Men's Lacrosse

Syracuse earns 2 seed in NCAA tournament, to play Ivy League champion Yale

Ally Moreo | Photo Editor

For the fifth straight season, SU will open the tournament at home.

Third-ranked Syracuse earned the No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament and will play Ivy League champion Yale (10-5, 5-1 Ivy) on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. For the fifth straight season, SU will open the tournament at home.

It’s also SU’s 10th straight NCAA tournament selection and 34th NCAA tournament bid in the last 35 seasons.

The Orange (12-2, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) is one of the hottest teams in college lacrosse. SU has lost only once since Feb. 25 and has won 10 of its last 11 games. Syracuse, which has played in 10 one-goal games, is coming off an 11-9 victory at unranked Colgate. On April 28 in the ACC semifinals, Syracuse lost to North Carolina, 16-15, and failed to advance to the conference title game for the first time as an ACC school.

SU is 3-0 against Yale under head coach John Desko and 19-4 overall. SU is 4-0 against the Bulldogs in the Dome. In 2013, Syracuse rallied to beat Yale 7-6 and advance to the Final Four. The Bulldogs and Orange share three common opponents. Yale routed St. John’s 23-7 and Cornell 17-8, but lost to Albany 13-12. Syracuse beat St. John’s 9-8, Cornell 15-8 and Albany 10-9 on a Nick Mariano game-winner.

In 2016, SU squeaked past Albany in its first NCAA tournament game before losing to Maryland in the quarterfinals. Two years ago, Syracuse beat Maryland then lost to Johns Hopkins. In 2014, Bryant upset SU at home in its first tournament game.



The Orange has not reached the Final Four since 2013 and has not won the national title since 2009, the program’s longest title drought since 1983.





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