Lacrosse Guide 2023

ENERGIZED

LACROSSE

GUIDE 2023

THE ARRIVAL

Joey Spallina broke the Long Island points record in high school en route to becoming the top recruit nationally and committing to Syracuse.

ALL-AMERICAN

After winning the 2022 World Championship with the United States, Kayla Treanor retired from playing to prioritize coaching the Orange.

BACK ON THE ATTACK

Emma Ward notched 43 goals and 30 assists for 73 points in her All-ACC Freshman season two years ago, before recovering from an injury in 2022.

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Dear readers,

When Syracuse lost to Notre Dame on May 1, 2022, it secured its 10th loss of the season and the worst season in the program’s 107-year history. Several players transferred, including leading goal-scorer Tucker Dordevic. But the Orange welcomed Joey Spallina, the nation’s best recruit and the next No. 22 — the same number worn by Gary Gait and Mike Powell. Gait finished his first season in charge of the men’s program last season while women’s head coach Kayla Treanor advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals in her first year at the helm of her alma mater. Recently retired from her playing career after winning gold for the United States at the 2022 World Championship, Treanor is now solely focused on coaching. Syracuse welcomes back Sierra Cockerille and Emma Ward, who are both coming back from season-ending injuries in 2022. Kate Mashewske also returns for her senior season after finishing sixth in the country in draw controls. On the men’s side, Jackson Birtwistle ended last season on a high note, scoring a combined 11 goals in three games. And transfer goalie Will Mark looks to be the solution for last year’s goalie struggles. The Daily Orange’s 2023 Lacrosse Guide has everything you need to know as the programs begin a new season fully recharged.

Thanks for reading, COLE BAMBINI

sports editor

MEN’S LACROSSE SCHEDULE

MAKING HIS MARK

Will Mark reigned at Long Island. Now he wants to prove his talents as Syracuse’s goalie

By Anthony Alandt senior staff writer

Eric Wolf’s then-girlfriend, Kelly, was volunteering for Long Island University’s men’s lacrosse team when a freshman walked up to her in spring, 2020. He was in a new place, entering practice with a brand new team.

Wolf, the third-year coach of the Sharks, watched his girlfriend look up and hand a post-practice meal to the freshman. She hadn’t met the new goaltender. “Hey, who are you?” she asked.

“I’m the king. You don’t know who I am?,” he responded.

She looked perplexed. Then, he cracked a smirk and laughed. “No, I’m just kidding,” he said. “I’m Will Mark.”

Mark had every reason to believe he was the king of Long Island. Even on a team that had jumped from Division II to Division I lacrosse, Mark was primed to be the guy. He helped LIU — who started 1-6 in a COVID19-shortened 2020 campaign — win seven consecutive games as he blossomed into one of the conference’s best goaltenders on a team full of D-2 talent

Then, Mark committed to Syracuse for his graduate year.

As a goaltender who began his lacrosse lessons in Germany before growing up in Danville, California, Mark had few opportunities. Mark has always considered himself an “underdog.”

“He was really just stoic and kind of (had a) quiet confidence in a way,” former Long Island defensive coordinator Jack Runkel said.

On Oct. 2, 2018, Wolf learned Long Island would be merging its Post and Brooklyn campuses and moving to the Division-I level starting in fall 2019. Wolf was nervous. He and his staff had recruited Division-II players; goaltenders like Mark weren’t even going to cross their desk as recruits. He liked his goalie room, but they didn’t have “that dude.”

Wolf’s message was simple: “Everybody stop what you’re doing and find the goalie.” He’d heard of Mark’s name through watching clips, but hadn’t placed Mark on his radar because he was far outside of LIU’s talent pool. But, then-assistant Brendan Schroeder, whose friend coached at Vermont, came to Wolf with Mark’s name.

Mark was finishing up his career at Proctor Academy (Calif.) where he became an AllLeague product as a senior. He’d committed to Vermont as a sophomore, but as its recruiting class grew, the possibility of Mark making an immediate impact dwindled.

“That’s when I had the option to stay committed and see what happened or explore elsewhere,” Mark said. “I was getting a lot more money from LIU and a position to start right away.”

At the first training session with Runkel and Mark, Runkel varied his shot selection, throwing in wrinkles to the practice as a way to know Mark as a goalie. He noticed Mark’s ability to stretch out and span across almost the entire net. Runkel was impressed with Mark’s skill to gather control out of errant shots. Long Island had found its “final piece of the puzzle.”

Mark came in with every intention to

“shake the room.” But, no one would have guessed that he would lead the nation in his first season with 15.29 saves per game.

“I just feel like I’ve always been an underdog. In youth lacrosse, I was never the first pick, I was never the A-team goalie,” Mark said.

From first to fourth grade, Mark’s father, Chris, worked in Germany. At the school he attended, one of his friend’s fathers started a small camp to teach three or four kids, includ ing Mark, the lacrosse fundamentals. Twice a week, the kids would toss around a lacrosse ball and learn various skills.

Prior to the start of fifth grade, Mark’s family moved to Danville. Mark joined a local team as well as the school team. Though it wasn’t necessarily a hotbed at the time, the area soon produced players that committed to Princeton, Georgetown and North Carolina.

The pair of goalies on his C-club team stopped showing up to practice. Mark had seen the speed at which lacrosse balls came flying in and noticed the various bruises that appeared on them after each practice. His dad warned him about the position, but Mark saw an opportunity. “I’ll do it,” he said at practice.

So, Mark became a highly-touted goalie prospect out of high school. A starting goalie, Wolf said, should act and feel like a starting quarterback. He was the starting position and the blockade between a defense in tran sition and goals.

Although Mark earned NEC Defensive Player of Year honors in back to back sea sons, his save percentage never crossed 57.7% because of a lack of proper defenders to help out. Mark saved the most shots in the country, but allowed 12.18 goals per game during his three seasons with the Sharks.

Matt Gill, a volunteer assistant coach, worked with Mark on becoming a mentally strong goal tender.

Now, after allowing a goal, Mark relies on one of two breathing techniques. He’ll tap his helmet twice with his stick to settle himself.

“It takes a toll mentally, and it’s just one of those things that it’s really hard to ask of a freshman goalie,” Runkel said.

The other technique is used before a game’s start and as it is restarting out of half time. Mark takes a long breath in through his nose until his lungs are almost full. Then, he’ll quickly inhale in and hold his breath for a few seconds. He’ll center himself in the moment. Then, just before the whistle sounds, he draws out a long exhale to slow down his heart rate.

He knows of the questions surrounding whether his play can translate to the Atlantic Coast Conference. He’s used to the doubt and the outside noise permeating through each decision. Why goalie? Why Long Island? Why Syracuse?

Mark knows there’s nothing guaran teed at SU, not even a starting position. What’s guaranteed is the chance to return a former giant to its glory and to build up another program again and attach his name to its rise.

