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Gary Gait said the obvious. There’s a target on his team’s back.

“Well, I guess we’re going in as defending champs,” Gait said Tuesday. “So that pressure is on us now.”

But if you take his word for it, his team is ready to accept the challenge. SU played one of its best halves of the year against No. 1 Notre Dame last Saturday, but capitulated late and struggled to put together sustained possessions. It wasn’t the note Syracuse wanted to end its regular season on.

However, with the ACC Tournament on the horizon, Gait’s determined to have his team ready to take on North Carolina on Friday.

Here’s everything to know about No. 2 seed UNC (11-3, 2-2 ACC) before its ACC Tournament matchup against No. 3 seed Syracuse (11-4, 2-2 ACC):

All-time series

Syracuse leads 20-14.

Last time they played

It was a clash of titans on April 4. Richmond entered the week as Inside Lacrosse’s No. 1 team, but was handily defeated by Notre Dame, promptly losing its rank. The result left the nation’s top spot up for grabs, and with North Carolina and Syracuse both sitting in the top three, whoever won that matchup would claim the title of the nation’s best squad.

But the Orange didn’t show up to play. It was a nightmare across the board. Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said UNC booked its grass fields during SU’s allotted practice time, which meant his team didn’t have a chance to adjust. That led to a nightmarish Jimmy McCool performance, silence from Joey Spallina and a 14-9 loss to the Tar Heels.

The Tar Heel report

Owen Duffy and Dominic Pietramala. That’s all there is to say.

Josh Marcus has been fine in net, saving 47.6% of the shots on goal he’s seen this season. Ty English has been a wrecking ball at short-stick defensive midfield, causing 10 turnovers and picking up 31 groundballs. Abby Wambach’s nephew has become one of the best faceoff men in the nation — more on him later.

But if we’re being honest, UNC is powered by its offense above all, and that offense is powered by Duffy and Pietramala. Duffy has racked up an outrageous 61 points in 14 games, dishing out 33 assists. Many of them have gone to Pietramala, who’s tied for ninth in the nation with 41 goals. Few teams boast a duo as dynamic as North Carolina.

SU learned that the hard way when these teams first faced off. Duffy’s performance was far from his usual standard, notching just three points. But Pietramala picked up the slack, lighting Syracuse up with five scores.

North Carolina is reeling right now, having lost two of its last three contests to Notre Dame and Duke. Still, UNC is a dangerous out, and it’s because of its formidable attacking duo.

How Syracuse beats North Carolina

For starters, it would be nice if Syracuse could avoid having just about everything that could go wrong go wrong.

North Carolina isn’t an insurmountable worldbeater. The Tar Heels are certainly a top-five team in the nation, and there’s little doubt about that. But those aforementioned losses to Duke and ND exposed the weaknesses in their game plan. Duke — a team the Orange already defeated on March 28 — just kept pouring unassisted goals on Marcus’ head, and it sent UNC down 11-3 by half.

In a matchup between two high-octane offenses — such as Syracuse and North Carolina — goalie play will almost always be the differentiator, and on a normal day, the Orange would undoubtedly have the edge there. Marcus doesn’t hold a candle to McCool’s 55.3% save rate.

SU has the firepower to put UNC down early, and it can begin the game on a similar type of run. It’s just a matter of whether or not they’re ready to do so come Friday.

Stat to know: 196

This stat is a double-edged sword. It represents the number of goals both Syracuse and North Carolina have scored this season.

Statistically, these teams are about as even as it gets in a lot of ways. Both have 11 wins. Both have two ACC wins. UNC has given up 67 assists. SU has given up slightly more with 71. North Carolina has scored 20 man-up goals, Syracuse has netted 24.

But the fact both of these teams have scored 196 goals — tied for fourth in the nation and first in the ACC — should be a harbinger of things to come Friday. Goals will come hard. They will come fast. And whoever scores more will be moving on to Sunday.

Player to watch: Brady Wambach, faceoff, No. 12

Now, more on Abby Wambach’s nephew. It’s not unreasonable to say he’s about as good at his respective sport as his aunt is at hers.

North Carolina ranks first in the nation with a 66.2% win rate on faceoffs. No one else has broken 63.0%. The Tar Heels rank first in the country with 253 faceoff wins, and similarly, no one else is within 10 of that mark. Wambach has won 238 of them, a mark towering above any other specialist. It was certainly a debate last season, but it’s indisputable now. Brady Wambach is the best faceoff man in the country.

After Notre Dame took over the second half in Syracuse’s loss to the Fighting Irish last Saturday, Gait said the reason behind the defeat was simple. It’s all about maximizing possessions. The Orange just couldn’t win faceoffs — John Mullen went 13-for-28 on the day — and when they did, they often turned the ball over.

Winning more possessions isn’t going to get any easier for SU Friday. Against Wambach, it’ll simply have to do more with less.

Published on April 29, 2026 at 10:13 pm
Contact Mauricio: mjpalmar@syr.edu | @mpalmarDO