Syracuse certainly has no shortage of rivals in lacrosse. It has strong in-state rivals in Colgate, Hobart and Cornell. Johns Hopkins and Princeton are synonymous in rivalry with the Orange. What's sometimes lost in the shuffle is how much of a strong rival Virginia has been over the years for the Orange.
The two teams have met 23 times. When they met earlier this season, Virginia took the 12-11 series lead after a well-played, back-and-forth game that might as well have stood as a example of how these games usually play out. They've played not only in memorable regular season games but in many a tournament game, Final Fours and even for the National Title. As recently as 2006 they've played each other in the Final Four (Virginia won 17-10 en route to the title), which was payback for 2002 when the Orange beat the Cavaliers 12-11 en route to a title of their own.
The Washington Times' D1Course Blog runs down their list of the top five games in the history of the series. They lead with 1997's uber-classic #2 Syracuse 22, #1 Virginia 21, a game I attended and have talked about before. That these two teams have met so many times in the post-season and yet two games on the list are regular season match-ups (including this season's classic) is a testament to how great this rivalry really is. You can see footage from #4 1999 match-up here and the #2 1994 match-up here.
Since 1999, anytime these two have met in the tournament, the winner has gone on to win the national title. Let's hope that trend continues. Unless Virginia wins...
The two teams have met 23 times. When they met earlier this season, Virginia took the 12-11 series lead after a well-played, back-and-forth game that might as well have stood as a example of how these games usually play out. They've played not only in memorable regular season games but in many a tournament game, Final Fours and even for the National Title. As recently as 2006 they've played each other in the Final Four (Virginia won 17-10 en route to the title), which was payback for 2002 when the Orange beat the Cavaliers 12-11 en route to a title of their own.
The Washington Times' D1Course Blog runs down their list of the top five games in the history of the series. They lead with 1997's uber-classic #2 Syracuse 22, #1 Virginia 21, a game I attended and have talked about before. That these two teams have met so many times in the post-season and yet two games on the list are regular season match-ups (including this season's classic) is a testament to how great this rivalry really is. You can see footage from #4 1999 match-up here and the #2 1994 match-up here.
Since 1999, anytime these two have met in the tournament, the winner has gone on to win the national title. Let's hope that trend continues. Unless Virginia wins...