Can SU cope with the loss of some of their most talented players?
In just a few weeks, the Syracuse Orange women’s lacrosse team will kick off their season in the Dome as UAlbany comes to town on February 7th.
Last year, the Orange enjoyed a typically excellent campaign with a 16-6 record. The team fell short at one of the final hurdles in the National Semi-Finals, as they were defeated by Boston College, who would go on to win the National Championship.
Today, we will be breaking down the offense, midfield, and defense of the 2025 SU roster. In doing this, we may be able to gain a better understanding of just how strong Head Coach Kayla Treanor’s side will be this year in comparison to its recent iterations.
Defense
Key Departures: Delaney Sweitzer (GK), Katie Goodale, Hallie Simkins, Bianca Chevarie
Key Returners: Kaci Benoit, Coco Vandiver, Superia Clark
Potentially Crucial Newcomers: Alexia Reber
Overall Analysis:
Over the course of the offseason, the Orange lost many of their important defenders to graduation. Katie Goodale, Hallie Simkins, and Bianca Chevarie had been the pillars around which the SU defense was built over the last two campaigns, making their departures a significant loss.
Luckily for Cuse fans, the team boasts a pair of highly promising and highly capable talents in Kaci Benoit and Coco Vandiver, who learned plenty from their more senior teammates.
Benoit was a clear talent from the second she came into the team as a freshman last year, and didn’t look back once she earned Coach Treanor’s trust. Vandiver has always been a reliable and consistent defender who started most games in 2024. The pair will be the foundation for the defense to be built around.
Despite these two strong candidates, other defenders, such as Superia Clark, Chloe Bethea-Jones, and promising freshman Alexia Reber, will need to step up and fill in the gaps.
An even bigger issue for the Orange will be the absence of Delaney Sweitzer in net. The goalkeeper transferred away to Northwestern after gaining another year of eligibility, leaving a sizable gap in the Cuse roster.
In her years at SU, Sweitzer established herself as one of the best goaltenders in the nation with an all-ACC First-Team nod in 2023 and a Second-Team nod in 2024.
It is unclear who will fill this void, but with no goalkeepers with significant starting experience in the NCAA on the roster, this is arguably the biggest area of worry for the whole team.
Overall, the defense seems to have the most talent to make up for this year when compared to last. The Orange were a top-20 defense in 2024, conceding less than 10 goals a game, and will need to achieve similar statistical figures this year if they want to compete for the National Championship as they have across the last two seasons. It’s unclear if this current makeup can reach those heights.
Photo by Grant Halverson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Midfield
Key Departures: Kate Mashewske (FO), Natalie Smith, Savannah Sweitzer, Maddy Baxter
Key Returners: Emma Muchnick, Alexa Vogelman, Joely Caramelli
Potentially Crucial Newcomers: Molly Guzik, Mileena Cotter, Sam DeVito
Overall Analysis:
Although the midfield did lose tons of talent over the offseason, there appears to be ample support in the squad to re-tool and keep momentum going in 2025.
The main issue that SU will have to address this season is the absence of Kate Mashewske at draw-control specialist. Mashewske is SU’s best-ever DCS and arguably one of the best in NCAA history.
In response to this plight, SU has brought in DCS Sam DeVito from Princeton, who came into college as an elite talent and All-American but has never quite reached the expected heights.
Coach Treanor will be hoping to get the best out of DeVito in a way that can even partially fill the hole. Given that SU was the fifth-best in draw control win percentage in the nation last year, the loss of Mashewske, along with the rest of the starting midfield, will be an issue that requires attention.
If SU wants to generate as many attacking opportunities in recent years, they will need to find a way to win draws at the same rate that Mashewske did despite having less-talented players.
The losses of Natalie Smith, Savannah Sweitzer, and Maddy Baxter are going to hurt the Orange from the draw but also in open play. In 2024, Smith was fourth on the team in points (44g, 10a) and second in draw controls with 36.
Baxter was a quintessential two-way contributor, finishing 6th in points (30g, 6a), and caused 12 turnovers. Sweitzer was the 7th leading point-getter (24g, 9a). The dynamism of Baxter and Smith, in particular, was crucial to the way the Orange organized their offense last year.
Coach Treanor’s team looks better set to recover from these losses compared to those on the defense, as a combination of returning talents and new recruits could likely fill the void.
Emma Muchnick and Joely Caramelli are two younger returners who contributed a ton in 2024, finishing seventh (14g, 13a) and eighth (11g, 3a) on the SU points chart, respectively.
