Men's Lacrosse

Syracuse falls to No. 3 in rankings after ACC tournament loss

Cody Hendrix | Staff Photographer

Friday was the Orange's first loss since Feb. 25 against Army and it marked the first time Syracuse would not play for the conference title since joining the ACC in fall 2014.

Syracuse’s first loss since February bumped the Orange from its spot atop the college lacrosse rankings and down to No. 3 on Monday morning.

The top-seeded Orange (11-2, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) fell to No. 4 seed North Carolina (8-7, 1-3) in the ACC tournament in Durham, North Carolina, on Friday by a score of 16-15. The drop in the rankings ended a three-week Syracuse run at the top, which the Orange held onto for longer than most. In the seven weeks before SU assumed control, all seven No. 1’s had lost.

Friday was the Orange’s first loss since Feb. 25 against Army and it marked the first time Syracuse would not play for the conference title since joining the ACC in fall 2014.

SU fell just shy of making its largest comeback in program history on Friday when it overcame a nine-goal deficit to tie things up in the fourth quarter. North Carolina originally jumped on a 11-1 first-half run to open the game. Ben Williams won 16-of-31 faceoffs but failed to win one for more than 20 minutes in the middle of the game.

“It just got away from us in the second quarter,” SU head coach John Desko said. “There wasn’t anything we were really doing well.”







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