It's May and if you are a college lacrosse fan, this is your time of the year. The conference tournaments have concluded and the NCAA Tournament is revving up like it is the 80s and they're rocking in Weedsport (that's a reference for old folks like me). And much like back then, your Syracuse Orange are present and ready to rock.
So rejoice Orange fans as both the men's and women's teams have made the tournament this season. Both teams had their ups and downs this season but I would like to remind you also that both teams played VERY difficult schedules and earned this opportunity. And now it is time for them to prove they belong.
The Syracuse women's team will play Brown on Friday, May 9th in New Haven, Connecticut and if they win, will face the winner of Albany and Yale on Sunday, the 11th. The Orange finished with a 9-8 record and earned an at-large bid. The Orange have not been to the championship game since 2021 and with any luck, in their 4th appearance under head coach Kayla Treanor, they will return to glory once again. I personally would love nothing more than to see #44 Emma Ward, who decided to return to Syracuse, ride off after winning a title for the Syracuse program.
Syracuse women's and men's lacrosse get going soon in their respective NCAA Tournaments.
As for the Syracuse men's team, they enter the NCAA tournament with the 4th seed after beating Duke in the ACC Tournament championship game. After losing three straight, the Orange defeated Notre Dame and then Duke to win the trophy. With that win, the Orange have earned a first-round game against Harvard in the JMA Wireless Dome on Sunday, May 11th at 5 pm (it will also be televised on ESPNU and on TK99 locally as well as the Varsity Network app).
Tickets start at $17 for adults according to Cuse's official website with parking passes also available so if you can afford it and have the opportunity, I hope you will show up and make that Dome loud. I attended the Johns Hopkins game and there was a huge crowd there and I know the Notre Dame Dome game attendance was announced at 11,268 (which also according to the official website was the first crowd to have over ten thousand for a lacrosse game since 2015).
Congratulations to both programs on your successful seasons and good luck. I hope Memorial Day weekend in Boston, Massachusetts (the home of championship weekend for both tournaments) is a sea of Orange and the tradition of Syracuse winning lacrosse titles once again is relived.
The landscape of lacrosse has changed since the days when Syracuse lacrosse reigned supreme and won more championship trophies than any other program but if the men's team can play like they did in the ACC tournament, Cornell looks very impressive but I wouldn't count the Orange out just yet.