Opponent Preview: What to know about No. 13 Stanford

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Syracuse opens its 2022 season by hosting Stanford on Friday in the Carrier Dome, its first game since the 16-10 national championship loss to Boston College. Once Gary Gait became the head coach of the men’s team, Syracuse hired first-year head coach Kayla Treanor, who was previously an assistant for BC.

After losing Emily Hawryschuk and Megan Carney to ACL tears last season, the Orange returned both but lost Emma Ward to a lower leg injury that was announced last month. Stanford enters as one of the ten preseason top 15 teams SU faces in 2022, and it will be the fifth time the programs have faced each other.

Here is everything you need to know before No. 3 Syracuse hosts No. 13 Stanford on Friday:

All-time series

Syracuse leads 3-1.

Last time they played

Friday will be the fifth time the programs have met, last competing on Feb. 20, 2011, where the Cardinal won 11-10 in Palo Alto, California. After leading 7-4 at halftime, Stanford’s Lauren Schmidt scored an unassisted goal 32 seconds into the second half to extend the lead to four. SU’s Sarah Holden cut the lead to two with 21 minutes left and Stanford still holding a 10-8 lead.

Stanford responded 72 seconds later, but goals by Holden and Michelle Tumolo cut the deficit to one goal with 2:43 left. In the final minute, the Orange produced two scoring opportunities, one where Katie Webster’s shot went wide and the other saved by Stanford’s Annie Read. The comeback fell short, giving the Cardinal its first-ever win against the Orange.

The Cardinal report

Despite having four games canceled, Stanford finished the 2021 regular season undefeated, winning all seven conference games and the Pac-12 Tournament, where it defeated Colorado 17-10 in the championship. In their tenth NCAA Tournament appearance, the Cardinal lost its only game of the season in the first round 15-13 to No. 15 Denver in Evanston, Illinois.

Stanford enters as the only preseason ranked Pac-12 team and won an exhibition game last weekend over UC Davis 20-10, but has yet to play a regular-season game, like the Orange. The Cardinal play the 16th-toughest schedule in 2022, per LacrosseReference, with matches against No. 14 Denver and No. 11 Virginia. Syracuse plays the second-toughest.

The Cardinal return three of their top four goal scorers from a year ago led by Ali Baiocco, Galen Lew and Ailish Kelly who combined for over 50% of Stanford’s goals and about half the team’s points. As a team, Stanford had the seventh-best scoring offense in the country, notching over 16 goals per game in its twelve contests.

How Syracuse beats Stanford

Without Hawryschuk last season, the Orange finished with the 14th-best scoring offense, averaging over 15 goals per game. To set itself up with more scoring opportunities, the Orange must win the draw. In 2021, Stanford ranked third nationally in draw controls led by Genesis Lucero, who had the second-most draw controls per game (10.08). Lucero’s since graduated, but Syracuse still ranked 33rd in draw controls per game. If it controls the draw, Syracuse will limit the attacking opportunities for Baiocco — the Pac-12 Attacker of the Year — and set more opportunities for Hawryschuk, Carney and Meaghan Tyrrell.

With Asa Goldstock’s departure, Treanor has to figure out her No. 1 goalkeeper. She brought in transfers Kimber Hower (UNC) and Delaney Sweitzer (USC), and she has graduate student Hannah Van Middelem, the only goalie to see playing time for Syracuse. The Orange had the 15th-best scoring defense nationally last year, conceding 9.95 goals per game. But when SU is on defense, it needs to be prepared for an attack that notched the third-most shots on goal per game last year.

Player to watch: Ali Baiocco, attack, No. 13

The 2021 second team All-American led the team in points (75), goals (50), assists (25) and shots (82) last season. Katherine Gjertsen notched the second-most goals, only scoring 28. Named Inside Lacrosse’s preseason Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, Baiocco led the attack with a .610 shot percentage, meaning 61% of her shots resulted in goals.

With Syracuse relying on a new goalkeeper with Goldstock’s departure, Baiocco will be a test for the Orange, where opponents only recorded a 42% scoring rate in 2021.

Stat to know: 35.4 shots

In 2021, Stanford shot an average of 35.4 times a game, fifth-most nationally. It shot 40 or more times in three of its games last year, including 49 against Arizona State. Out of its 425 total shots, over 75% of them were on target and over 45% of them ended up in the net.

Syracuse, though, held opponents to 23.7 shots per game. But it ranked 45th in save percentage, mostly because it relied on its attack and winning the draw control to create more time of possession on the other end, which it will likely need to do to defeat the Cardinal.