Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Syracuse (2-4, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) managed a season-low seven goals in its last contest, a three-goal loss against then-unranked Johns Hopkins on the road. The Orange return with a matchup against unranked Stony Brook (5-2, 1-0 America East) on Saturday afternoon at LaValle Stadium.

Here’s what our beat writers predict will happen as SU looks for its third win of the season:

Alex Cirino (4-2)
Top 20 bound
Syracuse 19, Stony Brook 14

When Syracuse last fell below the nation’s top 20 rankings in 2019, it was only there for a week. This year the Orange have struggled against ranked opponents and have put up questionable performances against unranked teams on the bubble. In their loss to then-unranked Johns Hopkins, they were held to their lowest scoring total since 2018. Despite its seven-goal outing last Sunday, SU still ranks within the nation’s top 15 scoring offenses, averaging 14.5 goals per game.

Against a Stony Brook team, which, like Syracuse, is on the brink of Inside Lacrosse’s rankings, the Orange’s offense will finally erupt the way they have been expected to all season. When the two teams played last year, SU went on a 9-0 run and held the Seawolves scoreless for nearly 20 minutes. Stony Brook will be without three of its top five scorers from last season, and if Syracuse gets going early, its depth will take over for a dominant win that should carry it back into the top 20 rankings.

Roshan Fernandez (4-2)
Getting it together
Syracuse 17, Stony Brook 16

Syracuse is set to play its third unranked opponent of the year — but this time, the Orange are unranked too. They beat up Stony Brook last year behind five-point performances from Brendan Curry and Owen Hiltz, as well as a hat-trick from Tucker Dordevic, among others. This year, Syracuse’s offense has been far more inconsistent. It managed a season-low seven goals in a winnable game against Johns Hopkins, and 13 goals or fewer against Maryland, Virginia and Army.

Besides UAlbany, Stony Brook is Syracuse’s last chance at an easy win. SU needs to put together a decent offensive performance and a decent defensive one in the same game. It needs to get its act together now. If it can’t do enough to beat Stony Brook and it slips to 2-5, I think Syracuse could very realistically miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007.

Anish Vasudevan (4-2)
Bounce back?
Syracuse 16, Stony Brook 12

Last week’s game against Johns Hopkins was supposed to be Syracuse’s catapult into its first winning streak of the year following a win over Hobart. Instead, the Orange lost to their first unranked opponent of the year, helping the Blue Jays get back into Inside Lacrosse’s top 20 rankings while SU fell out of it for the first time since 2019. But Syracuse still has an opportunity to get back on track this weekend against another unranked opponent in Stony Brook, which it easily beat last season.

Like that 17-9 win over the Seawolves, the Orange will need to rely on players such as Curry to open up the offense. Opposing defenses have figured out that by doubling Dordevic, they are able to force SU into tough situations. But last week the Orange found a minor solution to that issue, getting Curry open off of cuts near the cage. Though he hit the pipe a few times on his attempts and only found the back of the net once, Curry needs to replicate that separation offensively if the Orange want to win on Sunday.

Published on March 18, 2022 at 3:52 pm