Syracuse bucks trend, holds No. 1 spot in Inside Lacrosse Top 20
Leigh Ann Rodgers | Staff Photographer
SU's defense limited UNC to only one goal in the fourth quarter on Saturday, a big reason SU reeled off its big 7-1 run to end the game.
For the first time in nearly two months, the No.1-ranked team kept its spot atop the Inside Lacrosse rankings. Syracuse’s comeback, overtime win at then-No. 17 North Carolina has kept the Orange safely at No. 1.
SU is the only team other than Maryland to hold the top-ranked spot for more than a single week. The Orange is on an eight-game winning streak and has not lost since Feb. 25 against Army.
Syracuse (10-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) used a 10-goal run to pull away from Cornell on Tuesday night before traveling to Chapel Hill, North Carolina last weekend. Near the end of the third quarter, Syracuse trailed by five. But a 7-1 run topped off with a Sergio Salcido game-winner ended all hopes of a Tar Heels upset.
UNC bumped up a spot to No. 16. Duke moved up to No. 4 and Notre Dame to No. 6. For the first time all year, an ACC team is out of the Top 20. Virginia (8-6) got blown out at Duke, 20-11.
Syracuse’s Nate Solomon, Nick Mariano and Jordan Evans each finished with a hat trick against Cornell. Evans added two assists en route to a team-high five points. Brendan Bomberry and Stephen Rehfuss each added a pair of goals as well in the win.
Against UNC, Salcido poured in a season-high three goals while Mariano, Rehfuss and Paolo Ciferri each added a pair of goals. Salcido improved his shot selection on Saturday, scoring on 60 percent of his attempts. He entered the game shooting only 15 percent. Rehfuss has quietly broken out for SU, adding two goals and two assists for the second straight game.
The Orange outshot both Cornell (47-34) and UNC (41-37) and dominated ground balls (36-27 and 35-23, respectively). The defense struggled to stop star UNC attack Luke Goldstock, who had a hat trick and three assists in the loss.
Senior faceoff specialist Ben Williams seems to have found his stride after a rough first half of the season. Williams dominated Cornell, winning a season-high 76 percent of faceoffs. Then against UNC he finished 15-of-25, including five of the game’s last six and 10 of the last 12.
The Orange hosts Binghamton on Saturday at 2 p.m. for Senior Day, its final game before the conference tournament beginning April 28. The Bearcats (9-2, 3-1 American East) will play No. 5 Albany on Wednesday before traveling to Syracuse.
Published on April 17, 2017 at 9:56 am
Contact Charlie: csdistur@syr.edu | @charliedisturco
