Season Rewind: Clemson Makes Year 3 the Best yet

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2026, our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking one last look at 2025.

After all, you have to look at the most recent results before making projections for what’s to come. To do that, we’re taking a journey through the top 30 teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse — what went right, what went wrong and what we should all think of that team’s season.

Was it a success? A failure? A mixture of both? You’ll find out our thoughts over the next week.

Syracuse

USA Lacrosse preseason/postseason ranking: No. 11/No. 13
2025 record: 10-9 (5-4 ACC)

What went right: Emma Ward announced last summer that she planned to return for a final year. Ward, who sustained a foot injury that kept her out for the 2022 season, went on to etch her name into the Syracuse record book. The crafty attacker became Syracuse’s all-time leader in assists (169), breaking Katie Rowan’s mark that stood for 16 years (164). Ward also became the seventh member of the Orange to eclipse 200 points. Ward tallied seven points on a hat trick and four assists in Syracuse’s Feb. 15 win over Maryland (15-9). It appeared to be a statement victory. As we’ll get into, things unraveled shortly thereafter. Still, Syracuse qualified for the NCAA tournament as an at-large team and downed Brown in the first round.

What went wrong: Syracuse followed its win over Maryland with an 18-10 victory against Cornell. But the trouble started in Chapel Hill on Feb. 22. Losing to the eventual national champion Tar Heels (16-8) wasn’t the issue (no one beat North Carolina in 2025).  It was who didn’t see time: Olivia Adamson, a returning attacker who had tallied 10 goals and six assists through the Orange’s first three games and posted 58 goals and 25 assists in 2024. She and Ward were supposed to lead the Orange offense. But Syracuse announced she’d miss the remainder of the season with a lower-body injury on Feb. 28.

The Orange returned home and lost to Northwestern (not an upset) and Clemson (an upset). Other home losses included Johns Hopkins in overtime and Boston College (17-2) to close the season, the largest margin of defeat in two decades. Overall, Syracuse’s 5-4 home record was its worst since going 4-3 in 2018.

Stanford also upended the Orange in the ACC tournament semifinals. Syracuse faced a familiar foe in the NCAA second round: Yale, which beat Syracuse in New Haven during the regular season and earned the seventh seed for the tournament. Cuse led by one in the fourth quarter, but Jenna Collignon tallied a pair of unassisted goals in the final seven minutes, ending Syracuse’s season.

Season highlight: Beating non-conference rival Maryland was an early bright spot for Syracuse. The 15-9 score doesn’t do the performance justice — the Orange dominated, and Ward and Adamson looked stellar.

Final verdict: Syracuse entered the season outside of our top 10 and finished outside of our top 10. Technically? It lived up to expectations, but it’s not where the Orange historically set the bar. What happens next is something to watch. Kayla Treanor departed for Penn State, and Regy Thorpe was hired. The offense will be new, with Ward graduating and Adamson in the transfer portal.

For what it’s worth, after a disappointing 2018, Syracuse rebounded with an NCAA quarterfinal run in 2019 and made the NCAA championship game in 2021. The program isn’t going anywhere, but it will want to go up in 2026.

MICHIGAN

USA Lacrosse preseason/postseason ranking: No. 3/No. 14
2025 record: 13-7 (5-3 Big Ten)

What went right: Michigan brought back most of its roster from 2024, including leading scorers Jill Smith and Kaylee Dyer and starting goalie Erin O’Grady. Key losses included defender Maddie Burns and draw specialist Lily Montemarano, but expectations were high, especially with significant upheaval elsewhere in the NCAA.

In 2025, Michigan performed especially well in games that didn’t require going wheel’s up. The Wolverines boasted a 7-1 home record, including wins over eventual NCAA quarterfinalist Penn (15-8) and a rout of Johns Hopkins on April 13 (13-2). The latter win was especially sweet — the Blue Jays KO’ed Michigan from the Big Ten quarterfinals the previous year.

Michigan won its quarterfinal game this year, downing Big Ten newcomer USC (20-9), and made the NCAA tournament as an at-large. Michigan topped Akron in the first round (17-6) in Evanston. It marked the fourth-straight season the Wolverines advanced to round two.

The defense finished seventh nationally in goals-allowed per game (9.05), with O’Grady earning second-team All-American status. O’Grady, the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year, produced a .534 save percentage. Offensively, Smith solidified her Wolverines legacy, finishing her time in Ann Arbor with a program-record 245 points.

What went wrong: For as good as they were at home, the Wolverines struggled on the road, finishing with a 4-6 mark. The first loss, at Yale on Feb. 15 (12-6), was supposed to be a close, early season game between two of the few programs returning many key pieces from last year. But Yale turned it into a slam dunk. Four days after beating Penn in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines traveled to Denver and lost (13-11).