“It was simple,” Mark said. “It’s one of the greatest lacrosse programs in the history of the sport, just being here when they have a little chip on their shoulder and something to prove is exactly the type of person I am.”

anthonyalandt29@yahoo.com

@anthonyalandt

THE FUTURE

By Connor Smith senior staff writer

Ne, part of a national chain of comedy clubs and restaurants, Joey Spallina has always wanted to play lacrosse at Syracuse, and he’s always wanted to wear No. 22. The jersey — the most famous one in the sport — hangs in his bedroom in Mount Sinai, and the No. 22 was always on his back as he became the nation’s best recruit. And like past SU No. 22’s, Spallina still remembers how he found out the jersey would be his.

Then-head coach John Desko had called him at midnight via his mother’s phone to tell him he could wear No. 22 at Syracuse. When Gary Gait told Spallina he’d be the next SU head coach, they talked briefly about the No. 22 jersey and what it means to the program. Playing for Syracuse and wearing 22 was all a dream come true, Spallina said.

“To be able to get that opportunity, it’s hard to say no,” he said. “I cannot see myself anywhere else.”

Spallina’s arrival couldn’t come at a more pivotal time for

the Orange, who are coming off their worst season ever. The nation’s top recruit, someone who can help Syracuse return to its proper spot atop college lacrosse, says he’s up for the task. People close to Spallina think he can be the next face of lacrosse. But, his goal isn’t a personal one: it’s to win four straight national championships, when SU hasn’t competed for one in 10 years.

“He wants to help bring Syracuse back to the top,” said Spallina’s father, Joe. “Bring them back to Memorial Day weekend.”

Spallina has already impressed Gait, one of the game’s best players ever, and Owen Hiltz, who led Syracuse in goals in 2021. Hiltz sees Spallina as someone who fits well with the offense, bringing “power” to a unit that lost its top four scorers from last season. Spallina and Gait talk every day about making plays and beating defenders. Spallina recognizes Gait as one of the best lacrosse minds ever, constantly picking his brain. In response, Gait has told Spallina not to change his style, though he had to earn his spot on the field. Spallina said he did that in the fall.

“It’s been awesome,” Gait said of working with Spallina. “He’s got talent and he’s working harder than anybody else, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he does on the field.”

Spallina has always impressed against older competition. When Spallina first picked up a stick at a young age, he already knew how to handle it. And starting at six years old, Spallina traveled for tournaments, playing kids up to two years older than him, forcing him to develop his game quickly. He learned how to play off-ball since he was always playing older and bigger players, Joe said.

The adjustment to playing at Syracuse as a freshman won’t

Joey Spallina has waited to be the next No. 22. Now he can restore Syracuse lacrosse

Joey Spallina was the topranked high school recruit in the Class of 2022

be difficult since Spallina played so many older, top players on the travel circuit, said Luke Daquino, an assistant at Spallina’s Mount Sinai High School.

PURE DOMINANCE

right wing as a shooter and dodger, earning all-country and rookie of the year honors with 39 goals and 45 assists.

gym at 5 a.m. for a 90-minute workout. Then, he drove another 30 minutes to a different gym to work with his speed coach. And once that was done, Spallina shot for an hour, grabbing his dad’s key card for the practice facility at Stony Brook, where Joe coaches the women’s team.

In ninth grade, Spallina became Mount Sinai’s go-to playmaker. He notched 131 points, earning All-American honors. Kids asked for autographs after games that year, recalled Scott Reh, Mount Sinai’s athletic director.

Spallina continued to improve. He got a feel for how to move people, using his eyes and body language to move defenders and waiting an extra second for the lane to open up. He worked with Daquino to become better at X, improving his patience and ability to finish through contact at the goal. While Spallina wasn’t the fastest player, Daquino said he used his hips and shoulders to make defenders think he’s going one way before moving the other.

“Joey’s biggest strength is he can really beat you when you’re playing perfect defense,” Daquino said.

Daquino also worked with Spallina to improve his left hand. By Spallina’s junior year, he could score several ways going left, backing into defenders, going behind the back or turning the corner and firing, giving them a “workout,” Reh said.

So, Daquino told Spallina he couldn’t let defenses lock him, needing to break out and still get the ball. Mount Sinai had to do everything possible to get Spallina the ball and he notched 122 points as a junior.

“He was the Lyle Thompson of high school lacrosse,” Daquino said. “He was unguardable.”

With Spallina’s success came increased pressure as he attracted attention around Long Island. While kids supported him at games by wearing his Mount Sinai jersey or Syracuse’s No. 22, many fans heckled Spallina. But Reh said the pressure made Spallina better. Daquino said Spallina even enjoyed it.

When Mount Sinai needed a goal late, they gave him the ball, and Spallina “thrived” under pressure, Drumm said. Other times, when defenders were all over Spallina, he’d be relaxed, jogging, with no panic in his eyes, Drumm said.

Spallina said he doesn’t think about pressure or high expectations. After one of Syracuse’s first spring practices, he reflected on his approach to handling pressure.

“If you’re worried, that means you haven’t done enough to prepare yourself,” Spallina said. “You don’t get nervous if you’re prepared and you trust that your skills will get you through it.”

That pressure won’t go away over the next four seasons at Syracuse, he said. Spallina always wanted to be SU’s 22, and wanted to play in the JMA Wireless Dome because “lacrosse is king here,” he said.

“I will tell you that going on the visits with him to all those places, I saw a different look in his eye when we were at Syracuse,” Joe said.

Spallina has gotten to know former No. 22’s like Casey Powell and Charlie Lockwood, and former Syracuse players told him that he could be the guy who brings the program back, Joe said.

Lockwood said the number has become a symbol of lacrosse. Kids all over the country want to wear it, and people associate it with a highlevel player. It’s harder to work through scoring droughts or losing streaks when you’re a No. 22, especially at Syracuse, Lockwood said, because everything is magnified.

“When you put the No. 22 on your back, you better be prepared,” he said.

In January, the three Powell brothers met with Gait and Lockwood at LaxCon in Baltimore. It was the first time the five former No. 22’s had been together in two decades. They tossed a ball between themselves, one No. 22 to the next. And Spallina, always yearning to wear the same jersey, wants his name to be remembered in the same sentence as the Powells and the Gaits, Daquino said.

“Joey is much like me. I think we have the same mindset,” Powell said. “He wants to be the best. He wants to bring Syracuse University back to its heyday.”

When Mount Sinai’s head coach Harold Drumm first saw Spallina’s “outstanding” skill set with his Team 91 Crush travel team as a sixth grader. When Spallina moved to the Mount Sinai district the following year, coaches debated if he should play on the varsity team or not. At first, the coaches decided it wouldn’t be the right move socially. But after dominating that season and growing his body, there was no debate for his eighth grade year.

Spallina became the first eighth grader to start for Mount Sinai’s varsity team in decades. He spent most of the season on the

Spallina’s well-documented work ethic separated him from the pack. He got up before 5 a.m. for workouts, using shooting drills and hours of film on footwork and defenses to improve.

Daquino, who coached Mount Sinai’s offense, said that Spallina listened to Drumm (who ran the defense) rather than him in practice because he wanted to understand what the defense was doing so he could beat them.

“I’ve never met a more dialed-in, focused kid on what it takes to be excellent, what it takes to be great,” Joe said.

During this past winter break, Spallina got up at 4:30 every morning, being the first one at the

“The things that he did were remarkable,” Reh said. “You thought you knew what he was going to do, and then you’re like, ‘wow, look at this’ and he did something that you never thought he could do…He is the best high school lacrosse player I’ve ever seen.”

