Syracuse men’s lacrosse remains at No. 8 in Inside Lacrosse Top 20 Poll
Syracuse men’s lacrosse remained at No. 8 in Inside Lacrosse’s latest Top 20 Poll, which was released Monday. Eli Schwartz | Asst. Photo Editor
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Syracuse men’s lacrosse kept its ranking as the No. 8 team in Inside Lacrosse’s Top 20 Poll, which was released Monday. The result comes following SU’s 17-11 win over Air Force Thursday.
Nobody in the top seven dropped a game last week, which means Syracuse retained its spot in the top 10. Last week, the Orange rose two spots after defeating then-No. 11 Johns Hopkins, before extending its win streak to three games in Colorado. After losing back-to-back games to No. 2 Princeton and No. 4 Harvard, SU has gotten back on track.
Syracuse might’ve started slow against Air Force, but it got over the line with what ended up being a comfortable win. After leading by three goals heading into the fourth quarter, the Orange scored six of the first seven goals of the final frame to put the game away. Joey Spallina recorded a career-high eight assists, which were the second-most by any Syracuse player ever.
“I honestly love that,” Spallina said postgame, referring to passing. “If I had zero goals and whatever amount of (assists), I think I’d be the happiest guy.”
Michael Leo had an effective day as well, scoring a career-high five goals, while John Mullen won nearly 70% of his faceoffs. The Orange close out their wild six-game road trip extravaganza with a tough game against No. 14 Denver Monday.
Once that is over, Syracuse will be nearing the end of the regular season. The Orange are over halfway through their slate with seven games remaining. Based on its recent results, it’s in a great spot for the postseason. Lacrosse Reference has SU at No. 4 in RPI and gives it a 97% chance to make the NCAA Tournament, including an 82% chance to earn a seed.
