Syracuse Men's Lacrosse Schedule Review
After a semester of preparation, the official schedule for the 2023 Men’s Lacrosse season has been released. After a 4-10 finish last year capped off with six straight losses, the Orange are looking to bounce back with a rejuvenated core and several new additions to the roster. The most recent season saw many young members hit the transfer portal and a lot of key positions finished their careers at Syracuse, including the three highest scorers on the team: Tucker Dordevic, Brendan Curry, and Owen Seebold, the three of whom combined for 110 of Syracuse’s 187 total goals. This will be a new era of Syracuse lacrosse, as a large freshman class led by standout recruit Joey Spallina and a few key transfers look to inject some new energy into the program. The team will have to rely on a lot of new talent in the deep freshman class to create an offensive attack.
So, what does Syracuse have to do to rebound and prove themselves in the ACC? Let’s see what their opponents look like in 2023.
Vs Vermont (Feb 4): After ending the year in the 30th overall rank, one better than Syracuse’s final standing, Vermont is a formidable first opponent for the Orange. The Catamounts boast an undefeated conference record in the America East at 6-0, holding opponents to under 300 shot percentage and only 175 goals allowed to opponents. Syracuse will have to take advantage of Vermont’s aggression due to their high penalty minutes and keep possession on their side of the field, forcing the defense to tire and eventually break.
Vs UAlbany (Feb 10): Another America East opponent in UAlbany may be a much easier matchup for the Orange to win. The Great Danes shot under 300 and not much better on goal, so Syracuse’s defense should be able to reliably stop the attacks from the upstate neighbors. Over 20 of their overall goals do come from man-up situations, so clean play is important for success against this opponent.
Vs Holy Cross (Feb 12): One of the lowest-ranked opponents Syracuse hosts all season, Holy Cross only boasted one victory over UMass Lowell last year and fell to the Orange in a staggering 28-5 rout. The team only scored 120 goals on the season and allowed almost twice as many, allowing over 100 unassisted goals in the process. Syracuse should be able to best Holy Cross for the second straight year and do it in style.
At Maryland (Feb 18): the first significant test of the Orange, traveling to College Park and facing the defending NCAA champion Terrapins. Maryland never dropped a game all year and notched over 300 goals on the year and shot almost .400, making them an offensive nightmare. Syracuse will have to play at the top of their game to knock off the champs in their home turf after so many tried and failed in 2022.
Vs North Carolina (Feb 26): In the first game of ACC play, the Orange welcome the Tar Heels to the Dome for the first of two meetings in 2023. North Carolina finished the year ranked 19 but failed to make the NCAA Tournament and only won a single game in ACC play: playing host to the Orange in a 14-13 nail-biter. UNC’s negative goal differential and struggles against ACC opponents could work for Syracuse in their first conference matchup, especially since the team wants revenge for the earlier defeat.
Vs Duke (Mar 5): In this ACC rivalry game, Duke definitely wants to run it back in the Dome after falling to the Orange in 2022, Syracuse’s sole victory against ACC opponents last year. They have never lost to Duke at home and have defeated the Blue Devils in two straight Overtime victories at the Dome, making this one a must-win and very well could be an instant classic. Hopefully the young core can extend the win streak to two against the number 9 ranked team in the nation.
Vs Johns Hopkins (Mar 11): A storied matchup between two historic opponents, Syracuse pays a visit to Johns Hopkins during Spring Break. This will be the 61st game against the Blue Jays, where the opponent holds significant home field advantage. The Blue Jays finished at 20 overall with a losing record in conference and overall, so Syracuse can capitalize on a low-scoring offense and less potent defense. This will be a test of Syracuse’s ability to secure home wins, especially since they will be playing host a lot this season.
At Hofstra (Mar 14): A low-scoring defensive battle went the way of the Pride last year, and now Syracuse will travel to Hofstra for revenge. The Pride were able to stop the offensive attacks all season, only allowing 165 goals all year and keeping opponent shooting percentage low. However, their own offensive attacks were not nearly as strong, scoring 15 fewer goals than they allowed on the season. Syracuse only travels to five opponent stadiums all year, so getting road wins against weaker opponents like Hofstra will be very important for out of conference play.
Vs St. Bonaventure (Mar 21): For the first time in program history, the Orange will play host to St. Bonaventure in the fifth year of its young program. The Bonnies finished with an impressive 11-4 record and a 5-1 record in the MAAC, before earning a spot in the newly formed A10 along with Richmond, High Point, Hobart, UMass, and Saint John’s. History is on no-one’s side for this matchup, so this matchup will be an interesting testing of the waters from a historic, championship winning program and a young upstart just a few hours down the road.
Vs Hobart (Mar 25): Another A10 opponent and historic opponent, Hobart makes the trek to the Dome for the 108th matchup between the two programs. Syracuse is currently on an eight-game winning streak against the Statesmen with 79 victories and seem to be able to win in either Syracuse or Geneva. A respectable 7-6 record and 5-1 at home in 2022 may be intimidating for the Orange, but this should be an opportunity for Syracuse to keep using Hobart as a punching bag for the time being.
Vs Notre Dame (Apr 1): An April Fools matchup against the Fighting Irish is no joke, especially considering Notre Dame’s to 10 finish last season. The 20th matchup between the programs will be a big one, as Syracuse hopes to snap their 5-game losing streak against the team from South Bend. Five victories against ranked opponents including twice against Duke is a key indication of Notre Dame’s ability to put away high-profile opponents, so Syracuse will have their work cut out for them in their final home game of the year.
At Princeton (Apr 8): After a several-week home stand, the Orange kick off their lengthy road trip and travel to New Jersey to face the Princeton Tigers, their only Ivy league opponent in 2023. The Orange have had Princeton’s number in recent matchups, but Princeton is coming off a Final Four appearance in last year’s NCAA Championship, falling in a well-fought 8-13 loss to the eventual champion Maryland Terrapins. Hopefully Syracuse can dig deep and knock off arguably one of the best teams in the nation.
North Carolina (Apr 15): The second matchup between the Tar Heels and the Orange will take place in a neutral location to be determined later in the year. Syracuse holds a 6-1 record over North Carolina in neutral territory, but the last matchup not in Durham or Syracuse went to the Tar Heels 16-15. Syracuse can right the ship based on experience on neutral turf and since they will have already faced this opponent only a few months prior.
At Virginia (Apr 22): The last game against a top 10 opponent in the schedule will take place in Charlottesville, where the Virginia Cavaliers host the Orange on their road trip. Virginia held the number one rank in 2022 at the beginning, never dropping below number seven all year. The Cavaliers topped the Orange last year in both the Dome and Charlottesville with a combined score of 41-16, evening the overall match history at 20 wins and 20 losses. This 41st match will be the tiebreaker and potentially the most important game in the Orange’s schedule this year.
At Duke (Apr 29): Finally, the season ends in Durham where the Blue Devils play host to the Orange in the last game of the season before NCAA tournament play. Conference wins will be extremely important and being able to defeat both North Carolina and Duke twice will be a significant challenge. Duke’s offensive pressure has always been significant, shooting .349 and putting tons of shots on goal all year. Syracuse will have to counter every blow Duke sends at them with one of their own, so this game looks to be a high-scoring slugfest.
This schedule has some tough opponents for the Orange, especially on the road, but with so many road wins and a historic knack for winning on home turf, this is a great chance for this team and Head Coach Gary Gait to break out and prove themselves in an extremely competitive conference. New and young talent is the name of the game this year, and this will be a fun team to watch for quite a long time.
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