Second-seeded Syracuse men’s lacrosse (11-4, 3-1 ACC) begins play in the ACC Tournament against third-seeded Duke (11-4, 1-3 ACC) on Friday. These two teams have already met in the regular season with the Orange coming away with a 10-4 win. The defeat was the largest loss the Blue Devils had all season.
A key for SU heading into the familiar matchup is playing a full 60 minutes of lacrosse. The ‘Cuse has had trouble sustaining leads recently. Six and seven goal leads were erased against North Carolina and Cornell, respectively. However, head coach Gary Gait has hope going into the tournament that the issue is resolved.
“I think hopefully we’ve turned a corner and can start finishing out games,” Gait remarked.
One way to stop blowing leads is playing sharp defense. Billy Dwan has been an important defenseman for the Orange, not just because of his play on one end, but also on the other. Dwan has seven goals this season, earning him All-ACC honors. Gait applauded Dwan’s production on the attack this year.
“Billy is unconventional,” the head coach noted. “He leads the country in goal scoring for a close defenseman and he’s got multiple highlight goals.”
It surely was an unconventional season for Dwan, and a brilliant one for Duke attackman Brennan O’Neill. The grad student leads his team in total points with 67. SU goalie Will Mark is up to the challenge after O’Neill was held to just one goal the last time these teams played.
“The key to being a successful goalie is going in with a clear head, being able to play fluently and naturally,” Mark claimed. “At the end of the day, I try to treat every shot the same and make a save for the team to go score.”
Syracuse starts postseason play on Saturday. The game starts at 8 p.m. McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Faceoff begins on WAER at 7:30 p.m.