’s 77 career points are the new career record, meaning the top two point scorers in USA history are SU alums.

Also, she can do stuff like this:

Liz Hogan ‘11 and Becca Block ‘13 joined Kayla as starters for Team USA and were key pieces to a dominant defense that helped the Americans shut down their opponents and win the gold medal. Liz in particular is an incredible perseverance story. Having been cut from the team for the 2013 and 2017 worlds, she kept after it and finally made the roster this time around. She did more than that, of course, as she became Team USA’s starting goalie on a world champion team.

Team Canada had its fair share of Orange, as well, as Alie Jimerson ‘18 was joined by current players Maddy Baxter and Bianca Chevarie. Alie finished third on the team with 19 points (12G, 7A), while Maddy finished fifth with 15 points (9G, 6A). She also led the team in GBs with 10. Bianca had a goal and an assist, as well as two ground balls as part of the strong Canadian defense.

The experience for Maddy and Bianca at these world championships is fantastic for them to bring back to campus in the fall, as they played games against some of the best players in the world, particularly the two games against the US. Maddy had an especially strong championship game, recording two assists and three ground balls. In two games against the Americans, Maddy scored three goals. To do that against the best defense in the world has to be a huge confidence boost for Maddy heading into her junior season.

Jalyn Jimerson ‘22 and Ally Trice ‘21 had strong tournaments for a Haudenosaunee team that pulled an upset over Team Scotland and ended up finishing eighth in the event. Jalyn tied for the team lead in points with 26 (11G, 15A), while Ally started on defense and tied for second on the team in both ground balls (9) and caused turnovers (2).

Jenny Markey had an outstanding tournament representing Team Germany, who finished in 14th place. Jenny finished second on the team with 24 points (15G, 9A) as one of the most consistently dangerous threats on their offense. She did a little of everything in this tournament, as she also led the team in draw controls (28) and finished second with 13 ground balls. She also threw in three caused turnovers for good measure.

Jenny really showed off her talent and versatility in this tournament, and just like Maddy and Bianca, she picked up some confidence-boosting experience to take back to the 315 come the fall. I’m very excited about the chances these three got at this world championship and the potential impact it could have for them next season with the team.

Finally, an incredible story as 2002 SU graduate Karen Healy-Silcott served as the player-coach for Jamaica, which made its first appearance at a world championship event. She finished with four goals, five ground balls and four draw controls in six games. How awesome that a player from the earliest days of the SU women’s lacrosse program is still playing at the 2022 World Championships. So cool.

It was an incredibly successful event for Syracuse women’s lacrosse from the perspective of team achievement, individual accomplishment, and inspirational stories. Congratulations to Kayla, Becca and Liz on taking home the gold medal with Team USA!

We have not seen the last of Syracuse on the world lacrosse stage this summer, as this week, the 2022 World Games will feature the “Sixes” discipline of lacrosse. Meaghan Tyrrell and Sam Swart will be playing for Team USA at this event, while Maddy Baxter will once again be donning the Canadian colors for her second straight international tournament. Stay tuned for more on how the “Sixes” go later this week.