The Syracuse Orange are up in Boston for their regular season finale tonight, but last night they took a break to celebrate a pair of their teammates being selected in the 2026 Women’s Lacrosse League College Draft.
Emma Muchnick and Coco Vandiver both heard their names called during the WLL’s inaugural collegiate draft, which took place Wednesday night among the league’s four teams over the course of four rounds and 16 picks.
- Emma Muchnick — 9th overall pick (3rd round, 1st pick) to the California Palms
- Coco Vandiver — 16th overall pick (4th round, 4th pick) to the California Palms
As an exciting bonus, Emma and Coco will remain teammates at the next level
this summer as they were the third and fourth selections of the California Palms. It looked like a fun night of celebrating at SU’s watch party, especially after Emma got picked:
‘Cuse was one of five schools on the night to have multiple players drafted. North Carolina led the way with four, Northwestern followed with three, and Boston College, Maryland and the Orange each had two.
Two-way midfielders will be at a premium in the fast-paced professional league, putting Emma in a great place to be valued by the next level thanks to her all-around abilities in every phase of the game. It’s going to be a very busy summer for Emma, who now knows her professional plans alongside being a member of Team USA at the upcoming world championships, which will take place in late July and early August.
And in a draft where every team was looking to add defense, Coco snuck in as the last pick and sixth defender taken overall, probably having something to do with setting the all-time school record for caused turnovers while simultaneously playing the incredibly complicated rover position in the middle of ‘Cuse’s zone. Oh, and it looks like her teammates were pretty pumped for her, too:
This summer is set to be the first full season of WLL play, after the league joined the sixes-style Championship Series earlier this year. The regular season kicks off next month during the weekend of May 15-16.
Congratulations to Emma and Coco on this wonderful achievement and historic moment!
