Syracuse women’s lacrosse: Orange beat Binghamton in Monday matinee, 17-10

A Monday afternoon in the JMA Wireless Dome turned into an easy victory for the Syracuse Orange women’s lacrosse team, who defeated Binghamton by a score of 17-10.

The game was much more of a blowout than the final score would indicate, as the Bearcats scored the final six goals of the game after Kayla Treanor took all the starters and regular contributors out midway through the fourth quarter.

Sitting at 4-2 late in the first quarter, ‘Cuse went on a 12-1 run that lasted into the fourth to put the game completely out of reach. The Orange held a 17-4 lead with about 10 minutes to go before Kayla called timeout to take everyone out of the game.

The Megs led a very balanced scoring effort in this game with six points each. Meg Carney (4G, 2A) led all goal scorers with four, while Meaghan Tyrrell (1G, 5A) led all distributors with five assists. Carney has scored four goals in every game this season.

Emma Tyrrell (2G, 1A), Natalie Smith (2G, 1A) and Olivia Adamson (1G, 2A) all had three-point days, while Savannah Sweitzer (2G) and Emma Ward (1G, 1A) had two points each. For Natalie, it was her first points of the season. Four other players recorded one goal each, including Jenny Markey, who also scored her first point of the season.

When the offense wasn’t turning the ball over in this game, they were great. They shared the wealth with 11 different players scoring a goal, and 12 of the team’s 17 goals were assisted as the offense continues to move the ball well and look for the best shot. And, yes, SU was once again exceptional at 17-of-30 for a .567 shooting percentage.

There was one negative, however, and that was the turnovers. Especially early in this game, the Orange were simply playing a little too loose as they struggled to hold on to the ball, trying to find passes in tight spaces that got knocked down for giveaways. ‘Cuse committed 15 turnovers in the game, nine of which came in the first quarter and 14 of which came in the first half. It’s nothing to be concerned about long term; I think they were just playing a little too loose in a game where they knew they had an edge going in.

Defensively, everything went very well while the starters were in the game. Through the 50 minutes they played, the defense only surrendered four goals in a matchup where they simply outclassed their opponents. Delaney Sweitzer continued her hot streak to start the season, making eight saves for a ridiculous .667 save percentage.

The draw control unit was a tale of two halves, as SU won 13-2 in the first half but lost 11-3 in the second. A large portion of that second half came after Kate Mashewske came out and after the game was long out of reach, so no big deal I’d say. Kate (8 DC) and Katie Goodale (career-high 7 DC) dominated draws for ‘Cuse in this game, winning 15 of the 16 for the team. Katie is the new draw star for this team in the early going, and it looks like she’s going to be a great co-pilot for Kate in helping to gain possession for this incredible offense.

One footnote coming out of this game, in case it becomes an issue at any point down the line, was who took the draws once Kate came out of the game. Kayla turned to two players to see how they faired, and they were Olivia Adamson and freshman Faith Wooters.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go well. The pair combined to take the final seven draws of the game, and the team only won one of those. Who would step up as the Orange’s backup draw taker has been a question in my mind since the preseason, so it was interesting to see the first non-Kate players of the year get their chance.

Another interesting scheduling note with this game was that it was SU’s second game in a four-day stretch, perhaps an attempt to mimic the type of schedule that ‘Cuse would face should they make it all the way to Memorial Day.

The ladies will hit the road for the first time this season when they travel for their ACC season opener at the Pittsburgh Panthers this Saturday, February 25 at 12 PM.