Well, Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse has turned a messy divorce into a happy reunion.
Luckily, it’s with two different people. Just a couple of weeks ago, Kayla Treanor, a former All-American at Syracuse and the team’s head coach, suddenly announced that she was going to be the next coach at Penn State.
Now, another former SU star is taking her place. Former Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse standout Regy Thorpe is taking over the program, which still searches for its first-ever NCAA Title.
Among the names that were floated as an option to replace Treanor, Thorpe is one of the best possible. He’s been a top assistant at Florida for four seasons, as the program has emerged into one of the nation’s best.
Even more important? He knows this program much better than most. Thrope spent 10 years as an assistant under Gary Gait on the Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse coaching staff. That’s a pretty good resume.
So while there’s still plenty of time until the 2026 season starts and Thorpe gets his first reps as a head coach, it’s time to be real about what the expectations should be for Thorpe.
Ok, maybe a national championship in the first year as a head coach isn’t the most realistic. It sometimes takes coaches years to mold a program and get them in contention.
But there are two criteria Thorpe must meet.
A, 205 can’t be a step down. Syracuse was pretty bad this season by team standards. The Orange didn’t get to the double-digit win mark in the regular season. They didn’t have a first-round bye. And their road ended really early, with a second -ound exit to Yale, SU’s second loss to the Bulldogs this season. So you have to be better than that.
And B, a national title has to come soon. I won’t set a timeline just yet. But Syracuse is known as a marquee program. It’s time to play like that. And winning a first national title is how you can prove it.