Spallina broke former Syracuse midfielder Nicky Galasso’s Long Island points record despite missing his sophomore season because of COVID-19 and being face-guarded every game over his last three high school seasons. Mount Sinai’s coaches realized they couldn’t run a true offense with one player locked, but also knowing that Spallina couldn’t come out of the game.

Powell believes No. 22 still has its “magic,” since it helped attract the nation’s top player to Syracuse. Years ago, when Powell played for the Major League Lacrosse’s Long Island Lizards, with Joe at head coach, he watched Spallina — the team’s ball boy — put on a show for fans at halftime with his stick work and showmanship. Years later, Spallina was doing the same thing, this time in real games, becoming the hottest name in high school lacrosse. Spallina’s drive, playmaking ability and experience playing beyond his years etched his name into the high school record books. And his ceiling is still unknown. Reh said Spallina could be one of the best college players of all time. Daquino thinks Spallina could become the new face of lacrosse, but Spallina’s goals are team-based.

While sitting on a table after a preseason practice at Ensley Athletic Center, cradling his Gait Torq stick in his hands, Spallina shared his ambition:

“To win a national championship every single year.”

csmith49@syr.edu @csmith17_

Joey Spallina started playing varsity lacrosse in eighth grade at Mount Sinai, eventually setting the all-time Long Island points record with 501 SOURCE: NEWSDAY.COM

JOEY SPALLINA was ranked the top recruit for the Class of 2022 and will wear No. 22 at Syracuse, the same worn by Orange legends Gary Gait and Mike Powell. courtesy of su athletics

NEXT CHAPTER

By Tyler Schiff asst. sports editor

Aring ceremony honoring the winners of the 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship was scheduled for Jan. 21 at USA LaxCon in Baltimore, Maryland.

The 18 members of the United States championship team arrived, taking pictures on the red carpet before piling into a huge ballroom and into their assigned seats. Then, each player — including Syracuse head coach Kayla Treanor — received their championship ring and watched a nostalgic video before Treanor and Taylor Cummings took to the stage.

“It was a great night,” Treanor said. “I really just talked about how difficult it was but how much I’ve been able to love it and how rewarding it’s been for myself as a person and a player.”

It had come full-circle for the three-time gold medal winner. Treanor would be going out on top as a world champion. The 2022 run was her final ride with the U.S. national team, a program that she was introduced to as a rising senior in high school. Afterwards, Treanor retired from playing to fully concentrate on coaching in her second season in charge of Syracuse women’s lacrosse, where she played from 2013 to 2016.

“It was a very special time,” Treanor’s father Mark said about the ceremony. “All those players had become so close, and it was a great way to put the frosting on the cake.”

Treanor never took lacrosse seriously until middle school. She enjoyed basketball and soccer, two sports Mark believed developed athletic abilities that were crucial in her transition to lacrosse. She later started at the varsity level as a freshman.

In 2011, Treanor earned a spot on the U19 World Championship roster. She totaled 14 goals in eight games during her debut tournament as the U.S. won gold in Hanover, Germany.

WYATT MILLER

TREANOR TAKE 2

RECORD: 13-3 (7-2 ACC)

MVP: MEAGHAN TYRRELL

X-FACTOR: EMMA WARD

With Emily Hawryschuk gone — graduating last spring as Syracuse’s all-time leading scorer — the Orange need another attack to step up. After an Atlantic Coast Conference All-Freshman season in 2021, one where she ranked second on the team in points and assists, Emma Ward will be the X-factor for Syracuse in 2023. She suffered a season-ending turf-toe injury last season in the preseason. But this year, she’ll be vital for SU’s offense, one that is centered around Meaghan Tyrrell.

Tyrrell’s coming off a 78-goal season where she was one score shy of SU’s single-season record. She was also named a Tewaaraton Award finalist. Going into her fifth year, Tyrrell will head the offense once again for head coach Kayla Treanor.

With a healthy Ward and Sierra Cockerille, Syracuse can have both ACC and NCAA-Tournament success, led by their returning veterans. That starts on Feb. 11 when it opens against Northwestern, who sent SU home from the 2022 NCAA Tournament in embarrassing fashion. If Treanor and her squad can win that game, it will set the tone for the season.

MATTHEW HASSAN

HEALING GIANT

RECORD: 12-4 (7-2 ACC)

MVP: MEAGHAN TYRRELL

X-FACTOR: PLAYERS’ HEALTH

Syracuse had an injury-filled season in 2022 that ended with a loss to Northwestern in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. Ward, Sierra Cockerille and Emma Tyrrell all had season-ending injuries. The Orange return Meaghan Tyrrell, their 2022 leader in points, goals, and assists.

Former attacker Emily Hawryschuk and midfielder Sam Swart are big names departing the team ahead of 2023, but the influx of these starters returning from injury should balance that out and possibly add more to the team. Kimber Hower and Delaney Sweitzer are set to share time in net again this year, while Treanor enters her second season in charge.

The major obstacle for Syracuse is its schedule. Lacrosse Reference rates it as the toughest in the nation. The Orange will face off against the top four teams in the preseason poll, but a fully healthy Syracuse squad still has the potential to win the NCAA Tournament. It knocked on that door in 2021, but was stopped short in the championship game against Boston College.

TYLER SCHIFF

IT’S ABOUT TIME

RECORD: 14-2 (8-1 ACC)

MVP: MEAGHAN TYRRELL X-FACTOR: EMMA TYRRELL

The saying usually goes, “third time’s the charm.” For Syracuse, it’ll be the fourth. This program has reached the national championship game in 2012, 2014 and 2021, falling short most recently against Boston College in 2021. But 2023 will be the year.

SU enters ranked No. 5 on Inside Lacrosse’s preseason poll and boasts Meaghan Tyrrell, the USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Player of the Year. Last season, Tyrrell notched 78 goals, just one shy of Treanor’s program record. The attacker also became just the seventh player in program history to record 200 career goals.

The Orange have also brought back key pieces from an injury-riddled squad. Ward, Cockerille and Tyrrell all return from injury. Syracuse’s schedule this season cannot be underestimated. But now, with Treanor in her second year at the helm having retired from playing, combined with a healthy squad, SU should make a deep run. Sure, the Orange won’t win every matchup against a ranked opponent, but I expect them to advance far in the NCAA tournament.

Kayla Treanor retired as a player from the U.S Women’s National Team in 2022 to solely focus on coaching Syracuse

“That experience made me know that lacrosse was the sport that I wanted to pursue,” Treanor said.

Growing in Niskayuna, New York, Treanor didn’t receive much recruitment attention. But when SU showed interest, her ears perked up. On her official visit, she clicked with the other recruits and current players. She enjoyed the rich culture of the program as well as the ease of creating relationships with other athletes, specifically the women’s basketball players. She marveled at the opportunity to play under Gary Gait — one of the game’s best players ever.

“He encouraged her to take risks and be creative,” Mark said. “That’s kind of the Syracuse way, and she thrived. Her experience at Syracuse surpassed all our expectations.”

