Prior to the Boston College game, No. 21 Notre Dame’s women's lacrosse head coach Christine Halfpenny said, “The hungry dog gets the bone, and we are starving right now.” Since then, the team is 3-1 and has seemingly turned the tides on their season. Fresh off a thrilling 8-6 home win over No. 22 Harvard, the Irish will travel to Syracuse University for an ACC clash against the No. 8 Orange on Sunday, March 23 at noon.
Notre Dame is not lacking any confidence heading into their game against Syracuse. The win against Harvard marked the Irish’s third in a row, with the first two coming on an excursion to California. Notre Dame easily handled Cal and UC Davis by scores of 15-8 and 18-6 respectively on their trip out West. Freshman superstar Madison Rassas also tallied her third consecutive hattrick against the Crimson. Rassas scored three against Cal and four against UC Davis before netting four more against Harvard. The Virginia native now has 28 goals in her debut season, 11 more than Notre Dame’s next leading goalscorer sophomore midfielder Kathryn Morrissey.
The past stretch of games has seen a stark shift in the ability of the Irish’s young squad. After losing 17 seniors from last year, the youthful Notre Dame team had struggles closing out games early in 2025. This was most evident in their late February stretch, where they fell in ACC play to No. 15 Clemson and No. 13 Duke by scores of 12-11 and 11-9 respectively.
Those losses hurt the Irish's position in the ACC standings. Although 6-4 on the season, the team is only 1-3 in conference action. Their trip to Syracuse is a great opportunity for Halfpenny’s team to record a vital win within the gauntlet conference.
Similarly to Notre Dame, the Orange are also 6-4 on the season but boast wins over the likes of No. 5 Maryland and No. 6 Stanford. Both Notre Dame and Syracuse have fallen to Clemson as well as perennial powerhouse No. 3 Northwestern in out-of-conference play. Led by head coach and former four-time All-American as a player Kayla Treanor, Syracuse poses a well-balanced attack.
The team currently has a shot-on-goal percentage of .770, compared to their opponents' percentage of .698. They also have eight players with 10 or more goals on the year, including Tewaaraton Watch List award recipient Emma Ward. Ward has established herself as one of college lacrosse’s premier goalscorers and elite playmakers, tallying 20 goals and 23 assists on the season thus far, highlighted by a hat-trick against Northwestern.
Junior midfielder Emma Muchnick has also proven to be a difference-maker for the Orange. She leads the team with a total of 22 goals and is coming off a five-goal display against Loyola Maryland in which Syracuse prevailed 14-12.
The potent Syracuse attack will have to get by Notre Dame’s senior goalkeeper Isabel Pithie, who has been an unsung hero for the Irish. After patiently waiting three years to get the nod as a starter, Pithie has excelled. Despite a 15-9 loss against Boston College, Pithie made several impressive saves that helped Notre Dame hang with the best team in the country for much of the game. Her save percentage of .513 ranks 14th in the country.
This game has all of the makings to be a close affair between two ACC foes hungry for a win. A win would mark the Irish’s first victory over the Orange since the 2017-2018 season. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.
