Syracuse falls to No. 5 in Inside Lacrosse rankings after ACC Tournament loss

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After its regular season-finale loss against Boston College, Syracuse jumped from No. 4 to No. 3. But after the Orange’s upset 18-14 loss to then-No. 16 Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals, they dropped to No. 5 in the weekly Inside Lacrosse poll. It’s the second time this season that SU is outside of the top four since losing to Northwestern in March.

In Syracuse’s lone ACC tournament game, it struggled to keep up with the Cavaliers’ attack. Rachel Clark, Ashlyn McGovern and Morgan Schwab combined for 13 goals for UVA, one fewer goal than SU had the entire game.

This helped Virginia tie its most goals against an ACC opponent this year. While Meaghan Tyrrell, Megan Carney and Emily Hawryschuk all recorded hat tricks, the rest of the Orange attack struggled.

In the teams’ first meeting on March 12, Syracuse turned the ball over a season-high 23 times. On Saturday, the Orange’s turnover struggles against the Cavaliers continued. In the first half, Syracuse recorded eight turnovers, the same number Virginia recorded the entire game.

Still, SU led 11-10 midway through the third quarter. But after Carney’s third goal of the game, the Cavaliers outscored the Orange 8-3 to seal the upset.