Gabby Jaquith was a year older than Treanor and played a similar position. They met for the first time at Syracuse lacrosse camp in high school and again when Jaquith committed to SU.

The following season, in the fall of 2012, Treanor arrived on campus.

“It was like she was a freshman going on senior,” Jaquith said. “She fit right in.”

Treanor started in her first collegiate game against Jacksonville in February of 2013. Syracuse entered the contest as the No. 1 ranked team in Inside Lacrosse’s preseason poll. Though the Dolphins scored first, Treanor finished the game with five goals and six points, tying the most goals by a freshman in a debut.

Maryland eventually won 15-12. Although Treanor never failed to reach a Final Four in her college career, this would be her only National Championship that she’d reach as a player.

Treanor’s junior and senior years brought two more Tewaaraton Award finalist seasons, but Maryland ended both campaigns. Treanor accrued first team All-American honors four times in her career and notched a then-program record of 260 career goals. She played 94 games and never missed one, named as a starter every single time.

“I think she’s the greatest player in college lacrosse,” Gait said in an Inside Lacrosse documentary. “She makes plays that have never been seen before, and she should be proud of what she’s done.”

the Syracuse men’s program in June 2021, wanted help deciding his successor as the new head coach of the women’s program. So, he asked his past players.

When Gait called her, Treanor was by herself, but it was a busy time — she had just helped coach Boston College to a national championship, beating Syracuse in the final. She was nearing the end

ACC Tournament with an upset loss to Virginia after beating the Cavaliers by six in the regular season.

In the NCAA Tournament, Syracuse survived a scare in the first round, squeaking by Fairfield 12-11. Next, SU handled then-No. 9-seeded Princeton to set up a rematch against Northwestern in the quarterfinals. The Wildcats routed the Orange 15-4 to end their season.

The turnaround was quick. The Orange fell out of the NCAA tournament in mid-May, and Team USA’s first game of the World Championship was at the end of June.

The U.S. breezed past Scotland, Australia, England and Japan, advancing to the final against Canada. Up until that point, Treanor had amassed 19 goals and 14 assists in just seven games. She remembered walking into the game as the memories of her career and inseparable relationships flashed before her eyes.

“This past one was really emotional, because I knew it would be the last time I was going to play in a U.S. uniform,” Treanor said.

After careful consideration, Treanor said she was at peace and confident with her decision. She said that coaching Syracuse ultimately “fills her cup,” and that she doesn’t need anything else.

“(The SU players) made that decision so easy, because I feel like I owe them my very best.

And I’d love to see these girls have a wonderful experience and hopefully win a championship,” Treanor said.

Against Canada, Hogan gathered the ball in the cage, throwing an outlet pass toward the midfield. The ball eventually made its way to Treanor at the right side of the opposing cage. She received the ball and pump-faked once, as if she was aiming top-left, before sending a swift, low shot past the goalkeeper’s outstretched foot. That goal — which gave the U.S. a 6-2 lead — would be her last statistical contribution sporting the red, white and blue.

“Kayla’s one of the all-time greats,” Hogan said. “She’s eclipsed several records, and she’s just known (to) all of us as one of the best to ever do it in women’s lacrosse.”

“She had just such an innate talent with both hands and was a natural at her craft — and it really was a craft,” said Liz Hogan, former SU goaltender and Treanor’s USA teammate. “Watching her was jaw-dropping.”

Treanor finished her first year with NCAA All-Tournament honors, being named to the AllBig East first team and the conference tournament team as well. But, The Orange’s run to the National Championship was halted in the semifinals by then-No.1 seeded Maryland.

As a sophomore, Treanor set two single-season program records with 117 points and 79 goals in Syracuse’s first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. She gathered All-ACC first team honors and made the NCAA All-Tournament team again, advancing the Orange to the National Championship with another showdown against Maryland. Treanor entered the game as the nation’s leading scorer and was a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award — gifted to the season’s most outstanding player.

Maryland led 5-0 before Treanor scored her first goal. Starting behind the net and beating her defender going right, she slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to get Syracuse on the board. Moments later, she scored in almost identical fashion on the opposite side.

As a child, Treanor knew she wanted to coach at some point, and took an assistant role at Harvard after graduating. The following season, she assumed the same position at Boston College, where she stayed for four years.

“She has some of the highest lacrosse IQ I’ve ever witnessed in a human before,” Hogan said.

Watching her as a player, Jaquith always noticed Treanor’s ability to add her own spin and creativity, describing her as “extremely innovative.” When Treanor became a coach, Jaquith saw she taught the game in a different way, using core concepts in other sports, like basketball, and applying them to lacrosse.

Prior to the 2017 World Championship, Treanor was invited to Team USA training camp, one of many that served as mini try-outs. The program would send invitations to new groups of players for every camp. Hogan said the search for who made the cut spanned about 250 athletes for a roster of 18 — “the elite of the elite” — which Treanor made.

Through eight games, Treanor set a U.S. tournament record for points in a single World Championship, tallying 43 points, made up of 24 goals and 19 assists. Against England in the semi-final, she set a U.S. single-game record with 12 points. The U.S eventually took home gold, defeating Canada 10-5 in the final.

Gait, who had been appointed to take over

of her professional playing career, too, though the 2022 World Championship loomed ahead. Treanor said she felt no pressure, because she never even saw the position at Syracuse as a realistic opportunity. Mark said Syracuse would be the only place she’d leave Boston College for. Jaquith added there was no one more fitting from an alumni perspective.

“It was a moment I’ll never forget,” Treanor said. “I was just so excited to come back and coach these players and this team.”

In her first season in charge, Treanor had a couple bumps to deal with. Preseason honorable All-American mention Emma Ward suffered a season-ending toe injury during the team’s first practice. Emma Tyrrell and Sierra Cockerille had both suffered season-ending, lower-leg injuries too.

Syracuse started the season on a four-game win streak, defeating three ranked opponents. The Orange eventually won six conference games, losing just two to Boston College and North Carolina.

In the postseason, Syracuse crashed out of the

As Treanor stood up on that stage at the Baltimore Convention Center, next to her stood Cummings — her dear friend and former USA Teammate. Cummings, a former midfielder for Maryland, played an integral part in foiling every one of Treanor’s runs to the Final Four as a player and won the Tewaaraton Award every year Treanor was nominated.

Cummings shared the grueling pressure of a 2013 USA training camp when the two first played together. And in the same gold-medal game, Cummings played in her final career match.

“It’s been one of the highlights of my life, and the teammates you get to experience that emotion with — it just bonds you forever,” Treanor said. “For me, it’s been about relationships.”

Mark agreed — only now, he says she has prioritized the relationship with the women in Syracuse’s lacrosse program.

Treanor and Cummings both delivered moving speeches that night, Hogan said. Mark said Treanor described walking away from Team USA as the “hardest experience she’s ever loved.”

“Lacrosse has brought a lot of joy to her life,” Mark said. “She wants that same joy to be brought to a lot of the kids that play for Syracuse right now.” trschiff@syr.edu @theTylerSchiff

ANISH VASUDEVAN TRIAL PERIOD IS EXPIRED

RECORD: 7-8 (1-5 ACC)

MVP: OWEN HILTZ

X-FACTOR: SAAM OLEXO

The beginning of the schedule is built exactly for Syracuse’s liking. Last year, the Orange front-loaded matchups against Maryland, Virginia and Army. It was the worst possible setup for Gait to get in the swing of things in his new job, and for an offense that was trying to find its identity with Owen Hiltz injured. This year with Vermont, UAlbany and Holy Cross to start, SU will glide to a 3-0 start.

