Previewing No. 4 Virginia Men's Lacrosse vs. No. 12 Syracuse

It's rivalry week in college lacrosse. Several entertaining matchups will be played across the country this weekend, including Johns Hopkins-Maryland, Army-Navy, Ohio State-Michigan, Notre Dame-North Carolina, and Virginia-Syracuse. The fourth-ranked Cavaliers host the 12th-ranked Orange, looking to get back on track after suffering yet another loss to Duke last week. Meanwhile, Syracuse is surging after picking up big wins against Princeton and North Carolina in the last two weeks and the Orange will come in desperate to keep that momentum going as they look to make a late push towards qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.

Syracuse Scouting Report

The second year of the Gary Gait era of Syracuse lacrosse has been a bit of a roller coaster. The Orange won their first three games, then suffered four-consecutive losses to Maryland, North Carolina, Duke, and Johns Hopkins. Syracuse bounced back with three more wins against non-conference opponents before dropping a 20-12 game to Notre Dame, the current No. 1 team in the nation. The Orange have gained some momentum of late, though, picking up back-to-back top 15 wins over Princeton and North Carolina and Gary Gait's squad has won five out of its last six games coming into Saturday's matchup at Virginia.

At 8-5 overall and 1-3 in ACC play, the Orange have some work to do if they want to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for the second season in a row. They have just two games left on the schedule - both on the road and both against top 5 teams. Syracuse visits Virginia on Saturday and then Duke next weekend to wrap up the season, providing two big challenges for the youthful Orange, but also two massive opportunities for Syracuse to potentially earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Leading the Orange is freshman sensation Joey Spallina, the No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2022 and recipient of the famed No. 22 Syracuse jersey. Despite all the hype on his shoulders coming in, Spallina has lived up to expectations, leading the Orange with 61 points on 34 goals and 27 assists. The freshman attackman has good speed and dodging ability, is a capable passer from behind the cage, and has already developed a lethal go-to move with his no-look behind the back shot while posted up against his defender on the wing.

Joining Spallina on the attack line is Canadian lefty Owen Hiltz, who has 22 goals and 24 assists so far this season, and Lehigh graduate transfer Cole Kirst, who has 31 points on 21 goals and 10 assists. All three players on Syracuse's attack can dodge, pass, and finish and will give Virginia's close defense all it can handle on Saturday.

Most of Syracuse's midfield production comes from Finn Thomson (18 goals, 12 assists), Alex Simmons (15 goals 14 assists), Jackson Birtwistle (24 goals), and Michael Leo (16 goals, 6 assists). UVA's short-stick defensive midfielders will also be tested by the Orange at that end of the field.

Syracuse is scoring more than 14 goals per game, a top 15 mark in the country, and that's an even more impressive number when you consider that the Orange are scoring that many goals with a severe possession disadvantage. Simply put, Syracuse has no reliable faceoff man, ranking 65th (out of 72 teams) in faceoff percentage at 42.2%. Both of Syracuse's faceoff men - Jack Fine and Johnny Richiusa - are operating well under 50% on the season.

Syracuse's ability to win eight games against a tough schedule is a credit to the efficiency of the Orange's offense to put up remarkable scoring numbers on fewer possessions, but is even more a testament to the improvements made by Dave Pietramala's defense from last season to this season. Much of that has to do with goalie Will Mark, who currently ranks No. 5 in the country with a save percentage of .569. Mark has maintained that save percentage despite facing significantly more shots per game than most other goalies. The defense in front of Mark has done a respectable job as well, headlined by close defenders Nick Caccamo, Caden Kol, and Billy Dwan as well as long-stick midfielder Sam Olexo, who has 22 caused turnovers on the season. Lars Tiffany remarked this week that the improvements made by Syracuse's team defense have impressed him and noted that UVA will have to be sharp in its offensive execution in order to find success against the Orange defense.

Tiffany also said that Petey LaSalla will be crucial in this game. LaSalla had a rough day at Duke last weekend, winning just 11 of the 32 faceoffs against Jake Naso, a big factor in UVA's loss to the Blue Devils. LaSalla has an opportunity for a big bounce back game on Saturday against Syracuse's faceoff unit, which is undoubtedly the biggest weakness the Orange have. If LaSalla can dominate at the faceoff x, UVA should be able to take care of business.

Virginia vs. Syracuse Series History

Virginia and Syracuse are meeting for the 41st time and have split the previous 40 meetings 20-20.
UVA and Syracuse are also 8-8 against each other in games played in Charlottesville and 6-6 at Klockner Stadium.
Virginia won both of the meetings between these two teams last season, including a 20-11 win in Charlottesville, the largest margin of victory in the series, and a 21-15 win at Syracuse, which clinched the 2022 ACC Championship.
Syracuse and Virginia have combined to win 17 NCAA national championships, with the Orange leading all programs with 10 NCAA titles and the Cavaliers having the third-most with seven NCAA titles.

80's Throwback Uniforms

Saturday's contest will serve as Virginia's annual Alumni Game, with several UVA lacrosse alumni expected to be in attendance. Virginia will specifically recognize members of the 1983 UVA men's lacrosse team, which went undefeated in conference play and won the first of four-consecutive ACC championships. Virginia will wear throwback uniforms inspired by the uniforms worn by UVA's teams of the 1980s, which laid the foundation for what would become one of the most successful lacrosse programs in the country.

🙌 On Saturday, we pay homage to one of the most momentous eras in our program’s history, the 1980s!#GoHoos⚔️ pic.twitter.com/GcBhdiQKV2
— Virginia Men's Lacrosse (@UVAMensLax) April 18, 2023

Weather Report

Inclement weather is in the forecast for the Charlottesville area on Saturday, so fans are encouraged to check @UVAMensLax on Twitter or VirginiaSports.com on Saturday morning for updates on possible scheduling changes for the start time of the game.

For now, Virginia is set to host Syracuse on Saturday at 2pm at Klockner Stadium and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

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