Everybody knows Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse’s brutal 2022 schedule – 10 of SU’s 14 games are against top 15 opponents. But what’s different about this season is that seven of those opponents are ranked higher than the Orange, putting Syracuse in an unfamiliar position as an underdog for much of the spring.
That difficult stretch of games begins Saturday when Syracuse takes on the top ranked team in the country, Maryland, before taking on the nation’s second-highest ranked team in Virginia just six days later. It’s uncharted waters for any player on the Orange roster, even veterans.
“We’re kind of taking the approach that we’re the underdog in a lot of our games this season and we're liking that,” said attacker Owen Seebold. “It gives us that extra chip on our shoulder, especially us fifth year guys, we see the disrespect.”
But don’t expect the Orange, still ranked ninth in the nation, to sneak up on anybody.
“Typically, teams come in [to the Dome] extra pumped up, extra fired up, they don’t take you for granted,” said first-year Head Coach Gary Gait. “Even if they’re supposed to beat you, they know they could be in a dog fight. I’m not expecting them [Maryland] to overlook us by any means.”
It’s unorthodox for the school with the most national championships in the history of collegiate lacrosse to be an underdog in half of its games. Of course a numbered list isn’t something the Orange can control, except for the impression they make in the games themselves.
“We know that we’re probably not going to be picked to win [against Maryland], but that’s okay. There’s a bunch of people on the outside that don’t know what we’re doing in here, and they don’t see the hard work that we’ve been putting in,” said Seebold. “I think that we’re just focusing on ourselves, and doing the most that we can, and we’ll be ready.”
That will be put to the test inside the Dome Saturday at noon when Syracuse takes on Maryland. G-Z-A Countdown to Faceoff has pregame coverage beginning at 11:30am on 88.3 FM and waer.org.