After that, Gait, Pat March and Dave Pietramala will be tasked with leading Syracuse through a threegame stretch against Maryland, North Carolina and Duke. The one place where the youth helps Syracuse is on the attack. Joey Spallina could fit right into Tucker Dordevic’s spot as the main option. Hiltz is also bound to have another breakout season.

The question will be defense, especially near the cage. Gait explained the defensive struggles last year weren’t just inconsistent goal-keeping, but a breakdown from Pietramala’s squad near the crease. If SU can’t establish an aggressive defensive identity in front of goal, this will be another sub .500 year.

CONNOR SMITH

TRENDING UP

RECORD: 8-7 (1-5 ACC)

MVP: OWEN HILTZ

X-FACTOR: JOEY SPALLINA

The Orange enter year two of the Gary Gait era, coming off a historically bad season that featured a six-game losing streak and no NCAA Tournament appearance (in a non-COVID year) for the first time since 2007. Some help has arrived this offseason, particularly with the top high school recruit in the country, Joey Spallina, who will be the next player to don No. 22. Four other five-star recruits have arrived, as has goalie Will Mark, who transferred from LIU and earned preseason honorable mention All-American honors. Owen Hiltz will return from injury, too.

I expect SU to be better than they were last year. Syracuse has a difficult schedule, and is the only ACC team unranked. Virginia is the nation’s top team, and Notre Dame is fifth. The Orange should get out to a strong start, but once conference play heats up — and four road trips in April begin piling up — their record will take a hit, and the NCAA Tournament will be out of reach.

ANTHONY ALANDT

ONE YEAR AWAY

RECORD: 6-9 (0-6 ACC)

MVP: JOEY SPALLINA

X-FACTOR: WILL MARK

Everyone is going to be underestimating Syracuse this season. It simply underperformed at a historically bad clip last season. There was nothing the best player in the game and the best defensive coordinator in the sport could do as the Orange floundered to a rockbottom 4-10 record.

As previously mentioned, adding Mark will provide some stability to a position that lacked it last season as the Orange routinely allowed 15 or more goals. Coupled with the fact that they’re losing Dordevic, the Orange have a difficult task in a season that needs to be a rebound and show fans that Gait is the right guy to carry John Desko’s success into the next wave of success at SU.

Syracuse’s record will look a lot worse than the team probably is, because of the ACC. Even the nonconference games, especially Maryland and Johns Hopkins, are tasks. There’s really no point in the schedule for this team in transition to find its footing. While the record might not look good, I expect 2024 to be a big year for the Orange.

KAYLA TREANOR won three gold medals with the United States national team, recently retiring in 2022 to solely focus on coaching Syracuse. daily orange file photo

She has some of the highest lacrosse IQ I’ve ever witnessed in a human before.

Liz Hogan former syracuse goalie

NATURAL’

Jackson Birtwistle played several different sports growing up, but

By Anish Vasudevan senior staff writer

Atrip down a small hill from Jackson Birtwistle’s childhood home took him into the “coolest” backyard imaginable. At Eastern University, Birtwistle lived in the residence hall where his mom, Heidi, served as the resident director. The location happened to be closest to the athletic complex, where Heidi and Mark, Birtwistle’s dad and EU’s volleyball coach, worked.

Birtwistle took advantage of all the facilities, from the soccer, lacrosse and baseball fields to the tennis and basketball courts. He joined students in pickup games and eventually knew more students than his parents around campus, Heidi said.

“That’s definitely why I became an athlete and have always wanted to be an athlete because I had that right there,” Birtwistle said about growing up on EU’s campus.

Birtwistle’s skill-level didn’t waver from the field, court or diamond he walked onto. Most people in his suburban-Philadelphia community had at least one story about his childhood athletic feats, said Mark Petrone, Radnor High School’s assistant men’s lacrosse coach. When Birtwistle was 11, he threw a perfect game. In eighth grade, he could kick a 30-yard field goal.

“Everyone around here in this area knows exactly who he is,” Petrone said. “It’s honestly too bad that you have to pick one sport in a season.”

The handful of sports Birtwistle played eventually reduced to one, lacrosse. He was vital to Syracuse’s attack late last season, recording 13 points in its last four games. Birtwistle said the constant training for multiple activities in a given year eventually paid off once he put all his effort into a single sport.

“Understanding the work ethic, the dedication and all that within a sport every single season helped me, especially at this level,” Birtwistle said.

Birtwistle competed in soccer and baseball leagues first, Mark said. In eighth grade, he began football under Radnor Middle School coach Ed McCallion.

Birtwistle learned the ability to “sling it” because of his experience as a lefty pitcher, allowing him to step right into the role as the starting quarterback. He played defensive end and outside linebacker as well, directing both sides of the ball.

Birtwistle was immediately the best player on the team, McCallion said.

Birtwistle could read the field as a quarterback, take hits and deliver them. He enjoyed the contact, something that baseball lacked and was not yet an integral part of lacrosse. It would help though, McCallion said, since collegiate lacrosse is a heavy collision sport.

“When it comes down to the 50/50 ground balls or coming across the crease, that’s where football really helps in your lacrosse

game,” McCallion said. McCallion also witnessed Birtwistle’s soccer ability translate to the gridiron when he made a 37-yard field goal for his team. McCallion suggested Birtwistle give football a try a year later in high school, where he could have easily gone all-league, McCallion said. He didn’t, but Birtwistle tried out for the soccer team in the winter of his freshman year.

Birtwistle went out for the ninth-grade team, but he was starting on varsity two weeks later, McCallion said. Birtwistle said his soccer skills came from Mark, who played at Messiah College, a Division-III school in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

Birtwistle scored a crucial goal against North Penn High School in the state playoffs, tracking down a goal kick three-quarters down the field before scoring with a minute left. Birtwistle said soccer mostly helped his fitness, allowing him to excel in lacrosse throughout the remaining months of the year.

Peter Samson, who built the town of Radnor’s youth lacrosse programs, encouraged Birtwistle to pick up a lacrosse stick because of his athletic ability at around 10. He did, shooting over 70 mph in a contest at an EU camp held in seventh grade. Birtwistle juggled baseball and lacrosse during the spring seasons throughout middle school, but he had to make a choice before high school.

Birtwistle said he loved baseball and lacrosse the most and dropping one was one of the toughest decisions he’s had to make. Birtwistle decided on keeping lacrosse because he had some recruiting interest, was a more talented lacrosse player and preferred running around to standing on the mound.

The success Radnor found on the soccer field was even better on the lacrosse field. In 2019, Birtwistle’s junior campaign was vital to the team’s playoff run, as he finished with 76 goals and 42 assists.

Like in every other sport, Birtwistle was the main focus for the opposition. Petrone said teams worried about having someone who could guard Birtwistle at least half the time. His ability to dodge, simply run by defenders and use his vision to find teammates was unmatched, Petrone said. Birtwistle routinely scored three or four goals in each game, amounting 11 points on his own in the 2019 season-opener.

