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After a lopsided loss to No. 2 North Carolina Saturday, Syracuse faced a daunting task to get back on track against No. 3 Northwestern Tuesday.

And it had to get through a familiar face to do so. SU’s bout with the Wildcats marked goalie Delaney Sweitzer’s return to the JMA Wireless Dome. The former two-year Syracuse starter transferred to Northwestern in the offseason for her final year of eligibility and has assumed the Wildcats’ starting role in 2025.

But with the Orange missing star attack Olivia Adamson for the second straight game, Sweitzer prevailed without facing much pressure.

No. 5 Syracuse (3-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) dropped its second consecutive game on Tuesday to No. 3 Northwestern (5-1, 0-0 Big 10) 12-8. Without Adamson, who head coach Kayla Treanor said was “unavailable” postgame, SU took 23 minutes to score and trailed 5-0. Despite a four-goal run to make it 5-4 in the third and its defense improving from its 16-8 blowout to UNC, Syracuse’s offense only produced 15 shots on net, leading to the four-goal loss.

“I think we could have played a whole lot better today,” Treanor said postgame. “We’ve got to be ready to go right away.”

Despite its shaky start, Syracuse trailed 10-8 with four minutes left after a Caroline Trinkaus goal. Even though Northwestern won the ensuing draw control, which it won 17-of-23 throughout the game, SU forced it into a shot clock violation.

But from there, Syracuse’s offensive woes came back to bite it. Alexa Vogelman was stripped by Northwestern’s Jane Hansen. With Daniella Guyette being pulled from net, Madison Taylor scored two open-net goals — part of her game-high five — to put the contest away.

With Adamson out, much of SU’s success boiled down to Emma Ward, half of its star attacking duo, getting going. Against the Tar Heels, Preseason All-ACC defender Brooklyn Walker-Welch stuck to Ward, who scored a season-low two goals in the defeat.

The Wildcats often double-teamed Ward Tuesday, and it worked to start. She didn’t record her first point until midway through the second as part of SU’s scoring drought to begin the game.

During Syracuse’s offensive dry spell, Northwestern took a 5-0 lead. Syracuse had just four first-quarter possessions, significantly inhibited by draw-control struggles.

Treanor said SU needed to be extra efficient with such little possession time, but it wasn’t. The Orange struggled to do anything offensively. Sweitzer didn’t face her first shot on goal until 11:22 left in the second, part of a seven-save performance on just 15 shots in her return.

On defense, Syracuse switched things up. It focused on eliminating Northwestern’s leading scorer, Taylor, who’s become the focal point of its offense after two-time Tewaaraton Award winner Izzy Scane and Erin Coykendall graduated. Taylor is an early Tewaaraton favorite, entering Tuesday with 26 goals, while no other teammate had over nine.

Treanor mentioned the Orange tried numerous defensive sets to try to slow Taylor. It had Superia Clark — starting her second consecutive game after Julia Basciano was also deemed “unavailable” by Treanor — face-guard Taylor, holding her to zero first-half goals.

“We played man-to-man. We face-guarded. We switched to zone out of a timeout,” Treanor said. “And I thought our players did a really great job of making those adjustments.”

But other Northwestern players stepped up instead. After Niki Miles buried a free-position goal 37 seconds in, the Wildcats added three more goals to take their 4-0 first-quarter advantage, capped by an Alexis Ventresca goal as Miles fed her the ball from X.

In the second, SU continued to flounder offensively. It wasted a player-up chance, and Sweitzer corralled a Ward free-position shot. Despite Syracuse’s defense improving from allowing 12 first-half goals versus UNC, Northwestern kept tacking on, as Sam Smith fooled Guyette to make it 5-0.

But through adjustments in the second, Syracuse woke up after Smith’s tally. While SU’s defense held Northwestern off the board for 18 minutes, Ward made her mark. Backed by a 4-0 second-quarter advantage in draw controls, she dished from X to Emma Muchnick and Joely Caramelli for scores. She then added her first goal — one of a team-leading three — to go into halftime down 5-3.

“We were just a little stagnant coming out of the gate, just not really running our offense the way that we know how to run it,” Ward said. “We made a couple adjustments going into the second quarter, and it opened the offense up.”

To begin the third, Muchnick pulled Syracuse within one after her free-position attempt snuck past Sweitzer, making it 5-4.

After Muchnick’s strike, though, the Orange became reckless on defense, nullifying their offensive burst. They fouled Northwestern nine times in the third, leading to four free position shots in the quarter.

SU’s lack of discipline allowed Taylor to heat up. The junior converted her first goal on a free position with 7:29 left in the third to break Northwestern’s scoreless streak. She then converted two more free-positions to push her to three goals, while Riley Campbell added another to move to a 9-5 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Despite the Orange climbing back to begin the fourth via five of Guyette’s 14 saves and two points from Ward, they couldn’t overcome their early offensive struggles.

Sweitzer and Northwestern’s defense proved too tough to crack. In her homecoming to the Dome, Sweitzer had the last laugh, as she helped Northwestern to victory.

“It’s a really good defense, and I give them credit,” Treanor said. “Obviously (Sweitzer’s) a good goalie. We just have to be a little bit more efficient on offense.”

Published on February 25, 2025 at 6:06 pm

Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu | @ Noahnuss99