They don’t call them Cardiac ‘Cuse for nothing. After an insane 13-12 comeback win in overtime over Harvard last night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, six-seeded Syracuse lacrosse is poised for championship weekend in Foxborough. But before any travel plans can be made for the Orange, it has one more hoop to jump through: a date with third-seed Princeton on Long Island this weekend.
It seems as if a lot of SU fans are confident in Gary Gait’s squad to take down the Tigers in Hempstead this weekend. However, the national media doesn’t seem to see it that way. A lot of lacrosse analysts in the media sphere have chosen Princeton over Syracuse to make the Final Four.
But why? Isn’t Syracuse a perennial powerhouse in the sport, and plays in a tougher conference than the Ivy? Well, these things may be true, but the biggest concern for SU all season long has been offensive consistency. Especially once conference play rolled around, it was clear that the elite offense fans had gotten used to seeing wasn’t going to show out every single night.
Look at last night against Harvard. Syracuse had its lowest scoring half since 2020 with a mere two goals. Through the first three quarters of the contest, the Orange had zero answer for goaltender Graham Stevens and the Harvard defense. It wasn’t until the fourth where the floodgates started to open that Syracuse stormed back, but that certainly could’ve been avoided, especially with one of the nation’s best faceoff specialists John Mullen dominating at the X.
The one thing that has stayed consistent? The backlines. Syracuse’s defense has continued to be dominant, coupled with the success of redshirt sophomore netminder Jimmy McCool. Defenders Riley Figueras, Billy Dwan, and Michael Grace have continued to suffocate star attackmen, and they showed it yesterday in the late stages of the game.
So, can Syracuse win a national title with this current setup? It’s tough to say, but the Orange desperately needs its attack to strike faster and more efficiently. If Syracuse is going to wait until the fourth quarter against a team like Princeton, it might be too little too late. Either way, this is the closest a Syracuse sports team has gotten to a national championship in a long time, so fans should keep a close eye on the tournament for the rest of May.