“He had this kind of effortless grace to him where he doesn’t look like he’s playing very hard but it looks very fluent and natural,” Petrone said.

The marriage of all his accolades was present throughout his breakout at the end of Syracuse’s 2022 season. Against North Carolina, he sprinted back on the ride and intercepted a pass from the goalie, turning and scoring from midfield. Against Virginia, he welcomed contact near the crease on two goals, one which he finished behind his back. Against Notre Dame, he hesitated and spun back right with the ball to find the back of the net.

“You put him in there and goals would happen,” Petrone said. anish.sujeet@gmail.com @anish_vasu

LEARNING FROM LEGENDS

Kate Mashewske has risen to be a top draw-control specialist through guidance from Kayla Treanor and Emily Hawryschuk

By Wyatt Miller asst. sports editor

Head coach Kayla Treanor said the draw is one of the most unique parts of lacrosse. Former Syracuse attack Emily Hawryschuk, who also took draws, said it’s extremely technical and requires attention to detail.

SU’s Kate Mashewske, one of the country’s best at the position, has learned under both Treanor and Hawryschuk, two of the best draw-control specialists in Syracuse history.

“A lot of prep that goes into it,” Hawryschuk said of the draw. “I mean, it is unique because there is so much to go through and you could sit there and talk about it for hours.”

At Syracuse, Mashewske ranked sixth nationally in draw controls last season and doubled her per-game average from the previous year. In 2022, Mashewske recorded 178 draw controls, averaging 8.48 draw controls per game to rank third all-time on the program’s single-season record list. After developing her draw skills since fourth grade with her father, Tim, Mashewske has benefited from both Trearnor and Hawryschuk’s knowledge.

Mashewske attributes much of her growth at Syracuse to Treanor, who was SU’s draw-control specialist in 2016, when she broke the NCAA Division-I record for draw controls in a season with 217. That record stood until 2019, but is still the SU single-season record.

“I would say (Treanor) definitely has impacted my game to current day the most,” Mashewske said. “She is so skilled and so smart and just sees it (the draw) in different ways that I haven’t seen before.”

Treanor described Mashewske as a “fearless competitor” at the draw. When Treanor was an assistant at Boston College in 2021 she was tasked with game-planning against her. Mashewke said that perspective has helped her understand how other opposing coaches view her.

“Kate’s a sponge,” Mashewske said. “She loves coach Treanor and, from being at that position and being very good at that position, she’s able to really dissect Katelyn’s game and help her.”

Tim, who was Mashewske’s travel lacrosse coach for six years, said that it’s been “amazing” to see her progress at Syracuse, saying that he could “only get her so far.” Treanor and Hawryschuk took it from there.

“Kate is extremely determined to be the best draw-taker in the country,” Treanor said. “She has really become, for lack of better words, fluent in it, and she really understands it.”

Mashewske got to this level by devoting herself to winning. In fact, her teammates even make jokes with her because “she is so competitive all the time,” Treanor said. Treanor relates to being the most competitive person on the field, saying that Mashewske will “absolutely” be aiming to have the most draw controls in the NCAA this season.

Hawryschuk, who’s now an assistant coach at Niagara, overlapped with Mashewske for three seasons. The two formed a close bond on the draw team together, with Hawryschuk taking a mentorship role. They watched film together and worked on their craft to “perfect all the intricacies of the position,” Hawryschuk said.

But during practice, a few days after the 2021 season-opener, Hawryschuk suffered a season-ending ACL tear in her fifth year, which meant Mashewske saw her playing time increase as a sophomore. That bond only got stronger as the pair spent hours simply talking about the game and technique.

Hawryschuk remembered sitting on the bench during one game shortly after her injury when Mashewske went in for the draw – afterward, Mashewske sprinted down the field to Hawryschuk at the end of the bench to check if she had made the right play. They conversed back-andforth a few times before Mashewske went back for the draw. Hawryschuk said that moment was typical of Mashewske, always looking to get better.

Similar to Hawrycshuk’s injury, during her 8th grade year, Mashewske was on a fast break and cut left past a defender – her right knee buckled. She had torn her ACL. Mashewske had been brought up to varsity lacrosse in 8th grade at Rush-Henrietta High School (NY). It was right before the first game of sectionals, where the team would later lose without its top drawcontrol specialist.

Rather than going to the hospital, she stayed glued to the bench, tears rolling down her face while she cheered on her team. Mashewske told head coach Tom MacMillan that she would be back, and she’d be better than ever.

Mashewske made a full recovery within just seven months. When she returned, she was better than ever, MacMillan said.

“Usually for your ACL, your first season back, you kind of baby that mentally,” MacMillan said. “That didn’t really happen to Kate. She came back and I truly believe that made her stronger and more determined than ever to be even better.”

Mashewske is always looking to improve on the little things to become the best, just like Tim taught her all those years ago rehabbing from her ACL tear, she said. The daily exercises and tedious tasks made all the difference. Rather than being deterred by the injury, she described it as the catalyst for her career.

Mashewske continued to grow on the field,

quickly becoming a top player nationally. She earned the No. 30 ranking on Inside Lacrosse’s class of 2019 before committing to Syracuse. This season, Mashewske, a senior, will be taking more of an offensive role in transition, whereas last year she played more defensively off the draw. Treanor said Mashewske has worked on stickhandling and athleticism to be ready to push the ball off the draw. Hawryschuk said Mashewske will “crush” that role, as she came into SU as a true midfielder as well as a drawcontrol specialist.

“Now, she has the ability to push transition a little bit more and feel confident going to the cage,” Treanor said.

Treanor remembered a game against Florida last season where Syracuse was down big early after six unanswered goals from the Gators in the first half. But Mashewske kept her foot firmly on the gas, winning several key draws to help the Orange fight back. The Gators won 14-10, and although Mashewske had nine draw controls in a hard-fought game, she was furious at the loss, as it was the team’s second in four games.

Mashewske’s personal goal is simply to “keep improving to make my team successful,” she said. After last season’s exit in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, Mashewske’s sole intention for this season is to win a championship.

And while Treanor and Hawryshuk harped on the possibility of Mashewske reaching the top of the NCAA in draw controls this season, Tim said Mashewske has never cared for individual accolades.

“I’ve always told her that individual accolades in a team sport mean nothing, stay humble,” Tim said. wbmiller@syr.edu @wymill07

RECHARGED THREAT

Emma Ward fully recovered from a season-ending turf toe injury and is poised to be an offensive threat from Syracuse

By Tyler Schiff asst. sports editor

Emma Ward heard her toe pop during the team’s first practice in January, 2022.

She called her parents to break the news and her mother, Jacqui, was relieved. After watching her daughter suffer ACL tears in consecutive years starting when she was just 15 years old, at least this time it wasn’t her knee. “It’ll be fine,” Jacqui told her.

But when Ward sent over pictures, it was clear her toe wasn’t fine.

Doctors diagnosed Ward with Grade 3 turf toe and a complete rupture of the plantar plate in her right foot — a structure connecting her big toe to the rest of her foot – and a 4-6 month recovery window.

