It’s postseason time for ‘Cuse lacrosse!
It’s been a whopping 16 days since the Syracuse Orange last took the lacrosse field in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
Today, they meet fellow at-large selection, the Brown Bears, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament down in New Haven. It’s just the second time the schools have met in their respective histories.
In contrast to SU, Brown last played exactly one week ago. Will the Bears have a better rhythm going? Will the Orange be better rested? We’ll find out when their tournament begins at 4 PM on ESPN+.
Final prep for tomorrow’s NCAA Tournament first round. Tune in on ESPN+ and @Z89sports at 4 p.m. pic.twitter.com/yS9VnDyYXC
— Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse (@CuseWLAX) May 9, 2025
- All-time series: 2nd meeting; Syracuse leads, 1-0
- Last meeting: Syracuse W, 19-6, on March 30, 2005
- Syracuse this season: 9-8 overall, 5-4 ACC
- Brown this season: 10-6 overall, 4-3 Ivy
Brown is in the midst of the best season in program history. They’ve tied the school record for wins in a single season with 10, and have already achieved two program firsts by qualifying for their first-ever Ivy League Tournament and making the NCAA Tournament for the very first time.
The Bears had three common opponents with SU, losing to Cornell and Boston College and beating Yale, a team ‘Cuse lost to and a team the winner of this game is likely to play on Sunday.
Overall, Brown went 1-5 this season against teams in the NCAA Tournament, and 2-5 against ranked teams with wins over Yale and Harvard. Their losses included a one-goal loss to Duke, a two-goal loss to Princeton, and a one-goal loss to Princeton in the Ivy League Tournament.
Scouting Brown
Brown is a very good team that ranks highly/near the top of the county in a bunch of statistical categories.
They rank 17th nationally in scoring offense (14.69) and are tied for 30th nationally in scoring defense (10.50). Offensively, they rank fifth nationally in assists per game (8.56), 10th nationally in points per game (23.25) and 24th in shooting percentage (45.4 percent).
On top of all that, they’re a solid draw control team that takes care of the ball. They rank 26th nationally in draw control percentage (55.5 percent) and sixth nationally in turnovers per game (11.63).
They win possession well, value possession, share the ball and shoot efficiently. The Orange will have their work cut out for them in this one.
Annie Burton (17G, 53A) leads the team with 70 points and is one of the best passers in the country. Her 3.31 assists per game ranks sixth-best nationally.
Greta Criqui (51G, 11A) is by far the team’s leading goal scorer with 51 tallies, and she doesn’t require much shooting to get there. She’s one of the best finishers in the country with a 60.7 shot percentage that ranks seventh nationally.
Those two are quite the 1-2 punch for the Orange defense to have to worry about. Avery Doran (21G, 23A) and Leah Caputo (33G, 8A) compliment them as a pair of 40-point scorers.
In net, the Bears have two goalies that have appeared in double-digit games this season. Claire Mahoney (73SV) has started 11 games and played the bulk of the minutes, putting together a strong campaign with an 8.95 GAA and a 46.5 save percentage. Anne Booth (54SV) has started the other five games and has a 12.75 GAA with a 40.0 save percentage.