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It took Syracuse just seven seconds to find the back of the net against UAlbany.

After a Delaney Sweitzer save, SU cleared the ball with 14:03 in the first period. In transition, Megan Carney and Meaghan Tyrrell placed themselves behind the fan. Olivia Adamson passed to Meaghan on the right flank, and saw Carney rolling toward her from the X. Carney collected the pass and scored to put Syracuse up 1-0 by 13:56.

SU’s 17 assists against the Great Danes is the most in a single game this season for the Orange, and the second most in all of Division-I. Carney said the Orange have been “passionate” about having a less structured offense where people can play to their strengths.

“We focused on ball movement and a free-flow offense this week,” Carney said after her five-goal performance against the Great Danes. “We can all handle the ball and move the ball so well, and also just building that chemistry, we know where people are going to be.”

Syracuse leads the country in assists with 9.6 per game through nine games — playing its 10th game against Stony Brook on Wednesday — after averaging 6.9 per game last season. The depth of its offense has freed up scoring leaders to facilitate when heavily guarded in certain matchups. Prior to Wednesday’s game against Stony Brook, No. 1 Syracuse (9-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) had the second-highest offensive efficiency (37.4%) and the highest shot percentage (53.6%) in the nation, per LacrosseReference. Meaghan and Emma Ward led SU with 25 and 26 assists, respectively.

“All the girls have been echoing it, but we are trying to play really selfless, team ball,” head coach Kayla Treanor said. “They’ve made a commitment to it, they believe in it, they know it works, so they talk about making that extra pass… They like to play that way, which is so cool and so unique.”

Against Notre Dame, the Orange demonstrated their selflessness in the second quarter. Sierra Cockerille sprinted, unmarked, down the middle of the field when she made an outlet pass to Emma Tyrrell in transition.

Seeing that SU had the Fighting Irish outnumbered, Emma immediately tossed across the formation to Ward, who dropped it off to Meaghan next to the crease. Meaghan faked high, then went low, netting an open shot to give SU an 8-2 lead.

Although Meghan has always been a high-volume scorer, she’s had 25 assists and 24 goals through nine games this season.

“What makes this group so special is that you have a superstar like Meaghan Tyrrell who does not care if she shows up on the stat sheet or not,” Treanor said. “I give her a lot of credit for why we are playing well and why we are sharing the ball.”

Against Northwestern, Meaghan got a feed on the right side from Acacia Connor and immediately sent a lofted pass to Ward, cutting across the middle of the zone. Tied at 10 with 12.4 seconds left in the half, Ward shot across her body to score from point-blank range, giving SU the lead going into the fourth. That goal ended up being the difference in a 16-15 season-opening victory.

Meaghan finished with a career-high six assists against the Wildcats and did not score until the third quarter. The Wildcats face-guarded her throughout the contest. She said as the game progressed, Syracuse noticed openings in the defense that it could exploit with ball movement, and Meaghan was happy to take a back seat from a scoring perspective.

“After the first quarter, we were noting things and made adjustments depending on where they were sliding,” Meaghan said. “Just reading that and figuring that out definitely helped us.”

Meaghan averaged 1.57 assists last year as a Tewaaraton Award finalist. This year, she averaged 2.78 assists per game in the first nine games.

Syracuse lost Ward for the entirety of 2022, along with Emma and Cockerille, who missed the latter end of the season. Now, for the first time since the shortened 2020 season, the Orange offense is completely healthy.

Arlo Stone | Design Editor

Meaghan and Ward both rank top five nationally in assists, while no other squad has more than one player in the top 10. Ward has assisted in every game this season, including notching five against UAlbany and a career-high seven against Notre Dame.

A lot of Ward’s assists come from around the fan, often using her physicality to create opportunities. She credits deception and team chemistry for her assisting prowess this season. Similar to Carney, she knows where her teammates will be before they get there.

“Not staring down cutters and knowing where people are going to be and what they are going to be doing,” Ward said about being a good passer. “Everyone around me makes my job really easy when they get open… It’s just filling your role and knowing what to do and when to do it.”

The Orange came out slow against Virginia Tech, but that changed in the second quarter. Leading 3-1, Ward received a pass from Emma running across the defense. Ward hesitated on the dodge and backed up behind the 12-meter, scanning the field.

Emma pivoted inside, ditching her defender in the process. Ward dropped it over the top of her defender, and Emma cradled it at the peak of the 8-meter before taking it to the crease for the score. Ward finished with a team-high four assists in a 15-6 route of the Hokies.

Against UAlbany, the Great Danes trailed 10-1 as the first quarter ticked down. With about 10 seconds left, Ward spun out of a failed dodge to create space and surveyed the zone. She saw Meaghan curling around an off-ball screen, and whipped a hard, sidearm pass directly into her stick. Meaghan scored on a bounce shot to the corner to give SU a running clock for the remaining three quarters.

Syracuse has dished out double-digit assists in five games this season, including three against ranked opponents. That matches its total from last season, despite having played less than half the number of games.

“I give them all the credit. I deserve no credit because the players really… love each other, and you get to see it on the field,” Treanor said.

Published on March 23, 2023 at 12:28 am

Contact Wyatt: wbmiller@syr.edu