2026 Syracuse lacrosse schedule features a stretch of games not seen in over 50 years

There were a couple of slight surprises upon seeing the 2026 Syracuse lacrosse schedule, which was announced Tuesday by the school.

Understanding the desire of head coach Gary Gait and staff to make sure the schedule’s strength will indeed look strong when examined under the microscope of the tournament selection committee come May (there’s no automatic bid for the ACC champion-an annoying story for another day), this is one helluva tough schedule.

In fact, each of the 15 opponents has participated in the NCAA Tournament at least once over the last three seasons, and six of the opponents have accounted for 10 of the last 12 NCAA championships.

To be the best, you have to play the best

We have heard that statement from Syracuse lacrosse coaches going back to Roy Simmons Jr. SU lax has never veered away from playing a tough schedule. The question is, how tough is too tough?

Playing six consecutive road games, something that has not happened since the 1972 team opened the season with six straight away games against the likes of Washington College, Morgan State and Baltimore, three schools that no longer play at the Div. I level, and is simply not something you see from a program of Syracuse's caliber.

Especially since the Orange have led the nation in Div. I home attendance for four consecutive seasons, and when you see the murder's row list of three Ivy League schools that form half of the six game stretch -Harvard, Princeton, and Penn, followed by Johns Hopkins then a trip to Colorado to face Air Force and Denver all in 24 days, it is almost comparable to the Orange basketball team playing Houston, Kansas, and Iowa State within a 43 hour period at the Player's Era Festival in Las Vegas in November.

Add in Maryland, Georgetown, and the ACC games against Duke (home), Notre Dame (away), North Carolina (away), and Virginia (home), and that schedule figures to be near the top of any team at the beginning of May.

One missing schedule element is an upstate New York flavor

Yes, the Orange host Colgate in April sandwiched around their conference games, but glaringly missing from the schedule, especially considering SU plays three Ivy League teams, is Cornell the defending national champs.

Last season the programs played a neutral field game on Long Island, but instead SU will face its newest Ivy rival Harvard (two exciting games last season) on the road for the first time since 1985.

For the second consecutive year, and possibly for the distant near future, there is also no game against longtime upstate rival Hobart, due to the staff wanting to put some balance to the schedule with home games as opposed to 2-for1 home/away game scenarios, and overall schedule strength.

The 2026 Syracuse lacrosse schedule, most game times and broadcast coverage to be determined:

February 1 - BOSTON UNIVERSITY

February 7 - SAINT JOSEPH'S

February 13 - MARYLAND

February 21 - at Harvard

February 27 - at Princeton

March 1 - at Penn

March 7 - at Johns Hopkins

March 12 - at Air Force

March 16 - at Denver

March 22 - GEORGETOWN

March 28 - DUKE

April 4 - at North Carolina

April 11 - VIRGINIA

April 18 - COLGATE

April 25 - at Notre Dame

May 1-3 - ACC Tournament (Charlotte)

May 9-10 - NCAA First Round (Campus Sites)

May 16-17 - NCAA Quarterfinals (Hempstead, N.Y./Newark, Del.)

May 23 - NCAA Semifinals (Charlottesville, Va.)

May 25 - NCAA Championship (Charlottesville, Va.)

SUPPORT THE JUICE ONLINE

Check out our Syracuse Orange discussion forum, Cuse Classified, for more SU information!