March Madness and spring football may have passed but that doesn’t mean that sports on the hill have ended for the year. As we enter the month of May, it’s time for lacrosse to enter the spotlight. In recent years, the Orange have struggled mightily. Syracuse is the top lacrosse program in the country yet SU hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since 2021. SU hasn’t made the final four since 2013. For a program that has made 27 final fours since 1980, that is just simply unacceptable. 2022-23 was the first time that the ‘Cuse missed the tournament in back-to-back years since Syracuse’s first-ever NCAA tournament appearance. However this year, Gary Gait seems to have turned things around in his third season as the head coach.
Early in the year, the main concern was SU’s inability to finish games. The Orange’s core is still very young with a large number of key contributors just sophomores. Syracuse lost in overtime to three top-15 teams in February and March. Outside of that, the Orange have just one other loss which came on the road against top-ranked Notre Dame 14-12. The ‘Cuse picked up three top five wins, against Johns Hopkins, Duke, and Virginia.
The ‘Cuse open up the ACC Tournament in Charlotte tonight at 8 pm against Duke. The Orange trashed the Blue Devils in their first meeting this season in the dome 10-4. Duke has one of the top offenses in the country with a plethora of stars including the reigning Tewwaraton (Heisman equivalent) winner Brennan O’Neill. SU held him to just one goal and one assist in the first meeting. Sophomore defenceman Billy Dwan locked up O’Neill. Dwan has become a star on the SU defense with multiple highlight-reel goals in addition to his stellar defensive play. If Syracuse wins tonight, they’ll play the winner of Virgina-Notre Dame on Sunday at noon in the title game.
