Syracuse falls to No. 18 in final Inside Lacrosse rankings

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Syracuse men’s lacrosse fell three spots to No. 18 in the final Inside Lacrosse rankings of the season following its 18-15 loss to then-No. 2 Duke. The Orange, after climbing as high to No. 12 in the rankings via two straight wins against ranked opponents, finished at the same spot they were ranked at in Week 1.

Though Syracuse is set to miss the NCAA Tournament for back-to-back seasons for the first time in nearly 50 years, it improved significantly from its historically bad 4-10 record in 2022. Under second-year head coach Gary Gait, led by a strong crop of freshmen and former Long Island goalie Will Mark, the Orange pulled off their first win over a ranked team in two years and notched an Atlantic Coast Conference victory.

After starting off the season 3-0 in nonconference games with two commanding wins over Holy Cross and UAlbany, SU fell in four straight games to ranked opponents, three of which were by three goals or fewer. The Orange were consistently hindered by poor faceoff play and an inability to close out teams defensively, which led to blown fourth quarter leads in all four losses.

The Orange then went on to rattle of three straight nonconference wins, scoring 56 combined goals against Hobart, St. Bonaventure and Hofstra. Notre Dame snapped Syracuse’s winning streak by handing the team its worst loss of the season. But it rebounded from the 20-12 loss with two road wins against then-No. 14 Princeton and then-No. 12 North Carolina.

The final two losses, though, sank Syracuse’s chances and led to it finishing 8-7 with a 1-5 conference record. Seven of the Orange’s opponents ended the year in the top 20 and five ended in the top 10.