But the most costly loss came in Happy Valley, when Penn State, a team riddled with graduations from its Big Ten runner-up finish in 2024, upended Michigan on March 30 (13-12).

Michigan bowed out of the Big Ten tournament in a 13-10 semifinal loss to Maryland. O’Grady didn’t play that day, though Maya Santa-Maria made 10 stops. The Wolverines ran into a familiar Big Ten foe in Northwestern in the second round of the NCAA tournament and lost (15-7).

Season highlight: The Johns Hopkins regular-season rout likely felt good given the recent history between the two teams. Still, nothing beats hearing your name called on Selection Sunday and following it up with an NCAA tournament win.

Final verdict: It’s hard to classify a season good enough to get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and winning a first-round game as a disappointment. And remember, Michigan isn’t a perennial power, nor is it located in a lacrosse hotbed. Still, it’s accurate to say Michigan’s 2025 season didn’t match our preseason expectations for a team that won 16 games in 2024 and returned much of the lineup. A final four run didn’t appear out of the question on paper.

Still, considering losses to Penn State and Denver — two programs that have made final four runs in the last decade — “upsets” is something of a compliment to what Hannah Nielsen has built. Michigan has raised the bar in recent years, and that’s not a bad thing.

CLEMSON

USA Lacrosse preseason/postseason ranking: Unranked/No. 15
2025 record: 14-7 (6-3 ACC)

What went right: Clemson made its third year its best yet, setting a new school mark for wins (14). It was when those wins happened that made 2025 a significant step forward for the fledgling program — and we’re not just talking about early season victories at Notre Dame (12-11) and Syracuse (9-8). The Tigers defeated Duke, the predetermined hosts for the ACC championship, in the conference tournament quarterfinals, securing a first-ever berth in the NCAA tournament. And the Tigers weren’t just happy to hear their names called on Selection Sunday. They beat Navy (11-8) in their first-ever NCAA tournament game.

What went wrong: After its big wins in the ACC and NCAA tournaments, Clemson ran into North Carolina and lost both times. First, the eventual national and ACC champions knocked the Tigers out of the conference tournament (17-7). And the Tar Heels ultimately ended Clemson’s season with an 18-9 win in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Season highlight: Beating Navy to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Tied 8-8 with 11:47 left, Clemson’s defense locked down while the offense went to work, scoring the final three goals of the game, with two coming from Lindsay Babcock. The late effort secured a needle-moving win.

Final verdict: Clemson has attracted recruits with stellar facilities and promises that “if we build it, they’ll come — and we’ll win.” A 6-3 ACC mark, a conference tournament semifinal appearance and an NCAA tournament win are signs that the Tigers are delivering on that promise. With high-caliber Long Island recruits in Alexa Spallina and Aubrie Eisefeld arriving in the fall, the bar is now higher, which is precisely what Allison Kwolek & Co. have been striving to do.

STONY BROOK

USA Lacrosse preseason/postseason ranking: No. 14/No. 16
2025 record: 16-5 (8-0 CAA)

What went right: Stony Brook was once again the class of the CAA, going undefeated in league play. The Seawolves have not lost to a conference opponent in the regular season or postseason since 2014 when they were in the America East and lost to Vermont.

On that note, Stony Brook clipped Drexel in the conference championship game (12-10) despite an 18-save performance from Dragons netminder Jenika Cuocco. Charlotte Wilmoth netted a hat trick in that game. She led the Seawolves in points (92) and goals (64), providing veteran leadership on the attack following the graduation of 2024 Tewaaraton Award finalist Ellie Masera.

But the defense once again ruled the day. The backer zone frequently stifled opponents, with the Seawolves boasting the fifth-lowest goals-against average in Division I (8.81). Avery Hines tallied 74 caused turnovers during her All-American campaign.

Stony Brook squared off against Loyola in Chestnut Hill in the first round of the NCAA tournament and won (11-8), with senior Courtney Maclay going off for six goals.

What went wrong: Non-conference losses to Johns Hopkins (14-13), Rutgers (12-11) Colorado (7-6) and Princeton (19-13) didn’t help the Seawolves make a case for a national seed or better second-round draw. Instead, they wound up with Boston College. SBU didn’t go down without a fight. Trailing 5-0 after the first quarter and 7-2 at halftime, the Seawolves outscored Boston College 5-3 in the second half. However, the Eagles came away with the 10-7 win.