“I thought she broke her toe,” said Ward’s father, Maurice. “I’m like alright so you broke your toe. You’ll be out for maybe a couple weeks, you’ll be back for the season and everything.”

The three of them attended a Zoom call together and were told that Ward suffered a freak injury that would end her sophomore season. For the following two months, she couldn’t put any pressure on her foot.

An Atlantic Coast Conference All-Freshman team selection, Ward played in all 21 games in 2021. She had filled the role of SU’s all-time leading scorer Emily Hawryschuk, who tore her ACL two games in, and contributed heavily to the team’s NCAA Championship run that ended with a loss to Boston College.

On Jan. 17, Ward played in her first team training session since the injury. She’s currently listed as healthy for the team’s season opener against Northwestern on Feb. 11.

“She’s worked really hard,” Syracuse head coach Kayla Treanor said. “I know she’s so excited for this chance to be back out there and I just can’t wait to watch her play and perform on the field.”

Ward had always been an athlete throughout her childhood. At 6 years old, she started playing travel football, loving the rough-and-tumble nature of the sport. Then, Ward thought she’d be a soccer star. Maurice said basketball was her ‘fun’ sport.

In second grade, she approached Jacqui with a permission slip to start playing lacrosse for a local league team coached by a friend’s mother. Jacqui had watched Ward develop basic stick skills playing catch with her older brother in the backyard and she bought the equipment for Ward to participate.

“When she was throwing the ball around, I’m watching through the back door to see what’s going on,” Maurice said. “She’s catch ing the ball, lefty, switching hands, throwing it back-and-forth. I look at my wife and I’m like ‘she’s pretty good.’”

Before her season started, Ward never really watched lacrosse. One day, the fam ily found a women’s game on TV, but it didn’t take long for Ward to voice her displeasure.

“They don’t hit each other,” Ward remem bered saying. “There are no pads. I’m not playing, I’m not doing this.”

But, her parents had already paid and she was going to play. After that first season at 7 years old, Ward fell in love.

As a fourth grader, Ward joined the Long Island Top Guns travel program, located in nearby West Babylon, New York. Founded by Bill Smith, father of former Tewaaraton winner Shannon Smith, Top Guns maintained a reputa tion as producers of highly-touted, Division-I caliber players. Ward started there by playing attack a year up with fifth graders.

Andrew Smith, the co-owner and director of Top Guns, coached Ward’s first team. Despite being younger, Ward competed amidst talented competition and is one of five players that are now listed on USA Lacrosse Magazine’s 2023 DivisionI Women’s Preseason All-Americans, Smith said.

The coaching staff at Top Guns promoted a sense of accountability to Ward and her team

mates. But Ward’s father had instilled that mentality in her already.

“From an early age it was always her desire to do things the best, whether that was brushing her teeth or putting on her shoes,” Jacqui said. “There were many times my husband would say to her ‘do you want to be good or do you want to be great? You have to make that choice and we can’t make that for you.’”

Because of training, Ward missed birthday parties and hangouts. In the summer, she’d be traveling with the team for weeks at a time. Sometimes, her absence forced her out of the loop with friends and that’s when her parents offered her the option to quit. Ward’s dedication never wavered.

It was this desire to be great that propelled her to push past her first ACL tear in the eighth grade, just shortly after she played her first varsity season at Babylon as a middle schooler.

Ward said she didn’t really feel the injury happening. Moving around, her knee felt good. It wasn’t until the day after that she felt its full extent. To get better, she had to go to physical therapy three times a week, then go to the gym an additional two to three times a week for further rehab. Yet, even with the threat of a careerending injury looming, she wanted to play.

“Maybe four months after surgery she was asking to join sessions,” Smith said. “She was chomping at the bit to try to get back into playing lacrosse and being around it.”

Smith said he held Ward and her dad off from a premature return. As eager as she was, he remembered saying that they should ease back into training upon doctors’ recommendations.

“I think that’s just a testament to her father and her and how they think about when it’s time to go to work,” Smith said.

A year later, Ward tore her ACL and her meniscus as a freshman in high school. Although

FANTASTIC FRESHMAN

Emma Ward excelled in her first season at Syracuse and ranked within the top three on her team in points, goals and assists

SOURCE: CUSE.COM

Ward finished that game with only three assists. Throughout her freshman year, Ward produced multiple goals against Duke and Notre Dame. She also notched the winning goal against BC in the ACC Tournament semifinals. But her first start against the Seawolves was Maurice’s favorite.

“She showed that she belonged,” Maurice said. “She showed that she could play at that level against that type of competition.”

In the NCAA tournament, Syracuse coasted past Loyola for the second time before defeating Florida to set up a semifinal showdown with then-No.2 seed, Northwestern. The Orange dominated from the jump and never trailed.

Megan Carney raced forward and waited patiently for two Northwestern players to converge on her. She had Ward to her left. At the last second, Carney dumped the ball to Ward who scored in the top-right corner. Syracuse’s lead increased to 9-2 and Ward would go on to score twice more.

“We knew what we had to do,” Ward said, thinking back to the contest. “We had one of our best games all year.”

the injury was similar and the rehabilitation exercises were familiar, nursing her leg back to health took longer and the brace stayed on for an extended time. Ward said the ACL recovery process was “nagging” and “emotionally draining,” but was “so rewarding in the end.” Jacqui remembered that the second tear was more difficult.

“I just felt like I was behind and wasn’t going to be able to catch up,” Ward said.

Recruiting had begun while Ward was sidelined. With both of Ward’s ACL tears coming near summertime, she couldn’t continue with Top Guns and barely any programs were reaching out. But then-SU head coach Gary Gait and then-associate head coach Reggie Thorpe took a chance.

Introduced through former SU lacrosse player Nicole Levy’s father, Steve, who coached Ward at Top Guns for a while, Ward was able to build a relationship with Gait and the program through a mutual trust that they could help each other.

“There’s nowhere else I would be,” Ward said. “I have a lot of love for him just because of the belief he had in me even from the beginning when I was hurt.”

Gait realized quickly there was no one that could match her stick skills or technique — attributes that Thorpe highlighted frequently when discussing Ward, Smith said.

With two more years left before college, Ward dominated in both the midfield and attacking positions. However, during her senior year at Babylon she was named to the All-American third team — an underwhelming and undeserving end

TOURNAMENT SAVY

In the 2021 national championship run, Emma Ward delivered for Syracuse, scoring the second most goals for the Orange in four tournament games

SOURCE: CUSE.COM

Ward’s severe turf toe left her unable to build upon her freshman season. It was also an injury that she, nor her family, had any history in treating. It was “unheard of,” Ward said.

Her long-time physician even told Ward that she was the first lacrosse player he’d seen with this type of injury. It was far more commonly found in NFL linebackers planting their feet incorrectly. Ward’s team consulted a Green Bay Packers doctor who reviewed her status before confirming which stitches and incisions should be made in surgery.

Ward opted to have the surgery and physical therapy done in Syracuse, away from her parents in Babylon, where she recovered from her two ACL tears. The team had already started traveling.

