The Sunday Slide: More Than What You Think

Friday night’s game between Syracuse and Stanford interrupted my bedtime. (I’m a 10 p.m. lights out type of guy.)

But what a fun game that was to watch, an 8-6 Stanford win. I walked away from that game with a much better understanding of what both teams do well and how both teams aren’t getting enough credit for how well-rounded their games are.

Let’s start with Stanford, which improved to 5-0 after beating USC on Sunday. So much of the talk about the Cardinal focuses on the offense. It’s star-studded, and there’s considerable carryover from 2025 — an incredible advantage.

But the defense is exceptional. It’s rangy. It’s active. And with Lucy Pearson capable of bailing them out, the defender can take chances.

On the flip side, Syracuse probably has more of a defensive identity. The Orange are 0-3, which is a tough start to the Regy Thorpe era, but they’ve faced the literal Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the country and haven’t allowed more than 13 in a game.

It comes out to 10 goals allowed per game to the three best teams in the nation. That’s incredibly impressive.

Again, though, let’s talk about what doesn’t get talked about. Syracuse moves the ball so, so well. The ball is tough to follow with how quickly it’s zipping around. The Orange are clearly trying to establish their go-to players on offense, but they have an identity, and it’s all about ball movement. They only scored six goals, but they for sure tired Stanford out.

Ultimately, I do think Stanford is the better of the two teams — but I am not writing off Syracuse. I think there’s a lot more in the tank there, and the Orange are a team that should be ripe for a second-half turnaround.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

Loyola, we owe you a hand up. That’s on us. Our team of five pickers all chose Princeton to beat the Greyhounds — and they responded with 11 first-half goals in a 14-10 win over the Tigers. A trio of Greyhounds had hat tricks (Morgan Quade, Mims Suares-Jury and Emma Talago), and Mae Murphy won 11 draws. Loyola, you have our attention.

Another team with my tentative attention: Cornell. The Big Red beat James Madison on Sunday, capping a 2-0 week in which they outscored JMU and UC Davis 32-12. They opened the spring last Sunday by losing 8-5 to Colorado — a respectable result against a team that shocked Northwestern. Eight players have at least five points on Cornell, a sign of how difficult it is to hold down its offense.

Let’s talk about Maryland. Many will look to close calls in wins over Georgetown (10-7) and Saint Joseph’s (17-15) this week as concerns. Remember, though, Georgetown head coach Caitlyn Phipps knows the Terps better than anyone not named Cathy Reese, as she was Reese’s assistant for 12 seasons before taking over the Hoyas last year.

Then it was 36-hour turnaround from that Wednesday night game and a road trip from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia to play St. Joe’s on Friday at 2 p.m. In summation: I’m less concerned than others.

Nice win for UAlbany in OT over Harvard — and what a moment in overtime for freshman attacker Riley Forthofer, who scored the winner for her first NCAA goal.

Pitt bounced back nicely from its loss to Penn State by beating Virginia Tech 10-8. Kaitlyn Giandonato deposited another five goals for the Panthers, who are very much on my radar as a possible NCAA tournament team.

Let’s just throw a mention to North Carolina in here. Yeah, the Tar Heels are still great. As of now, they’re seemingly the only preseason favorite to be immune to the chaos.

BY THE NUMBERS

5-0 • Temple’s record and the first time since 2012 that the Owls have gotten out to such a strong start.

7 • Points apiece for Ava Angello and Lacey Downey (on identical stat lines of five goals on eight shots and two assists) in Johns Hopkins’ 15-9 win over Penn. Downey also had eight ground balls and five caused turnovers.

11 • Total goals scored in Sunday’s 6-5 Davidson win over Coastal Carolina. There were just three assists in the game.

17 • Points for Clark Hamilton in a 2-0 week for Florida that featured a notable win over Maryland and a top-10 win over Clemson.

18 • Undefeated teams left in Division I women’s lacrosse after week three. Listed in alphabetical order: Canisius, Colorado, Dartmouth, Davidson, Denver, George Washington, Jacksonville, Johns Hopkins, Maryland, Navy, New Haven, North Carolina, Penn State, Siena, Stanford, Stony Brook, Temple and Yale.

41 • Draw controls won this week by Dartmouth’s Maya Kendall (24 against New Hampshire and 17 against Wagner). She broke the Ivy League single-season draw record last year with 188 and appears to be well on her way to exceeding that.

1999 • The last time Boston College started a season 0-3. The Eagles finished that season 4-11 — though that era of BC lacrosse was far different than this current one.