By Zachary Levine
Men’s Lacrosse Beat Reporter
CHAROLETTESVILLE, V.A. — Syracuse couldn’t continue its in-conference success as they fell to UVA tonight in the semifinals of the ACC tournament by the final score of 11-10.
The Orange came into the ACC tournament riding an unbeaten conference record of 4-0. While the Orange had their fair share of struggles in non-conference play, dropping five of eight matchups, they were fairly solid throughout their ACC schedule. Tonight went like many of their other games have played out—close.
SU started out strong, scoring a mere one minute into the game on a goal from sophomore midfielder Peter Dearth, his second on the season. From that point forward, the game was relatively back and forth, with each team only leading by at most two goals at any given point.
With time winding down in the fourth quarter and the Orange down one, Seth Delisle sneaked one past UVA goalkeeper Alex Rode. SU had the opportunity to win the faceoff and work for the next 1:27 to find an equalizer. It didn’t happen. SU lost the faceoff, caused a turnover, and then called a time out. With sixteen seconds left, Tucker Dordevic—the hero in Charlottesville back in March—ripped one wide. UVA turned it over with 0:11 on the clock, but it was too late for SU to even heave it down the field and have any chance at a final goal.
For the Orange, it was another tough night at the faceoff “X,” losing 18 of 25. Shots were relatively even, but SU had struggles executing.
“I was very frustrated because I thought we were well-prepared in what we wanted to do and the lack of execution when we were man up, I was really disappointed in that,” said SU Head Coach John Desko. “We didn’t run what we were running very well and you have to this time of year.”
The Orange now head back to the Carrier Dome for once last regular season game before Selection Sunday and a chance at an NCAA Tournament berth.
@zacharylevine25 | zlevine@citrustv.net
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