Maryland Women's Lacrosse Dominates Syracuse in Season Opening Win
*All rankings are based on the USA Lacrosse Magazine and Inside Lacrosse Preseason Polls
The weather outside the JMA Dome Friday night was as it often is in the winter - cold and miserable. Inside, much of the home Syracuse crowd likely felt the same.
That's because Cathy Reese and her No. 8/7 Maryland Terrapins marched into Salt City and started 2026 off with a statement win, taking down the No. 11 Orange by a 9-5 margin.
The Terps grabbed a three-goal lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Despite being out paced in total shots (39 to 17), shots on goal (15 to 11), and caused turnovers (nine to one), the visitors never let 'Cuse close the gap on the scoreboard.
Junior Lauren Lapointe provided most of the offensive spark. After Kayla Gilmore opened the scoring on a free position goal, Lapointe netted the next two just three minutes apart.
She completed her ninth career hat trick with 3:43 left in the first half, and true freshman Ava Meyn scored her first career goal soon afterwards.
The Terps went back into the locker room with a 6-1 lead, and SU couldn't muster a rally until it was far too late.
Lapointe would add two more insurance tallies in the fourth quarter for a total of five goals on the day. Notre Dame transfer Kristen Shanahan also found the back of the net twice.
But the biggest star of the evening was Maryland goalie J.J. Suriano. In her first career start last year, against this same Syracuse program, Suriano allowed 13 goals while making only four saves - the worst mark of her college career.
This time, it was the complete opposite performance.
Suriano was locked in from the start, turning aside 16 shots and finishing with her career best save percentage (.762).
Additionally, two of the five balls that got by her were fired in the final two minutes of the game.
Maryland's next test is at home next Saturday against No. 7/8 Virginia. The Cavs fell to No. 14/16 Navy 12-10 Friday in a game that was closed to the public due to weather conditions.
You can catch that WLAX clash at high noon on B1G+ or in person at SECU Stadium.
Check back here On SI throughout the for updates on Maryland lacrosse, as both the men's and women's squads push for trips to Championship Weekend.
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Mike joined Maryland On SI with over four years of sportswriting experience. He started off his career in Syracuse on the Orange football beat, where he was featured on CBS Sports' Cover 3 Podcast and local ESPN sports talk radio. After that, he had a brief stint reporting on Major League Baseball before returning to college sports.
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