McKenzie Olsen and Mackenzie Rich also earned some limited reps in 2024 and will have the chance to build on these showings as they grow into the team. Alexa Vogelman will also suit up for the Orange for the first time after missing her first year with an ACL injury. Prior to last season, Vogelman was seen as one of the top freshman prospects in the nation.
The already-mentioned Sam DeVito will bring some experience, while Molly Guzik and Mileena Cotter come in as top-30 freshmen in the nation. Coach Treanor has never shied away from giving her young talents some reps, so the pair are likely to see significant action.
Overall, the main concern for the midfield will be winning draws at the same rate as the last few years. If they are able to meet these standards, there appear to be tons of talented players who will be itching for increased roles compared to last season.
Although it remains to be seen who will step up and how Cuse fans can have confidence that the midfield issues that may have been caused by lost players last season have been mostly patched up.
Attack
Key Departures: Emma Tyrrell
Key Returners: Olivia Adamson, Payton Rowley, Emma Ward, Gracie Britton, Ashlee Volpe, Meghan Rode
Potentially Crucial Newcomers: n/a
Overall Analysis:
The simplest of all the position groups to cover, SU fans can rest pretty well knowing that the attack that finished 13th in the nation in 2024 is mostly intact.
The only loss the Orange have suffered was the departure of leading-scorer and SU legend Emma Tyrrell, who led the team in 2024 in goals (70) and points (92) in 2025.
Tyrrell’s dynamism and speed in the attacking third will be the biggest miss for the Orange, but the goal-scoring and creativity are still there.
Olivia Adamson (58g, 25a) and Emma Ward (44g, 37a) are both SU legends in their own right and will return for 2025 after finishing second and third in the points category in 2024. They also provide elite passing and creativity as the two leading assisters from 2024.
Payton Rowley finished 5th on the team in points last year (23g, 15a), and Gracie Britton (7g, 4a) and Meghan Rode (8g, 1a) also got tastes of what it is like competing against the top defenses in the country. These options will further supplement the side.
Ashlee Volpe also missed her freshman year in 2024, when she was deemed one of the top talents in the nation. Her return could generate a new attacking option for the Orange.
Additionally, Coach Treanor has shown before that she is not afraid to play her best attacking midfielders in the attack. This could be a further way to supplement the current attacking lineup.
Overall, there should be plenty of different ways that this new lineup can make up for Tyrrell’s goal contributions, but the real question is whether they can bring the same dynamic she did as a speedy and dynamic head-down dodger who could trouble defenses from any region in front of the goal.
Conclusion
Looking at the roster as a whole, it becomes clear that SU lost a slew of talented players in 2024, many who they will miss dearly.
While the 2025 roster has talent in abundance, it does appear to be slightly lacking in the quality and experience that we saw in 2024. This does not mean, however, that all is lost.
Furthermore, this team is younger than last year, and it will have room to build and grow while keeping the same core group largely intact over the next two years.
The three most important issues I see with the current roster makeup are prioritized by significance as follows:
- GK – As mentioned, the Orange lost one of the best goaltenders in the nation last year. They have no clear replacement on the roster. Can someone make the step up to the ACC / National Championship contention level? I cannot say with confidence, which worries me in such an important position. To be elite, the Orange will need a goaltender who can make all the basic saves and also shave off a few goals that they were expected to concede. I don’t know if they have that. Can the Orange keep their defense in the top 20 without a reliable shot-stopper who can make exceptional and game-winning saves? We will see.
- DCS – Also noted above, the Orange lost their best-ever DCS last year and brought in no clear replacement with experience at the elite level. Given that the team was top-5 in the nation in DC wins last year, they were able to generate tons of extra possessions and, therefore, tons of extra goals. If they do not have the same elite level this year, how much will they suffer from the lack of extra possessions? Could they even be overrun by opponents? This was an issue that the men’s team struggled with in 2024, and this team could suffer the same fate if they cannot re-assert their dominance in the middle. The Orange will need these extra chances to protect their inexperienced defense, and in order to get the ball to their best players on the field in attack.
- Attacking Dynamism – With the losses of Tyrrell, Smith, and Baxter, the Orange lost the three players in the squad most responsible for carrying the ball and diving into the heart of the defense using their speed, agility, and skill. While Ward and Adamson are elite attackers, they do not bring the same level of dynamism and energy. The Orange will need to find players who can fill similar roles to those of Tyrrell, Smith, and Baxter if they want the attack to perform on a similar level to 2024.
With the season set to get underway soon, we will have answers to these nagging questions and more. Stay tuned for these updates and all things SU lacrosse.