Syracuse Lacrosse: Rivalry Game Versus John’s Hopkins Preview

Syracuse Lacrosse, fresh off a close victory at lowly St. Johns is looking to bounce back in a big way against big-time rival John’s Hopkins. Inside the Loud House previews the game.

The Syracuse Lacrosse team (4-1) is coming into this rivalry game against John Hopkins (4-2) having just squeaked by St. Johns (1-5). the score was an unimpressive 9-8 victory for the Orange. It was Syracuse Lacrosse’s first road game of the season, but still it was about a poor of a showing as you can get from these group of guys. The Orange will look to bounce back against a Johns Hopkins outfit who are among the best in college lacrosse.

Like Virginia, Johns Hopkins has a history of playing close, classic games with the Orange. The Orange trail in the all-time record 25-29-1 according to Nunesmagician.com. This edition of the rivalry will be played in Baltimore, Maryland: home of the Blue Jays. The last time these two played was last year, when the Blue Jays won in overtime 11-10; once again on their home field.

This year, the Blue Jays come in ranking 14th in the nation while Syracuse Lacrosse is ranked 6th, according to Inside Lacrosse rankings. The Blue Jays come into this game though losing their last two games. Syracuse hopes to take of advantage of that and pick up another quality win on the road and in the rivalry.

The game time is set for 4pm, with the game being shown on ESPN3/WatchESPN. Without further ado, let’s look at the matchup.

Players To Watch for:

Syracuse:

• Brendan Bomberry: Bomberry may not be the flashiest or fastest athlete on Syracuse’s Lacrosse team, but he can score with the best of them. In the Top 50 in goals per game, he picks his shots carefully and makes them. Expect him to make shots when it matters most.
• Nick Mariano: In my opinion, Mariano is the star of this team. Like Sergio Salcido, he is a great passer who is good at giving assists for open shots. He can make shots with the best of them, but its his ability to lure the defense in that causes other players to be open for great looks. Expect a three goal or so game from him.

Johns Hopkins:

• Shack Stanwick: Stanwick is the leader of this club on offense. He can score or assist, which makes him dangerous. In six games this season, he is tied for 2nd in goals scored on the team with 10, and 1st on the team with 9 assists. Syracuse needs to keep pressure on him if they hope to secure a victory on the road.
• John Crawley: Crawley leads the teams in goals with 11, but he doesn’t share the ball often with only 3 assists on the season. Despite this, he is great going on-on one on offense, and if you lose him for a second he’ll make you pay. Syracuse will need to keep an eye on him and double team him if he starts going off.

Numbers to Know (all stats via NCAA.com:

• Sergio Salcido and Nick Mariano rank in the Top 20 in assists per game, each averaging two.
• Syracuse Goalie Evan Malloy ranks 39th in the nation is save per game with about 10 per game. Johns Hopkins goalie did not rank in the Top 50.
• Johns Hopkins ranks 19th in the nation scoring offense with 12 goals a game while Syracuse is 12th with 13 goals a game.
• Both teams rank in the Top 4 in turnovers per game, with Hopkins ranking 1st and Syracuse ranking 4th, so don’t expect a lot of bad possessions from these two

Next: Syracuse Lacrosse: Orange Get First Road Win Versus St. John’s

Prediction:

Syracuse will come in hungry to play at a higher level than they did in their last games to St. John’s. I think they will turn that into points early. however, I expect Johns Hopkins to rally and hang with Syracuse most of the game, but Syracuse’s stars will shine brightest in the clutch final moments of the game. I expect the Orange will pull off the win on the road in a close one.

Score: Syracuse wins15-13.