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Syracuse and North Carolina are getting pretty familiar with each other. The two squads will face off for the third time in 42 days when they clash in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals in Hempstead, New York on Saturday.

No. 6 seed SU (12-5, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) has lost its first two meetings against the No. 3 seed Tar Heels (13-4, 2-2 ACC) this season in Chapel Hill and in the ACC Tournament Semifinals in Charlotte.

The winner of Saturday’s matchup heads to the Final Four in Charlottesville. The loser’s season ends.

Before the consequential clash, here are some takeaways from head coach Gary Gait’s weekly media availability Wednesday:

3rd time is the charm?

SU lost its first meeting with UNC by five goals. Goalie Jimmy McCool was benched in the third quarter. The Tar Heels’ star attack Dominic Pietramala frequently had open stepdowns, where he punished the Orange with five goals.

However, four weeks later in Charlotte, Syracuse played a much better game but still lost when it fizzled in the fourth quarter. Despite the defeat, the Orange’s defense tightened the vice to allow just one first-quarter score and four in the first half. Pietramala had one goal, though his attacking partner in crime Owen Duffy diced the Orange with six assists.

Gait saw progress from the first meeting to the second meeting with the Tar Heels. He hopes that trend continues on Saturday.

“We made some good improvements from Game 1 to Game 2, and then we kind of just shot ourselves in the foot a little bit (with) a couple penalties, (a) couple mistakes right at the end of the half,” he said. “So just continue to clean up the errors and execute at a high level, and hopefully we’ll have success this time.”

The head coach said playing a team so many times in a short span requires less preparation since Syracuse is already familiar with what North Carolina brings to the table. Gait acknowledged the adjustment SU made at the ACC Tournament allowed a tighter game and “worked pretty well.” After the Orange were unsuccessful in their mulligan in Charlotte, Gait and his coaching staff will tinker even further to best UNC.

“You kind of got to go with your gut and go with how you feel, and hopefully you make the right adjustments that get a different result this time,” Gait said. “So, the third time, it doesn’t happen that often, but when it does, you just got to be ready to step in and play.”

“We’ll tweak and make some more adjustments and hope that we can get a different result this time,” he added later.

Will Owen Duffy play?

Duffy, who was included on the Tewaaraton Award final five list, didn’t play in North Carolina’s NCAA Tournament First Round thrashing of UAlbany due to a lower-body injury. In the 24-6 crushing of the Great Danes, the Tar Heels didn’t need Duffy. Against the Orange, that might be a different story.

Is Duffy’s lower body duff or is he tough enough to suit up on his native Long Island Saturday?

Either way, Gait said the game-planning doesn’t change.

“It’s pretty straightforward: You prepare for him, and we’ve been lucky enough to at least see one game without him (versus UAlbany), so you do a little prep for that as well and try and get ready to play,” Gait said. “And (UNC) could be with him or without him, but you don’t know until we get down there.”

Even if Duffy doesn’t play, the Tar Heels have ample attacking depth. They’ve impressed with an all-freshman second midfield unit made up of Gary Merrill, Anthony Raio and Luke Bair. Plus, the Orange have shown they can slow down Pietramala, who had a program record 10 goals against UAlbany.

“We’ve played them two different ways this year already, and we like the way the second game went with him (Pietramala), so we’ll probably focus on that effort,” Gait said. “And, if we have to make adjustments, we will, but otherwise, I think we had a pretty good game plan last time, and that could continue.”

North Carolina’s goalie and faceoff situations

Another change in UNC’s lineup since SU last saw it is at goalie. After leaking 10 goals in the first half of the Tar Heels’ ACC Tournament Championship loss to Virginia, freshman netminder Josh Marcus was pulled for senior goalie Kent Goode. Goode logged six saves and conceded five goals in the next 30 minutes against the Cavaliers.

So, when the NCAA Tournament started, UNC head coach Joe Breschi stuck with Goode against UAlbany. The Virginia native wasn’t tested much but compiled eight saves and allowed four goals.

Gait’s not worried about which goalie North Carolina rolls out Saturday. He’s focused on Syracuse executing on offense.

“We’re going to try and bring some better quality shots and make it difficult for him,” he said of whoever UNC sticks in net. “So again, make adjustments, but our goal is always to get high quality shots where we can score on any goalie. And we’ve done a pretty good job this year on shooting.”

A position of consistent quality for the Tar Heels has been at the faceoff X.

Faceoff man Brady Wambach has the highest win rate of any remaining FOGO in the tournament. He’s won 66.8% of his draws this season, taking a nation-high 416 draws. The player who’s taken the second-most draws is SU’s John Mullen.

Mullen’s overall productivity has dropped from winning 63% in 2025 to 53.4% this campaign. But he’s finding form at the right time — and has shown improvement across his meetings with Wambach in 2026.

In the regular-season meeting, Mullen won a third of the draws, but in the ACC Tournament, he claimed 50%. The junior also won a season-high 21 faceoffs in Syracuse’s NCAA Tournament opener versus Yale Sunday.

“He’s playing pretty well right now, and we’re excited to see what he can do,” Gait said of Mullen.

The head coach said the goalie and faceoff specialist positions can make a difference in a do-or-die playoff game like Saturday. The Orange’s goalie McCool has rebounded well from his benching in Chapel Hill. His latest display against the Bulldogs featured 12 second-half saves, including a double-stop on Yale’s final possession.

“Those are important all the time, but in the playoffs, you got to have really good goalie and really good faceoff play if you want to win,” Gait said. “And right now, both those positions are playing pretty well. So, we feel that we got a shot. We just have to take care of all the other areas of the field.”

Published on May 13, 2026 at 5:11 pm
Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu | @nalumkal