Number 3 Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse on Eve of Biggest Game with Gait

By Luke Burgess | @BurgessLuke03

The story for so long with Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse was when will its signature win come? Well that question has been resoundingly answered twice over the past few weeks. 

But sports are a what have you done for me lately type of business, so when Number 3 Syracuse takes on the Number 1 team in the nation tomorrow in Notre Dame, the pressure will be on full throttle once again. 

“They just have the want to win every single game, they don’t take a single break, and have a drive and want to be great. They have the hustle on the ride.” Gait said. 

The Fighting Irish come into the game with just one loss on the year. That came in overtime against Georgetown over a month ago in South Bend. Since then Notre Dame has won three straight. The closest of which was a three-goal defeat of Ohio State. The Irish play their first conference game of the season when tomorrow’s game gets underway. 

The series between these two powerhouse programs has been dead even thus far. In 20 games each side has taken 10, but it’s been the Indiana squad with wins in each of the last five games. 

Last season the Orange fell by eight goals in one of their final ACC clashes of the season. Alex Simmons netted a hat trick for SU, but hat tricks from Jake Taylor, Eric Dobson, Reilly Gray and Chris Kavanagh on the ND side kept the win out of reach for the Orange, leading them to an 0-3 ACC record. 

Now, almost a year removed, Kavanagh and Taylor are back at the top of the score sheet and have powered Notre Dame to another week atop the rankings. 

Against Hobart, Attackman Owen Hitz was held out of the lineup with a minor lower-body injury, the Canadian had one of the better games of his career against Duke, and with his return to the lineup seeming likely for tomorrow’s contest, the Orange should be happy to get a boost from his scoring. 

The last time that the Orange won in South Bend was all the way back in 2017 by one goal. Coincidentally, The Orange were also ranked number three going into that 2017 clash, as were the Irish at number one. 

Opening Faceoff is at 2 PM at Arlotta Stadium. Adam Gotkin has all the coverage for the weekend. 

 You can also follow @BurgessLuke03, @The_SamCorcoran, and @adam_gotkin on X for live game updates all season long!