Syracuse landed the No. 2 spot in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Top 20, which was released on Tuesday. 

The Orange return six of their seven top scorers, including sophomores Megan Carney, Meaghan Tyrrell and senior Emily Hawryschuk — responsible for 32, 37 and 75 goals last season, respectively. A majority of the starting defense from last year’s team will also be returning for SU.

The top 20 features North Carolina in the No. 1 spot, followed by the Orange, Maryland, Northwestern and Boston College. The list includes a total of five Atlantic Coast Conference teams (Virginia at No. 7 and Notre Dame at No. 11). 

Despite beating Northwestern in a 15-14 overtime thriller during the regular season last year, the Orange were eliminated from the NCAA tournament after a quarterfinal defeat at the hands of the Wildcats. Syracuse also suffered 12-14 and 13-14 defeats against then-No. 1 Boston College, as well as losing to UNC and Maryland. 

Last season’s 16 wins, however, did include victories against five teams who landed a spot in the preseason top 20: Virginia, Notre Dame, Loyola, Florida and Georgetown in the second round of the NCAA tournament.  

The Orange closed out their season with a sixth quarterfinal appearance in the last eight years, and have only missed the tournament once in the past decade.