Villanova 11 - Syracuse 10: The Sky Is Officially Falling

The Syracuse Orange basketball team losing in the Elite Eight is not a desired outcome, but it's something we can wrap our heads around.

The Syracuse Orange lacrosse team losing to something called the Villanova Wildcats? Unconscionable.

We've officially entered rebuilding mode now that the Orange have lost a Big East lacrosse game for the first time, an 11-10 stunner to unranked Villanova in the Carrier Dome.

Unranked Villanova, coming off losses to Princeton and Maryland by a combined score of 25-13, exploited those issues Sunday to erase a 7-5 halftime deficit and defeat the No. 9 Orange 11-10 before a Carrier Dome crowd of 3,811. It was the first Big East loss for SU (4-3, 2-1) since the conference began play in 2010.

"To beat a team like Syracuse at the Carrier Dome is about as big a win as we’ve ever had in our program," Villanova coach Mike Corrado said. "After the way we lost our last two games, to come up here and do what we did, we’re extremely proud of our guys."

John Desko flowed forth with praise for the winners:

"I thought they (Villanova) did very well today."

Too kind, John.

The Orange took a 7-5 lead into halftime but the Wildcats took control of the game in the second half, winning nine of 11 face-off, scoring four third quarter goals and two more in the fourth to ice the win.

Tommy Palasek led the Orange with a four points (2G, 2A) while JoJo Marasco added three points (1G, 2A) and Kevin Drew notched two goals.

What does a win like this mean to an up-and-coming program like Villanova? The Nova Blog called it "historic" and they'd be right on that account, for both sides.

It's only the third time ever that a John Desko-coached Syracuse team has three losses in the regular season and the first time since 2007. And the Orange have a murderer's row ahead on the schedule, meaning this could get out of hand real quick if things don't turn around.

Expect the Orange to plummet in the rankings this week, as much as a Syracuse program can plummet in lacrosse rankings, that is. 13-14ish?

Keep an eye on College Crosse for more updates.

Syracuse Lacrosse coach John Desko talks about the 10 -11 loss to Villanova along with Syracuse players Brian Megill Tommy Palasek and Dominic Lamolinara. (Mike Greenlar/Syracuse.com):