Syracuse women’s lacrosse: Orange cruise to 18-6 west coast win over Cal

California dreamin’ as ‘Cuse got back in the win column.

A west coast road trip turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for the Syracuse Orange on Saturday afternoon in the Bay Area.

Coming off a mid-week loss to Yale that halted their four-game winning streak, the No. 6 Orange (9-5, 5-2 ACC) flew out west looking to get back on the right track, which is exactly what they did with their 18-6 victory over the last-place California Golden Bears (5-8, 0-7 ACC).

This was a comfortable day in the sunshine for ‘Cuse, who eventually overwhelmed their hosts on their way to a double-digit margin thanks to 17 Cal turnovers and a big, 41-19 advantage in shots (31-14 shots on goal).

The domination unfolded slowly for SU, however, in a bit of a start-and-stop first half where the Orange gained only a four-goal lead at the break before ballooning it to 12 by the game’s end.

Cal scored on the first possession of the game to take a quick lead before a Caroline Trinkaus free-position tied it back up less than a minute later. The game remained tied at one for most of the opening nine minutes, before ‘Cuse took some measure of control for the first time when they scored four goals in four minutes to grab a 5-1 lead late in the first quarter. The teams would trade goals in the final 63 seconds of the first to end the quarter at 6-2 SU.

The second quarter started off strong for Cal, as they cut the lead in half with a pair of goals before the Orange fired back with three straight to take a five-goal lead. The Golden Bears added one more before the break to make it 9-5 ‘Cuse heading into intermission.

It was a decent first half for the Orange, but they couldn’t sustain the momentum created by their 5-0 and 3-0 runs in the first two quarters, respectively. The defense played a little loose and gave up some open looks that the home team cashed in. Five goals isn’t terrible, of course, but it’s a decent number for a team that doesn’t even average 10 per game.

The third quarter marked the beginning of the Orange finally putting their foot down on the game on both ends of the field. It was a 6-0 quarter for SU, and it included some very nice goals. The highlight of that run was Emma Ward’s BTB finish on a pass from Gracie Britton that doubled as the goal that officially made Ward the third player in program history with 150 goals and 150 assists for a career, joining Katie Rowan and Meaghan Tyrrell.

Gracie Britton bookended the quarter with a pair of goals, the back end of which was scored in transition off a Cal turnover and started the running clock as it gave the Orange a 15-5 lead that would not return to single-digits.

In the fourth quarter, the bench got some playing time while the regulars got some much needed extra rest. UNC transfer Mackenzie Rich scored her first goal in an Orange uniform while Meghan Rode scored her first of the season as ‘Cuse finished off their 18-6 win.

For a game in which SU finished with 18 goals, the scoring was surprisingly concentrated around five players. Emma Ward (2G, 4A) led the way with a big six-point day, followed closely by Gracie Britton’s (3G, 2A) second hat trick of the season as part of a career-high five points.

Caroline Trinkaus (4G) was back on track with a team-leading four goals, including a beautiful split dodge in the third quarter. This is the fifth game this season in which Trinkaus has scored at least a hat trick in a game, and all five games have been against ACC or Big Ten opposition. She’s having an incredible freshman season.

Also having a great first season is Alexa Vogelman (3G, 1A), who scored her first career hat trick and had a career-high four points. At the end of the first quarter, she made a play that typifies her impact when she nicely scooped up a difficult draw control win and proceeded to dodge straight down the field to score a goal. She’s a threat to do something like that whenever she’s on the field.

Emma Muchnick (2G) rounded out the multiple-point scorers with a pair of goals, including a beautiful underhanded shovel shot off a dodge in the first quarter. She also added a caused turnover and three draw controls.

Molly Guzik (1G) had a wonderful game with a goal, two ground balls, two caused turnovers and three draw controls. Guzik is yet another ‘Cuse midfielder who can impact every part of the game, and she showed that off in this one.

She was especially impactful on draw controls. The Orange once again struggled in the first half as the combination of Joely Caramelli and Meghan Rode led SU to a 6-of-15 performance on restarts in the first half. In the second half, Kayla switched Guzik in to take the draws, and she led the Orange to an 8-of-12 advantage with three wins to herself.

With the draw control issue very much in question at the moment, Guzik could have inserted herself into that conversation more prominently with her performance in this game.

Speaking of midfielders making full-field impacts, Sam DeVito has taken on a very un-glamorous role for ‘Cuse in her transfer year from Princeton. She spends most of her time working hard on draw controls, defense and transition while taking a backseat to her teammates on the offensive end. On Saturday, she did it again with four ground balls, two caused turnovers and two draw controls to help power the team in something of a thankless role.

On the defensive end, Coco Vandiver continued her wonderful season with two more caused turnovers to up her total to 36 on the season. Last year, Katie Goodale smashed the program record with 45; Coco’s got a shot at that if she can keep up her pace.

Danny Guyette had a strong game in goal while only facing 14 shots on cage, finishing with eight saves, two ground balls and a 57.1 save percentage.

The Orange will be back in action next weekend when they conclude their three-game road trip down in Blacksburg against the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday, April 12 at 12 PM on ACC Network Extra.