There’s a ton going on in the world of Syracuse athletics right now, but that’s not going to slow down Syracuse lacrosse’s big Thursday night road doubleheader.
Both teams have headed west for spring break, with the men out in Colorado for the first of two against the Air Force Falcons while the women have traveled north of Chicago for their annual showdown with the Northwestern Wildcats.
The men will get the night started with a 5 PM ET face-off on ESPN+, followed by the women at 8 PM ET. Unfortunately,
the women’s game is on B1G+, behind a paywall. I’ll provide updates on this game thread for those who aren’t watching on the Big 10’s streaming service.
Men vs. Air Force — 5 PM on ESPN+
The Orange head out to Colorado Springs having won their last two and sitting at 2-2 on the road swing.
This is the third ever meeting in a long-dormant matchup between the two programs who first met back in 1986, a game that was won, 22-6, by SU at the Dome. In 2002, ‘Cuse won a 20-8 decision in a game that was actually played at the University of Denver, so the team’s first meeting in 24 years will be the first ever actually at the Air Force Academy.
The Falcons are having a very rough go of things so far this season, sitting at 1-5 and currently on a five-game losing streak. They won their season opener, 13-12, over Lafayette, and have since lost to Denver, Ohio State, Siena, Marist and Duke.
They’ve been outscored 91-50 on the season, ranking 68th in the country in scoring offense (8.33) and 72nd in scoring defense (15.17).
They’re led by freshman attacker Christian Schweiger, who leads the team in goals (13), assists (7) and points (20). Senior midfielder Cole Rassas (12) and senior attacker Caelan Driggs (11) are the only other two Falcons to score in double-figures so far.
Rogan Kane is the primary FOGO and he’s facing-off at 45.9 percent, winning 56-of-122.
Senior Cole Cunningham leads their defense with a team-leading 33 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers, while sophomore Matt Deedy has started all six games in goal with 47 saves and a .405 save percentage.
Women vs. Northwestern — 8 PM on B1G+
‘Cuse has won four straight after losing their first three to get above .500 for the first time this season, but they’re about to take a big step back up in competition against No. 4 ranked Northwestern. The Wildcats ranking means that by the end of the night, the Orange will have played all four teams ranked in the top four spots of the current polls.
NW holds an 18-8 advantage in the all-time series, winning 11 of the 12 played in Evanston.
The Wildcats are 5-1 so far this season. They opened their schedule with a 20-12 win over a Boston College team that’s struggling by their standards, and followed that up with a shocking home loss to Colorado, 10-9. They’ve since reeled off wins against Army, Central Michigan, Marquette and Stony Brook. Their 13-12 win over the Seawolves came 12 days ago back on February 28.
Northwestern is their usual high-octane selfs on offense, sporting the No. 2 scoring offense in the country at 18.33 goals per game.
They’re led by now-senior attacker Madison Taylor, who leads the team in goals (30), assists (12) and points (42). She’s second nationally in both goals per game (5.0) and points per game (7.0), and is shooting 57.7 percent on the season. It’ll be fascinating to see how the Orange approach defending her. In the past, they’ve face-guarded her while staying in their backer zone for the other six players. It’ll be interesting to see if Regy Thorpe brings a new perspective on that.
It will also be reunion time for SU as former Orange Olivia Adamson has taken her graduate year with the Wildcats and is currently third on the team with 12 goals and 17 points. Aditi Foster (25), Taylor Lapointe (16), Jenna Soto (12) and James Madison transfer Maddie Epke (11) round out the double-digit scorers on the offense.
The Wildcats have a very good draw control unit that ranks 10th nationally in draw control percentage at .645 and third in draws per game at 18.50. Sophomore Madison Smith leads them with 44 DCs.
Drexel transfer Jenika Cuocco has started all six games in goal and has made 51 saves with an outstanding .531 save percentage.
