Syracuse women’s lacrosse: Johns Hopkins preview and game thread

Part two of ‘Cuse v. Hopkins takes place this afternoon in the Dome.

There is very little rest for the Syracuse Orange, and even less time to celebrate their double overtime win over Stanford on Friday night, as they return to the field today to face the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays.

This is the final game of a crazy stretch for the Orange, who are playing their fifth game in a row against a team currently ranked in the Top 10 nationally. Those five games have taken place over the past 17 days.

‘Cuse and Hopkins are set for an opening draw at 4 PM on ESPN U.

• All-time series: 2nd meeting; Syracuse leads, 1-0
• Last meeting: Syracuse W, 25-8, on May 14, 2023 in NCAA Tournament Second Round
• Syracuse this season: 4-3 overall, 1-2 ACC
• Johns Hopkins this season: 4-2 overall, 0-0 Big 10

Much like SU, Hopkins has played a very difficult schedule so far this season, with five of their six games coming against ranked opposition. They have wins over ranked teams in Duke, Penn and Stony Brook, and losses to ranked Florida and Loyola.

Four of their games have been decided by one goal, three of which they’ve won. In their last game, they had a five-goal deficit entering the fourth quarter against Stony Brook before storming back to win by a goal.

Scouting Hopkins

The Blue Jays have themselves a bona fide star in attacker Ashley Mackin (24G, 11A), the team’s leader in goals, assists and points.

Mackin has been a scoring machine this year, more so than just about everyone else in the sport. She’s currently second in the country at 4.80 goals per game, having scored between four and six goals in every game, and she’s currently tied for first in the country at 7.00 points per game. Could we have another Superia Clark special assignment on our hands?

Fayetteville-Manlius product Ava Angello (16G, 7A) is second on the team in goals and points, and is a towering presence at 6’ tall. Lacey Downey (9G, 8A) leads their midfield scoring, while Taylor Hoss (3G, 8A) and Campbell Case (7G, 4A) round out their double-digit scorers.

In a potential big problem, Hopkins has one of the best draw takers in the country in Laurel Gonzalez (57DC), whose 9.50 draw controls per game tie her for eighth best in the nation. She’s a one-woman wrecking crew on restarts, having won 61 percent of Hopkins’ draw wins to herself this season. Joely Caramelli and company are going to have their hands full at the draw, where they’ll need to keep it competitive to ensure Ashley Mackin and the Hopkins offense don’t dominate possession too much.

Defensively, Reagan O’Brien (20CT) is the Blue Jays version of Coco Vandiver, averaging 3.33 caused turnovers per game this year. That’s good for third best in the country.

In net, Morgan Giardina (34SV) has started all six games and played almost every minute between the pipes this season. She has a 12.17 goals-against average and a 32.4 save percentage.