The 2026 Syracuse Orange have been defined by their incredible defense.
A turnover-causing and shot-limiting machine, the ‘Cuse defense has been historically great this year in allowing just 8.06 goals-against per game. That’s the best mark for a Syracuse team since all the way back in the program’s inaugural season of 1998 (7.77 GAA).
In 18 games, the backer zone led the charge to a 13-5 record, a 12-game winning streak and only three games in which SU’s opponent reached double-digits on the scoreboard.
Along the way, they’ve become very comfortable operating in late-game situations with a narrow lead in a low-scoring affair in which the onus has been put squarely on them to get stops to secure the win. In back-to-back, 6-5 wins over Yale and Virginia back in March, the defense successfully held off the Bulldogs and the Cavaliers while the offense floundered to a single second-half tally both times.
They’ve been held to the fire many times, but they barely break into a sweat. That was never more evident than back-to-back weekends in early April when the Orange held off late-game comeback attempts by Duke and Notre Dame, the latter of which took four overtimes to complete.
Those games were all representative of the majority of the season, in which the theme was the defense holding their opponents down on the proverbial mat long enough for the offense to scrape together enough goals to nab the win.
And that’s how they spent most of their 12-game win streak: in high-pressure, tight-game scenarios in which one or two plays could tip the balance of the outcome. Seven of their 13 wins came by one or two goals, with two more coming by three goals. All season, only five of their games finished with more than a four-goal margin, win or lose. Unsurprisingly, the Orange rank 45th in the country with a plus-1.67 goals per game scoring margin.
With a defense having this kind of season, you’d think ‘Cuse would have a much better average scoring margin than that. But that’s how much of a struggle it’s been, with the offense averaging in the single digits for the year. Their 9.72 goals per game ranks 94th nationally, and it’s kind of mind-boggling to think that SU has only scored more than 10 goals in any single game just six times all season.
It’s frustrating because it feels like a group that has lots of individual talent that flashes in pockets but has struggled to establish an identity and produce with any kind of regularity. They are still a relatively young unit, and one that has experienced a lot of change this year with a new coaching staff, new system and lots of positional and role changes off last year’s team.
As a unit, they’ve just been inconsistent across the board. Their shooting has been lacking in most games, and the effectiveness of their movement has almost come down to a possession-by-possession basis. They’re more comfortable going against a zone given their familiarity in practice, although they’re still inconsistent, but they really lack conviction attacking a man defense. It has to come down to more than using individual, clear-out dodges to try to score with lots of standing around when you don’t have the ball.
Working as a unit should be able to come together for them. They have the ingredients to make it work. Mackenzie Rich and Ashlee Volpe are excellent passers and compliment each other perfectly on opposite sides of the field. They have players with the first-step quickness to make effective off-ball cuts, both of the genuine and decoy variety to possibly open up a secondary cut.
They have the dodgers like Emma Muchnick and Caroline Trinkaus for when they do want to attempt a clear-out. Molly Guzik can score in any way you like and her outside shot is a dangerous weapon that needs to find enough space to be unleashed.
The midfielders offer great depth and an eclectic mix of scoring abilities with the likes of Bri Peters, Alexa Vogelman, Joely Caramelli and Mileena Cotter.
On the eve of the NCAA Tournament, ‘Cuse really doesn’t want to have to rely on their defense to do all the heavy lifting anymore. They’ve proven an ability to do it and do it well, but you leave yourself so little margin for error when you struggle to get beyond 10 goals. You don’t want to know that giving up more than eight or nine tallies might be an issue for you if you just can’t keep up.
They’ve had two weeks since they last played, so twice as much time as normal to work on things and make whatever adjustments they see fit. They don’t necessarily need to turn into a goal factory, but improving that consistency and efficiency even just a little could make a big difference.
And it’s likely going to be necessary if the Orange want to make some noise this May.
