Syracuse women’s lacrosse: NCAA Tournament Second Round vs. Johns Hopkins preview and game thread

It’s been 16 days, and it feels like forever, since we last saw the Syracuse Orange women’s lacrosse team play a game.

That’s exactly what they’ll do today, as we’ll hope that the long layoff helps the team to successfully hit the reset button as they enter the second season.

The Orange will take on the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays in the NCAA Tournament’s second round in a game that doubles as the first ever meeting between the programs. The action will take place at the SU Soccer Stadium and is set for a 3 PM start to be shown on ESPN+.

• All-time series: First meeting
• Syracuse in NCAA Tournament: 20th appearance; 23-19 all-time record
• Johns Hopkins this season: 9-8 (4-3 Big 10)

Johns Hopkins this season

The Blue Jays entered the NCAA Tournament with a .500 record at 8-8, but that was primarily due to their highly difficult schedule. They played a handful of the best teams in the country, including Northwestern, Maryland, James Madison, Loyola, and Stony Brook.

They lost all those games, but played Maryland, Loyola, and Stony Brook tough, losing by a combined six goals. They also have ranked wins over Michigan, Penn State, Rutgers, and UMass in the first round on Friday.

Hopkins in the First Round

Speaking of, the Blue Jays easily dispatched of UMass in the first round on Friday at the SU Soccer Stadium by a score of 19-8.

They jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first quarter, and steadily built the lead the rest of the game to their eventual 11-goal margin of victory.

The trio of Ashley Mackin (4G, 2A), Campbell Case (4G, 1A), and Ava Angello (4G, 1A) dominated for them with a combined 16 points and 12-of-17 (.706) shooting.

Scouting Hopkins

The Blue Jays are led by local player Ava Angello (#18) out of Manlius. The 6’ freshman is a graduate of Fayetteville-Manlius HS and leads the Jays in goals (38) and points (51) on the season. She’s especially been on fire as of late, scoring 21 goals in the last five games.

Maeve Barker (#4, 24G, 20A) and Campbell Case (#21, 23G, 19A) are the two most well-rounded scorers on the team with both over 20 goals and 40 points for the year. Georgie Gorelick (#3) is second on the team with 26 goals, and she and Bailey Cheetham (#12) are tied for fourth on the team with 32 points. Ashley Mackin (#27) is one of the most on-fire players on the team with 10 points in her last two games.

Annie Marshall (#38) leads the team in draw controls with 87, and she ranks 20th in the country in draw controls per game (6.23).

Maggie Tydings (#40) has started every game in goal this season and has a .399 save percentage and a 11.18 goals-against average.

Go Orange!