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No. 1 vs No. 2 matchups are all you can ask for in sports. Having one in February makes it even better. Enter Syracuse versus Maryland in the JMA Wireless Dome Friday.

The Orange have a shot at avenging last year’s season-ending Final Four loss to the Terrapins, where they fell 14-8. It was their second loss to UMD in four months and eighth in a row. The Terrapins have been Syracuse’s kryptonite since John Tillman took charge.

Solving the Maryland problem would work wonders for SU. For one, it’d finally get over the mental hurdle of beating the Terrapins. Two, it’d establish that the Orange are the best team in the country. But it’s easier said than done against a program of Maryland’s caliber.

Here’s how our beat writers feel No. 2 Syracuse (2-0, Atlantic Coast) will fare against No. 1 Maryland (1-0, Big Ten):

Zak Wolf (2-0)
The nightmare continues
Syracuse 10, Maryland 12

This is my third year on this beat. I have one rule when picking games. Don’t bet against John Tillman when he plays Syracuse.

I hate to bash Syracuse, but Maryland is the antithesis of what the Orange want to do. While SU likes to ramp up the pace, the Terrapins employ a slow, methodical, grind-it-out style. Tillman teams simply don’t beat themselves. They punish every slight miscue, which was evident in both meetings last season. Friday will be the latest case.

Maryland’s biggest absence from last year’s national runner-up team is Logan McNaney, who started 73 games. But even that might not be a big loss. McNaney missed most of 2023 with a torn ACL, and this year’s starter, Brian Ruppel, played Maryland’s final 13 games.

The Terrapins might’ve had concerns at the faceoff X after it was a weak point in 2025. That was solved when it brought in Vermont transfer Henry Dodge, who led the country with a 73.1% win rate. Dodge creates a two-headed monster with sophomore Jonah Carrier.

Every perceived hole was filled on a team that barely had trouble with Syracuse last season. Friday’s showdown will be closer, as one would expect from a No. 1 vs No. 2 matchup. I doubt Spallina will be held to one assist with Will Schaller guarding him, but one matchup won’t define this meeting.

Until I see Syracuse beat Maryland, I can’t trust the Orange in a game like this.

Nicholas Alumkal (2-0)
Sixty minutes, no escape
Syracuse 8, Maryland 10

When these two teams faced off in Maryland last year, fellow scribe Cooper Andrews and I got locked in SECU Stadium for an hour after the game. After filing our dispatches, we were the last souls in the edifice after SU’s early-season momentum was rained on and blown off course in the adverse College Park conditions.

We posed with Testudo. We circled the perimeter looking for an unlocked gate. We ran on the turf field, looking for another human.

We couldn’t escape.

In a way, it perfectly resembles what it’s like playing against Maryland. Two hacks’ misfortune mirrored what the Orange have experienced each time they’ve played UMD since 2009. Sixty minutes of discomfort and frustration — courtesy of Tillman’s well-drilled, disciplined tactics — with no way out. It’s no fun. It’s like approaching every gate in SECU Stadium — twice — and none of them are unlocked. It only ends in defeat — eight straight for Syracuse versus UMD, to be exact — and demoralization. Cooper and I know. So does SU, since Maryland ended its 2025 season.

While Friday’s matchup is in the Dome, the Terrapins’ headache-inducing strategy remains. Syracuse’s electric offense will encounter a Schaller-shaped blockage, blow a fuse and shut down. Maryland’s near-mistake-free play will do just enough to overcome the Orange. Tillman will continue to haunt the Orange fans as they exit the venue. At least they can leave — hopefully Zak and I can, too, after covering this one.

But for SU, there will be no escaping the Terrapins.

Mauricio Palmar (2-0)
Unstoppable force, immovable object
Syracuse 11, Maryland 14

You get the gist. The unstoppable force? Well, that would be Gait’s high-octane Syracuse offense, the same one that just put 18 shots past Saint Joseph’s Tommy Gross — an All-Atlantic 10 goalie — on just 20 on-target attempts. Without Payton Anderson, mind you. After that 20-2 win Saturday, Spallina said it felt like just about each of SU’s shots either hit the post or found the net, and if you didn’t have the numbers in front of you, it’d be hard to refute that.

The immovable object? Well, that would be Tillman’s impenetrable Maryland defense, the same one that silenced Spallina for 59 minutes and 57 seconds when these two squads last faced off in last season’s Final Four. The Terrapins brought back Schaller — the senior close defense who ranked as Inside Lacrosse’s best non-Spallina player in its Preseason Top 50 — and he looked downright dominant in UMD’s season-opening win over Loyola.

As electric as SU’s offense has looked out of the gate, it simply can’t match that. It hasn’t been able to push that immovable object since 2009, and it won’t be able to do so now.

These are the best two teams in the country. Inside Lacrosse has them No. 1 and No. 2 for a reason. But one is just a smidge better than the other, and on Friday, it will be clear that the crown belongs to Maryland.

Published on February 12, 2026 at 2:16 am