Syracuse, N.Y. −The defending national champions led by the reigning Tewaaraton Award winner highlight the opponents that will visit the JMA Wireless Dome to take on Syracuse women’s lacrosse in 2026.
Syracuse, ranked No. 10 in the Inside Lacrosse early preseason poll, announced the eight teams that will come to the dome for the upcoming season, the first under new head coach Regy Thorpe.
Dates and times for the matchups will be announced later.
Below is a look at the teams that will take on the Orange in Syracuse in 2026:
California
The Golden Bears will make the trip all the way across the country to take on the Orange at the dome for an ACC matchup.
Cal finished 6-10 last season and return top scorer Emily Moes, who led the Golden Bears with 41 points (34g, 7a).
Jennifer Wong is entering her fourth-year as head coach in Berkeley.
Loyola
The Greyhounds, ranked No. 19 on Inside Lacrosse’s early preseason rankings, are coming off a 13-7 season, losing to Stony Brook in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament.
Loyola will have to overcome losing two dynamic scorers in Georgia Latch and Chase Boyle.
Latch finished third in the country last season with 127 points (56g, 71a).
Boyle finished seventh in the country with 77 goals.
Senior midfielder Elisa Faklaris (Penfield N.Y.) is a key returning talent for Loyola. Faklaris finished third on the team with 60 points (51g, 9a)
USA Lacrosse Hall of Famer Jen Adams enters her 19th season at the helm of the Loyola women’s lacrosse program in 2026.
Maryland
The Terps, ranked No. 7 in the Inside Lacrosse preseason poll, finished 15-6 last season. Maryland advanced to the second-round of the NCAA Tournament where it lost to Penn in double overtime.
Kori Edmondson returns to lead the Terps. Edmondson finished with 73 points in 2025 (59g, 14a) and also led Maryland with 38 groundballs last season.
Hall of Famer Cathy Reese enters her 19th season as head coach in 2026.
North Carolina
The Tar Heels finished 22-0 last season under legendary coach Jenny Levy and won the national championship led by one of the most dynamic players in all of college lacrosse.
Chloe Humphrey became the first freshman to win the Tewaaraton Award, racking up 90 goals and 28 assists for a staggering 118 points in 2025. Her 90 goals set a new NCAA freshman record.
The Tar Heels not only had an offense that scored in bunches, the defense allowed just 6.86 goals per game, the best mark in the country
UNC is the preseason No. 1 and will be the favorite to win back-to-back titles in 2026.
Notre Dame
The Irish finished 7-8 in 2025, losing four of five games down the stretch in ACC play.
The Irish had been to the NCAA tournament in nine of the previous 10 completed seasons.
The Irish, rated No. 20 on Inside Lacrosse’s early preseason poll, return two of its top three scorers in Skaneateles native Kathryn Morrissey (23g, 19a) and Madison Rassas (29g, 4a) and bring in a strong recruiting class that includes the nation’s top goalie, Ceci Patterson.
Christine Halfpenny enters her 15th season as head coach of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse program in 2026.
Pittsburgh
Pitt finished 8-8 last season and missed the NCAA Tournament.
Second-leading scorer Avery Moon (25g, 17a) is Pitt’s leading returning scorer.
Head coach Emily Boissonneault enters her sixth year at the helm after being tabbed as the first head coach in Pitt lacrosse history in 2019.
Virginia Tech
The Hokies finished 9-9 last season, which included a 14-11 upset of Syracuse.
Senior Lauren Render led the Hokies with 55 goals, last season the sixth-most in a single season in program history. That mark was good for fourth in the ACC Render dropped seven goals in the Hokies’ win over Syracuse.
Kristen Skiera enters her fifth season at the helm of the Hokies’ lacrosse program in 2025.
Yale
The Bulldogs put together one of its best seasons in recent memory in 2025, finishing 16–4 and reaching the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time since 2003.
That run included a 9-8 win over Syracuse in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs also beat the Orange 13-10 during the regular season.
The Bulldogs lose key seniors in Jenna Collignon, Fallon Vaughn, Taylor Lane, and Sky Carrasquillo.
The Bulldogs still employ a solid defense led by captain Emmy Pascal along with experienced defenders Katie Clare and Bella Saviano along with goalkeeper Niamh Pfaff.
Yale is led by Syracuse native Erica Bramford, who was elected to the Upstate Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2022.
