The Orange look to get back in the win column as they return to conference play on the road.
After an extended four-game home stand, the Syracuse Orange are hitting the road for the first time in three weeks when they face the Pittsburgh Panthers for some Saturday morning lacrosse.
This is the first time in six games that ‘Cuse will be matched up with a team that is not ranked in the current Top 10 of the media poll. Pitt is not ranked at all, although they are off to a pretty good start this year.
The Orange and Panthers are getting things started early with an opening draw at 11 AM on ACC Network Extra.
Coco Vandiver sweeps @IWLCA and @theACC Defensive Player of the Week awards! pic.twitter.com/6FmwzH60ZY
— Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse (@CuseWLAX) March 11, 2025
- All-time series: 4th meeting; Syracuse leads, 3-0
- Last meeting: Syracuse W, 16-7, on April 6, 2024
- Syracuse this season: 4-4 overall, 1-2 ACC
- Pittsburgh this season: 5-3 overall, 1-2 ACC
At 5-3, Pittsburgh is off to their best start in their four-year program history.
It’s not the most impressive resume you’ll ever see, but they do have a win over a Penn State team that’s having a tough time but was ranked in the preseason, as well as a 6-3 Liberty team in their last game that helps them carry a three-game winning streak into today.
They’ve also played everybody closely, as their three losses to Arizona State, Virginia Tech and Stanford came by a combined eight goals to a trio of teams who’ve got a combined record of 21-6 this year. Their lone ACC win came by a goal over California last weekend.
Scouting Pittsburgh
So far this season, Pitt’s been the kind of team that does the nitty-gritty things to compete.
They actually lead the ACC in ground balls per game (20.75) and caused turnovers per game (12.50), as well as ranking sixth in draw controls per game (14.88). Unfortunately for them, they balance that out by being the sloppiest team in the conference, averaging an ACC-worst 19.50 turnovers per game.
On offense, Pitt is led by a couple of program originalists in attackers Sydney Naylor (22G, 5A) and Jenna Hendrickson (18G, 6A), who were members of the program’s initial freshman class and are now seniors.
Another member of the initial freshman class is senior Jill Fenech (8G, 1A), a midfielder who contributes in every phase of the game for the Panthers. Fenech is tied for the team lead in caused turnovers (16), second on the team in draw controls (27) and chips in with goals (8) and ground balls (8), as well.
They’ve got a solid draw control unit that wins 57.2 percent of their restarts, led by Aidan Carr (42DC), who’s third in the ACC at 6.00 draw wins per game.
On the defensive end, senior Natalie Voorhees (16CT, 24GB) is tied with Jill Fenech for the team lead with 16 caused turnovers, with the pair also tying for fourth in the ACC in the CT department. Voorhees’ 3.00 ground balls per game is good for second in the conference.
Goalie Molly Cain (63SV) has started every game and has decent numbers with a 10.17 goals-against average and a 44.7 save percentage.