There will be heavy postseason implications on the line when 11th-ranked Syracuse men’s lacrosse (9-4, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) hosts 8th-ranked North Carolina (9-3, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) in the regular season finale Saturday.
Last weekend was one to forget for Syracuse. The 'Cuse lost to then 12th-ranked Duke 11-7 and fell four spots in the national poll. After the game, SU head coach Gary Gait remained optimistic.
“The opportunity is in front of us... We win this week, win the practices every day and we got an opportunity to take care of business next weekend. And, you know, we forget about this one and move on,” head oach Gary Gait said.
Syracuse’s recent results have not been the best. The Orange fell to top-ranked Cornell 17-12 two weeks ago as well. Despite the rocky last few weeks, Coach Gait is still focused on the possibility of being the top seed.
“We still have an opportunity in front of us to earn the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament. We're focused on that,” head coach Gary Gait said.
Even though SU dropped its last conference clash against Duke last weekend, the Orange are still alive for the top seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament. A win would jump the Orange over top-seeded Notre Dame, given that Syracuse took down the Fighting Irish 14-9 earlier this season.
Similarly to Syracuse, North Carolina is also coming into this matchup off a loss. UNC gave up a four-goal lead and fell 12-6 to Notre Dame. For head coach Joe Breschi, the defeat was a hard one to swallow.
“We had more opportunities that we just didn't take advantage of. [It was] the tale of two halves,” Breschi said.
Gametime is set for 5 p.m. inside the Dome. Tune in starting at 4:30 p.m. for McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Faceoff on 88.3 FM and waer.org.