Losers of two of their last three contests, the Syracuse Orange men's lacrosse team will try to regain some momentum Sunday, when they face the Duke Blue Devils in a Big City Classic showdown at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. The Orange (4-3, 2-1 Big East Conference) are coming off a disappointing 11-10 loss to the Villanova Wildcats last Sunday, while the Blue Devils (8-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) are winners of five straight.
This will be the second straight year the Orange and Blue Devils will square off in East Rutherford, NJ's MetLife Stadium, the place most famous for hosting the NFL's New York Giants, Jets and Super Bowl 47. Last season, junior attackman JoJo Marasco tallied two goals and two assists to help Syracuse beat Duke, 13-11 -- the victory was also senior goaltender's John Galloway's 52nd of his career, which set the NCAA mark.
This season, Syracuse and Duke will be the sandwiched between two other games at MetLife Stadium, as Notre Dame and St. John's will play at 1 p.m., while North Carolina and Johns Hopkins are featured in the nightcap at 6:30 p.m.
For the Orange, this game will be a the precursor to a big showdown with Princeton on Saturday, and then the rivalry game against the Cornell Big Red next Tuesday at Schoellkopf Field.
Johns Hopkins is the No. 1 team in college lacrosse. After defeating Virginia, 11-10, Hopkins moved into first place in both the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and the USILA Coaches' Poll.
The Syracuse Orange (4-3) lacrosse team has fallen from No. 8 to No. 14 this week in the latest Media Poll and in the Coaches' Poll.
The Orange are just 2-3 in their last five games after an 11-10 loss to Big East foe Villanova on Sunday. No. 14 is the lowest ranking for Syracuse since 2007.
The coaches dropped Cornell (6-1) to No. 5 while they remained in 4th place in the Nike poll. Colgate (6-2) dropped to No. 17 in the Media and Coaches Polls. Hofstra (4-4) fell to No. 20 in the Coaches Poll while falling out of the Media Poll.
The Syracuse University men's lacrosse team dropped to No. 8 in the country this week in the Nike Division I Top 20 Poll following an 11-7 loss on Saturday to No. 2 ranked Johns Hopkins University. Syracuse is 3-2 on the season, while Hopkins is 7-0.
Other New York schools in the rankins include Cornell (No. 3), Colgate (No. 13) and Hofstra (No. 19).
Syracuse has a pair of home games coming up. On Wednesday the Orange host Providence at the Carrier Dome at 7 p.m. ET. On Sunday, they host Villanova at 2 p.m.
Here are the complete rankings:
Virginia (478 points) 22 first-place votes
Johns Hopkins (458 points) 2 first-place votes
Cornell (418 points)
University of Massachusetts (417)
Loyola (376)
Notre Dame (355)
Maryland (335)
Syracuse (305)
Denver (282)
Lehigh (266)
Duke (240)
Princeton (202)
Colgate (176)
North Carolina 175)
Villanova (125)
Fairfield (109)
Penn State (99)
Georgetown (75)
Hofstra (58)
Bucknell (35)
St. John's received votes, but fell short of the top 20.
The Syracuse University men’s lacrosse team had a golden opportunity to move up in the national rankings this weekend, but lost to No. 1 ranked Virginia on Sunday, 14-10.
When this week’s national rankings were released, that left 5-0 Virginia in the top spot and the Orange at No. 6 in the media poll.
Several New York schools are in the top 20, with Cornell being the highest-ranked at No. 3. Syracuse travels to face St. John’s Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
Attackmen, senior Tommy Palasek and sophomore Derek Maltz, each tallied three points Sunday to help the No. 6-ranked Syracuse Orange defeat Army, 10-9, in a men's lacrosse game at the Carrier Dome. The victory improved the Orange's overall record to 2-0, however, didn't help them move up in the latest college lacrosse, released Monday morning.
Meanwhile, the Cornell Big Red, who had their game against Hobart canceled because of weather, also remains in the same spot as last week, No. 3.
The Hofstra Pride lost to the No. 11-ranked Princeton Tigers, 12-6, on Saturday, and fell in the rankings from No. 14 to No. 20.
Junior midfielder JoJo Marasco scored three goals in a 10-0 run that helped sparked No. 7-ranked Syracuse Orange in a 12-7 victory over the Albany Great Danes on Saturday.
