Takeaways from Gary Gait's NCAA lacrosse press conference before Syracuse v. Notre Dame

A relaxed and confident-sounding Gait on Tuesday channeled his inner 'Cuse coach Roy Simmons Jr., at times describing the mosaic of a season, in this case the toughest 15 games he has scheduled in his five years guiding the men's program, as turning out exactly as he hoped.

Gait's Orange (13-5) are playing their best lacrosse of the season, and still have not, as he maintained, "played an entire 60 minute game". Instead it is the balancing act of living with both the beauty of fast transition and pinpoint passing leading to goals, and the sloppy turnovers and change of possessions that accompanying that preferred style.

Blending last year's Final Four experience with this year's NCAA run

Let's face it. SU was not ready for the big stage in 2025, certainly happy to escape Princeton in the quarterfinals and take on nemesis Maryland in the semis, but the 14-8 drubbing to the Terps was a rude awakening.

Fast forward to this year, the Terps were vanquished in game three, a season in which Syracuse won all eight Dome games, North Carolina was dispatched last weekend after losing to the Heels twice, and it sets up a similar opportunity Saturday against the Irish (12-2) in Charlottesville, Va. (2:30 p.m. ET / ESPN2).

"Just being there (last year) gives us the experience and confidence to know we can play our best, and I think you are going to see our best game of the year come Saturday," Gait said in a matter-of-fact manner.

"We have worked so hard mentally how to prepare to take on the pressures of big games, I am hoping it all translates, along with our schedule being one of the toughest in the country (eight away games), to set us up to hopefully play our best game Saturday."

A win Saturday guarantees yet another regular season rematch against either top-seed Princeton, which led from start-to-finish in its 11-7 win over SU in late February, or a Duke team that battled the Orange down to the end in a wild 16-15 game on March 28.

The team-wide lessons learned from the five defeats this season

Until last Saturday's UNC win, Syracuse had never faced the same team three times in a season. Although now it is only a second game against ND and potentially Princeton or Duke on Memorial Day, for this senior-laden 'Cuse team on a five months-long mission to win it all, "revenge is a dish best served cold."

"In our losses we learned something about ourselves, and we were able to make adjustments as we went along," Gait said. "The tough schedule, and the teams we did play on the road, we're saying 'Yeah, we want another crack at these guys.' "

"All of our losses came on the road, now we get another crack at some of these teams (in the NCAA Tourney) at neutral sites and we feel pretty good that we can fix a few mistakes, clean up a few things, and we have got a shot to be successful."

The game specific lessons learned from playing a team more than once

As mentioned, playing the Tar Heels thrice in a season was a first for the program, and Gait believes that third meeting was definitely to his team's benefit, and one that will carry over to this weekend.

"The fact that we lost twice (to Carolina) set us up to make adjustments, and I think the advantage goes to the team that loses because you're more willing to make changes." was Gait's rationale.

"When you win (in the first meeting), it's much more difficult to make adjustments. You got to debate whether to make changes or stick with what you did the first time."

SUPPORT THE JUICE ONLINE

Follow us on Twitter @TheJuiceOnline, like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @SUJuiceOnline and listen to our podcast.

Add us as a preferred source on Google