NCAA Lacrosse Tournament Preview

By Louis Milman

Last Sunday night after the NCAA Tournament bracket for Men’s Lacrosse was released, 16 teams got to work preparing for postseason play. The Syracuse Orange were not just one of those 16 teams, they were the top ranked team. Syracuse will face Siena, the MAAC conference champion in the first round in one of the only two games that feature little chance of an upset.

In the first round, Hartford will face 2nd seeded Cornell, Hofstra will travel to 3rd ranked Johns Hopkins, Penn will play at #4 Notre Dame, #5 Duke hosts Delaware, Villanova travels to #6 Denver, #7 Virginia will play Bucknell, and #8 North Carolina plays host to Maryland.

Hartford and Siena stand little chance of upsetting the top two teams, but each of the remaining games stands a reasonable chance to upset the top teams as May Madness gets underway. With a chance to face Siena, Maryland, Duke, and Cornell in succession the Orange could follow the same path to the Championship that they did in 2009.

Syracuse’s senior laden team will look to win their 3rd National Championship in 4 seasons. Goalie and Co-Captain John Galloway told the Post Standard “We had our aspirations, we didn’t tell a lot of people, but we said we’re going to go four-for-four. So to lose last year really burned inside. But you know what? Three out of four ain’t bad.” Galloway is already the only Goalie to win a National Championship in his freshman year and then ever win another one.

“I think we had a very tough schedule this year,” Syracuse coach John Desko told reporters. “I’m sure a lot of teams that made the playoffs were on our schedule. I hope that prepares us for a new season in the Tournament. I know the feeling our players had walking off the field last year. The seniors have a couple of national-championship rings on their fingers and would like another one.”

Johns Hopkins and Virginia have been said to be on highest upset alert, facing difficult outs in Hofstra and Bucknell. The NCAA Tournament is likely to be bedlam much like March Madness was this past season. Syracuse opens up the tournament Sunday at 7:30 pm in the Carrier Dome.

'Cuse Crushes Red Storm

By Louis Milman

With a dominating 20-6 victory over the St. Johns Red Storm on Saturday, the Syracuse Orange lacrosse team has clinched their 2nd consecutive Big East Lacrosse Conference championship. The Orange, who had regained their #1 ranking with a victory over Notre Dame last weekend, will remain number one into the beginning of the NCAA Tournament, and will almost undoubtedly be the overall number 1 seed. 

With the victory, the Orange move to 14-1 on the season and are undefeated (6-0) in the Big East. The Orange excelled in almost every aspect of the game, with 20 different players recording either a goal or an assist, and the defense shutting down the Red Storm offense. Orange goalie John Galloway saved 60% of the shots he faced, and the Orange used all three backup goalies, none of whom surrendered a goal. 

Tommy Palasek and JoJo Marasco continued to exhibit improvement in playing together, scoring two goals each. Palasek added two assists, leading the Orange with four points. Joel White added two goals with his long pole, his third career multi-goal game, two of which have been against the Red Storm.

The incredible SU senior class played their final regular season game the right way, with White and Galloway helping to lead the way. Senior Steven Keogh added two goals to tie Mike Leveille for ninth on the SU all-time list with 132. The senior class improved their record to 59-7, the best for any graduating class in school history. 

SU will learn at 9pm on Sunday who they will face in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The bracket selection will be shown on ESPNU. SU’s opening round game will be Sunday, May 15th at the Carrier Dome.

Orange Lacrosse Topples #1 Ranked Irish

By Conor Hurley

The Syracuse Orange lacrosse team clinched a share of the Big East title with an 11-8 win over #1 ranked Notre Dame on Saturday. The win also allowed the Orange to regain the #1 ranking from Notre Dame in both national polls.

Now 13-1 with an undefeated Big East record (5-0), the Orange defeated the Irish in impressive fashion in front of 14,751 strong at the Carrier Dome. This was a season-high attendance for lacrosse this year at the Dome and in all of college lacrosse.

Stephen Keogh led the Orange offensively with four goals, recording his 21^st career hat trick and now ranks 10^th in school history with 130 goals. Tommy Palasek and Jeremy Thompson also contributed two goals and JoJo Marasco tallied three points as well.

Goalie John Galloway led the way defensively as he made 5 of his 12 saves in the first quarter, allowing the Orange to escape the first with a 4-2 lead. Defenseman John Lade was also crucial to the Orange’s defensive success as he caused a single- game record six turnovers and kept the Irish’s leading scorer Sean Rodgers in check.

John Desko, head coach of the Orange, was pleased with both the performance of his team and the atmosphere in the Dome. “It was incredible to see that many people in the crowd today to watch a great lacrosse game,” Desko said.

The Orange will play for the Big East regular season title on Saturday, May 7^th at the Dome vs. St Johns. Faceoff is scheduled for 1p.m. 

Photographer: Jason Rostkowski