A non-rubber-game third meeting in a season is always an interesting prospect.
The old adage goes that it’s hard to beat a team three times in one season. The familiarity and competitiveness will make it very difficult for such a one-sided series of results across a trio of meetings.
But at what point does it begin to feel like a team is just out-and-out superior to their opponent, and that they would prevail no matter how many times they played a certain team in a single season?
As the sixth-seeded
Syracuse Orange prepare to take on the three-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals this Saturday at Shuart Stadium on Long Island, it certainly doesn’t feel like ‘Cuse is at that point with UNC.
They’re ACC foes, after all. It’s not a power conference team versus a mid-major. The talent is matched up closely enough that anything should be possible when these two face each other.
And yet, the Orange have thus far run into a problem this year. While being competitive at times, they have yet to put it all together and defeat a top-flight team this entire season. They’ve beaten some very good teams who are plenty talented but were inconsistent throughout the regular season, kind of like SU themselves. Three of them — Duke, Georgetown and Johns Hopkins — are still playing.
But they haven’t provided the evidence against the three teams that have been at the top of the heap all season long: Princeton, Notre Dame and North Carolina. They played each and went 0-4 against them in the regular season. They had their moments — the first half in South Bend comes to mind — but it ultimately fell flat every time.
If the Orange are going to get to where they want to go in 2026, they’re going to have to change that tune, and it’s going to have to start this weekend.
They already showed an improvement in performance from game one to game two against the Tar Heels. Johnny Mullen and co. were much more competitive against Brady Wambach in the second go-round, and the corresponding improvement on ground balls followed suit. They made some changes defensively that led to a little better performance overall, and the same was true creating and causing more trouble on the offensive end.
But their second-half issues reared their ugly head in the ACC Tournament second meeting, and their sloppiness took over the game in the form of failed clears and fourth quarter penalties.
The Tar Heels are such a dangerous team. There may not be a single team in the country that has the better formula in place to win a big lacrosse game, with the best FOGO in the sport having the ability to dictate game script as he gives the ball over and over to a high-octane offense.
Playing their cleanest, most focused game possible is priority number one. You simply can’t make mistakes that give extra opportunities to UNC. They’re already so good at creating those for themselves, there’s really no need to help them out in that department. If there was ever a time for ‘Cuse to shake that undisciplined moniker, it’s against this North Carolina team.
The defense is going to have to clean up their defending of picks. It’s been very messy and the communication has been spotty, and Carolina knows that as well as anybody after the way they ran Dom Pietramala away from Billy Dwan in game one. They know it’s a weakness, and they’ll try to exploit it. John Odierna’s boys have one heck of a week of preparation going on right now.
The Heels are excellent defending one-on-one, so the offense needs a premium on movement in this matchup. They have to get their defense shifting to create openings. They did a better job utilizing below GLE and getting Joey Spallina involved in game two, but it only yielded one more goal than the first game. They’ve scored just 19 in two matchups. That pace simply won’t cut it against UNC and what they can do on the other end.
One of the biggest factors going into this game is the status of Owen Duffy. He sat out last weekend’s demolition of (24-6) UAlbany with a hamstring injury he sustained in the ACC title game. It doesn’t feel like a good situation for Duffy, and even if he is able to play, he’s likely to be hampered still by this injury.
That changes the calculus a little bit on this being a third matchup, since one of the most important players on the field is likely to either not be there or be limited if he is. The Carolina offense will all of a sudden operate differently without their quarterback, and that means a whole new ballgame on that end of the field.
Of course, they’re still incredibly talented and deep even without their Tewaaraton finalist, as evidenced by their clinic against the Great Danes. The Tar Heels have so much speed, quickness and athleticism on offense, they’re difficult to stay in front of. The task will be tall for a ‘Cuse defense that’s hit the skids in recent weeks.
For the Orange, the answer to all the questions of their ability to beat the elite this year might come down to keeping it simple.
The talent has never been in question around this team in this era. But can they keep it together? Can they play physical defense without picking up unnecessary penalties? Can they avoid going offside when giving the ball back to UNC for free is a bad idea? Can they limit their turnovers and failed clears?
You can’t help this North Carolina team out by making mistakes and reasonably expect to beat them. Your best chance is to play your cleanest game possible and then hope you can make enough plays to come out on top. That’s never exactly been a hallmark of these SU teams, but they’ll get another chance to prove it can be as they take the field against UNC for the third time on Saturday.
