Syracuse men’s lacrosse continues its dome stand against its biggest rival in #10 Johns Hopkins. Saturday marks the 61st meeting between the two winningest program in college lacrosse. The Blue Jays (4-3) come into the game off a loss to #1 Virginia and losers in three of their last five.
On the other side, the Orange (3-3, 0-2) have slipped since a 3-0 start to the season. Syracuse has faced three consecutive ranked teams and lost to all three. Now after this game, the ‘Cuse is set for a stretch of games that are very manageable.
The Orange battle with Hofstra on the road before home dates with St. Bonaventure and Hobart. If Syracuse can snag a top-10 win against the Blue Jays, it can then re-enter the gauntlet that is the close of the season with momentum.
Gary Gait and Company could be sitting at 7-3 and more than likely holding ranked status heading into a date with #2 Notre Dame. Especially if Syracuse wants to earn an NCAA Tournament bid, a win against #10 Johns Hopkins is paramount.
The Orange close the season with five consecutive ranked opponents. ND as already mentioned, #14 Princeton on the road, #15 UNC in the Dome, and then two more travels to #1 UVA and #5 Duke. That is an insanely difficult stretch for the Orange to manage.
Johns Hopkins has been up-and-down early in the ’23 slate. The Blue Jays beat Jacksonville and Georgetown off the rip, both ranked wins. However, JHU has dealt with injuries since then but seems to be near full strength.
Gary Gait said last year’s game which finished 10-7 but could’ve resulted differently is in the rearview. The Orange pinged nine posts in that loss and coach says that their team is different from last year, while Syracuse is different as well. The way coach said it, one can infer that he believes Johns Hopkins is worse and Syracuse is better.
Should be a very fun and action-packed matchup on Saturday at 4.