Season highlight: Beating Loyola. Stony Brook entered the NCAA tournament without a win over a top-20 opponent, but it left with one. It had to be especially sweet for veteran players, who remembered the Greyhounds nipping the Seawolves by one in the NCAA tournament in 2023.

Final verdict: The Seawolves faced the tough task of replacing a talented outgoing class in the preseason, but they met the challenge and finished about as expected. The non-conference losses were likely frustrating, but SBU saved its signature win for the right time: May.

JAMES MADISON

USA Lacrosse preseason/postseason ranking: No. 18/No. 17
2025 record: 14-5 (6-0 AAC)

What went right: When all-time leader in draws and goals Isabella Peterson walked off the field for the final time as a Duke in 2024, there were questions abound as to who would step up. Maddie Epke answered the bell. Only a junior, Epke topped Peterson on JMU’s all-time draws list (485) after totaling 235 draw controls in 2025, a single-season record. She ranked second in Division I in draws per game (12.37). Epke also tallied 65 goals. It all added up to a 14-win season, including beating former AAC rival and eventual national semifinalist Florida 17-16 on March 1.

With the Gators gone, the Dukes raced through the American Athletic Conference and claimed the tournament title that Florida snagged during the two seasons the programs crossed paths in the league (2023 and 2024). To do so, JMU had to contend with another team from Florida: the first-year program in USF. Epke dropped six goals in the 18-9 James Madison win, earning the Dukes the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.

What went wrong: James Madison drew Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament. JMU was no match for the Blue Devils, falling 17-10 in part because of an eight-goal performance from Blue Devil Callie Hem. In June, Epke announced she planned to transfer to Northwestern for her senior season.

Season highlight: Winning the AAC. If you recall, the Dukes were not allowed to compete in the 2022 CAA tournament due to their pending move to the AAC. Then, they lost by one goal to Florida in their debut season in 2022, followed by a 10-goal loss to the Gators last year. Getting to storm the field once again in May had to be a good feeling.

Final verdict: James Madison finished about where we predicted, but Epke’s monster year, a fun win over Florida and a conference tournament crown made 2025 a memorable one. What the Dukes will do without Epke and second-leading scorer Savannah Derey, who graduated after a 54-goal senior season, will be the preseason narrative heading into 2026.

LOYOLA

USA Lacrosse preseason/postseason ranking: No. 8/No. 18
2025 record: 13-7 (9-0 Patriot)

What went right: Loyola hasn’t lost a regular-season game in Patriot League play since 2013, and 2025 was no exception. The Greyhounds tore through the conference, getting their closest call in a barnburner 20-19 overtime win against Navy on March 26. At 9-0, they won the regular-season crown and earned the right to host the conference tournament. Chase Boyle produced a first-team All-American campaign in her final season, signing off by finishing in the top 10 nationally in goals per game (3.85) and draws per game (10.50). Georgia Latch was a maestro of a feeder, posting a team-best 127 points, including 71 assists.

What went wrong: Loyola’s best non-conference win came in February against Johns Hopkins (11-7), but losses to Princeton (16-14), Florida (15-9), Penn (12-10) and Syracuse (14-12) made a national seed a stretch even before Navy did the thing on May 3.

“The thing,” of course, was beating Loyola for the first time since 2018 — period and in the conference final, ending the Greyhounds’ five-year reign as Patriot League tournament champs. Unlike Navy’s 2018 win (17-10), this season’s was a total heartbreaker. Loyola looked poised to win after going up 11-6 in the third quarter, but Navy stormed back to tie it when Tori DiCarlo scored with 18 seconds left in regulation. It was the third-straight game between Loyola and Navy that went to overtime, dating back to last year’s tournament final. However, Loyola didn’t find the third time charming. Navy’s Mikayla Williams called game. The Greyhounds still earned an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament but fell to Stony Brook in Chestnut Hill.

Season highlight: Loyola and Navy combined for 82 shots and 39 goals when they met on CBS Sports Network on March 26. But none mattered more than Mim Suares-Jury’s second goal of the day — the overtime game-winner.

Final verdict: For years, Loyola has taken pride in its consistency and winning conference titles. And it did win one this season, going undefeated in the conference for the 11th-straight year. But a rough go out of conference and a loss to Navy in the Patriot League title game made it an uncharacteristic year for Loyola. It wasn’t a bad one, but it didn’t live up to the program’s high standards and what we’ve come to expect (and predicted to see in 2025) from the Greyhounds.

Loyola will need to replace top offensive threats Latch and Boyle, the latter of whom was a threat everywhere on the field, but head coach Jen Adams’ pipeline is strong. It’s safe to say that Loyola isn’t going anywhere and will remain a favorite to reclaim its tournament crown next year.