SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – The Atlantic Coast Conference just recently canceled all fall competition for Women’s Lacrosse for the upcoming year. While many ACC teams may be limited by these restrictions, the Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse team feels confident that because of their large roster size, and inherent competitive drive, they will continue on an upward trajectory towards improvement.
Logistically, for a team to simulate game play without scrimmaging another team, they need to have a large enough group to field two full teams. With 10 of last year’s seniors returning to play in the 2020-2021 season, the team’s roster will be very large. Caitlyn Defliese, the Assistant Women’s Lacrosse Coach, explained that in a fall season where competition against other teams is prohibited, a larger roster size is a huge advantage.
“We’re going to probably try to scrimmage as much as we possibly can amongst ourselves and…give ourselves the best opportunity to get that game-like experience in, so that we are prepared when we get back into the spring,” Defliese said.
A major way that lacrosse teams stay motivated during a normal off season is by scrimmaging opponents. They look forward to those scrimmages as an incentive to practice hard throughout the week, excited to see how they fare against an opposing team. However, Syracuse attacker Meaghan Tyrell said that her teammates don’t need opponents to fuel their competitive side—they have each other for that.
“Even when we were in practice, if somebody’s energy was falling or they weren’t being as competitive as they have been…we tell them ‘You’re not giving us 100 percent,’” she said. We always are trying to make sure practice is intense and kind of competitive so when they [her teammates] are in a real game situation, they will be, as I say, ‘practicing how you play.’”
Last year, Syracuse was ranked #1 in their conference and #5 nationally. Both Tyrell and Defliese thought that the team had the potential to make it to the final four and possibly even further. The team’s record was 7-1, with their only loss being to Stony Brook University early on in the year. However, just as the team was headed into their ninth game, the season got cut short because of Covid-19.
Tyrell said that the cancelation of last year’s season was deeply disappointing, especially for Syracuse’s seniors who were under the impression that it would be their last chance to chase a championship. While they initially were overwhelmed with sadness after the season ended, Tyrell said that it took no time at all for most of the seniors on her team to feel confident about what their next step was—coming back for another year to prove themselves.
“Within 24 hours, they [the seniors] were like ‘I’m coming back,’” Tyrell said. “I know they are excited to be able to have another season in the orange jersey.”
All but one of last year’s seniors will be returning to play this year. Tyrell said this adds an additional layer of motivation for the year.
“This is their [the seniors] chance to works towards something that we never really got the chance to do,” Tyrell said.
Defliese agreed that bringing back so many seniors is a great asset because they all have something they want to prove—and this truly will be their last year to do it. Since so many of last year’s seniors are leaders on the team, and four of them will continue their role as captains, many of the other players will hop on board with the goals and mentality embodied by the seniors.
“I just feel like they [the seniors] have such an unfinished business mindset,” Defliese said. “They don’t feel that they got the opportunity to truly showcase everything that this team could possibly be all last year, so I know they are really looking forward to being able to continue that journey.”
Add this agenda to the team’s inherently competitive nature and large roster size it is easy to see how even without fall competitions, the Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse team will have all of the makings to improve and have a successful fall, with or without competitions against opponents. In fact, the fall competition cancelations may be another motivating factor pushing them towards their goal—finishing in 2021 what they started in 2020.
Tyrell said that the team has another Zoom call July 30. She anticipates the team will be given more information regarding practice guidelines and limitations for the fall.