Slowly, Ward’s foot got better and she was cleared to operate with more motion right before Syracuse let out for winter break in December. Returning home, she attended the same advanced physical therapy clinic she went to for her prior ACL tears, designed to put the finishing touches on strengthening her ruptured ligament and get her into playing shape.

to a high-school career where she registered more than 200 points, said then-coach Olivia Calcado.

“Babylon is not known for their lacrosse community,” Calcado said. “It isn’t Bayport Blue Point, Mt. Sinai or Northport. (Emma) has always had to face that underdog mentality.”

Ward visited several other campuses, but nothing compared to Syracuse, Jacqui said. And after arriving at SU, Ward showed she didn’t need the help of a high-school lacrosse powerhouse to

prepare her for the next level. She was ready.

After the Orange defeated Loyola in the 2021 season opener, Ward’s parents sat down to watch Syracuse play Stony Brook. COVID-19 restrictions had barred them from attending the Dome in-person. Then, an announcement revealed that Hawryschuk would miss the matchup with a lower-leg injury. Ward had been named a starter. As a true freshman, she had been moved from an offensive midfielder to the starting attack.

Now fully recovered, Ward will be ready to take the field for the first time with Treanor as her head coach. Treanor describes her as the “quintessential Syracuse attacker,” who plays creative, confident and fearless.

Like her coach, Ward has championship expectations for herself.

“We finish the job this year,” Ward said. “We win that natty.”

trschiff@syr.edu @theTylerSchiff

She’s catching the ball, lefty, switching hands, throwing it back-andforth. I look at my wife and I’m like ‘she’s pretty good.’

Maurice Ward emma ward’s father

EMMA WARD will play for the first since 2021, where she earned All-ACC Freshman Team honors before suffering a turf-toe injury prior to the start of the 2022 season. courtesy of su athletics

BACK IN ACTION

Sierra Cockerille tore her ACL in the fifth game of 2022. She prioritized her team to get through the “quickest nine months” of her life

By Matthew Hassan staff writer

Sierra Cockerille’s knee popped after trying to juke a Northwestern defender at the 12-meter arc last March, but she wasn’t in a lot of pain. Still, she knew she had suffered a serious injury.

Cockerille tore her right ACL, ending her 2022 season just five games in. She laid on the ground as trainers slightly shifted her leg before officially diagnosing her with an ACL tear. She bursted into tears for the first — and only — time during her recovery. Trainers would later wrap Cockerille’s leg and put her on crutches at halftime.

“I almost felt like this type of injury would never happen to me,” Cockerille said. “It’s just not me.”

Eleven months later, she’s fully recovered and fully practicing. The midfielder has her eyes set on All-American honors, but most importantly, a national championship. In her first year as a starter in 2021, she made All-Atlantic Coast Conference second team, started all 21 games and finished 3rd on the team in points. Throughout her recovery, Cockerille continued to help the team by mentoring younger players and helping in the film room. After never missing a game at SU due to injury, the ACL tear forced her to rediscover her role on the team during the 2o22 season.

At halftime against Northwestern, former SU defender Sarah Cooper consoled her. The two had played club lacrosse together in Maryland for about 8 years before coming to Syracuse.

Cockerille told Cooper to return to the huddle — not focus on her —and reminded her there was a game to win. She came out of halftime in crutches and joined her team on the sideline.

“From that point on, I had a smile on my face. I knew it wasn’t about me,” Cockerille said. “It’s about the team. I knew I had to be there for them and if I showed my teammates I was okay, I thought it was going to help them.”

Cockerille has always had a reputation for being tough. When she started playing lacrosse, she wished it was more physical like the men’s game.

A high-end wrestler as a kid, Cockerille finished third at the 2010 Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées Junior Nationals and as well as a Maryland middle school state competition. Cockerille also played football, usually at running back. She credits her brother, who later played football at Maryland, for her early interest in contact sports.

“I just kind of grew up being like his younger brother in a way,” Cockerille said. “I guess him treating me like a younger brother made me a lot more tougher than the average young girl.”

By eighth grade, Cockerille knew she wanted to play collegiate lacrosse. When she got to Syracuse in 2019, her teammates noticed her grit. Former Syracuse midfielder Sam Swart described Cockerille as “fearless” and “ruthless” on the field, intimidated by Cockerille when she arrived.

“When I first met Sierra, I just knew she was tough by looking at her,” Swart said. “I was a little bit scared too, and I was older than her.”

Cockerille started off as a third-line midfielder, which she said really bothered her. But, she would get consistent playing time by the middle of the

year. Her role only expanded during her sophomore season – and by 2021, she was a full-time starter. Cockerille put up just 30 points in her freshman and sophomore year combined, but posted 50 dur ing her junior season.

In the 2021 NCAA Tournament, Cockerille suf fered the first injury of her collegiate career: a shoulder sprain against Florida in the quarterfi nals. But, she fought on. Cockerille received a corti sone shot right before the Final Four game against Northwestern and picked up two assists in a 21-13 win over the Wildcats. In the title game defeat to Boston College, she recorded a goal and assist.

“I just think my mindset is I don’t get beat up a lot,” Cockerille said. “If I get knocked down, I’m ready to get back up.”

Swart said that 2022 “was always going to be her year,” and that she was going to emerge as a top midfielder. Cockerille was one of the first in her class to declare for a fifth year after the injury.

But, she didn’t feel at her best to begin last sea son. Cockerille thought she started to get into her groove the game before her injury, as she recorded three points in a 17-16 overtime win against Notre Dame. Syracuse faced Northwestern for its fifth game of the season. Cockerille put a hard shot on goal before her career completely flipped on its head with the torn ACL. But once she processed the injury, she knew it could only get better from there.

“I was thinking about the road to recovery. I wasn’t looking back after that,” Cockerille said. “I knew the worst thing had already happened.”

Head coach Kayla Treanor said Cockerille didn’t feel bad for herself and thought about the team for the rest of that game. As the season progressed, Cockerille wanted to contribute from the sideline.

Just days after her injury, Cockerille began help ing younger teammates at practice by explaining plays and showing them how to clear the ball cor rectly. She began lifting with the team again as soon as she was cleared to. Cockerille said it was “eye-opening,” going from a high-level athlete run ning up-and-down the turf at the Dome to relearn ing how to walk and bend her leg.

“It’s really difficult to stay super involved when you’re going through such a traumatic injury,” Tre anor said. “She was just all in which is all you can ask for in an athlete that knows they’re not going to play anymore (that season).”

Three weeks after the injury, she had surgery on her knee and could walk about a week later.

Fellow SU midfielder Emma Tyrrell tore her ACL in practice in early April — just a month after the Northwestern game. When she got hurt, Tyrrell said she looked up to Cockerille as a model to handle the injury, and the pair did physical therapy together every day for two hours.

“Being able to see how positive of an outlook she had on things really made my recovery a lot easier,” Tyrrell said. “It really helped throughout the whole process because she just wouldn’t let me get down on myself.”

Cockerille said the recovery really picked up in June when she could run again. She felt the process was “the quickest nine months of her life.”

“Tearing my ACL was probably the best thing that happened to me as an athlete,” Cockerille said. “Mentally it made me stronger and physically it made me way stronger, so it was a blessing in dis guise I guess.”

mahassan@syr.edu