Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse tops ACC preseason coaches poll

The Syracuse Orange men’s lacrosse team has been named the preseason favorite in the ACC, according to the 2021 ACC men’s lacrosse preseason coaches poll.

The poll, which is voted on by the league’s five head coaches, had the Orange narrowly edging out the Duke Blue Devils for the top spot. The final results looked like this:

Syracuse coming out on top of Duke is a big surprise, at least to this observer. In every conceivable preseason ranking, the Blue Devils have been tabbed as not only the No. 1 team in the ACC, but also the entire country.

My best guess is that the ACC coaches put an extra premium on the Syracuse roster returning (almost) completely in tact. While Duke may have a more talented roster, and that’s up for debate, SU has the chemistry advantage to start the season over a team that is built largely on offseason transfers and incoming freshman.

In addition to a preseason poll, the coaches also voted on a preseason All-ACC team, in which the Orange also came out on top in terms of representation.

Midfielders Brendan Curry and Jamie Trimboli, SSDM Peter Dearth, and goalie Drake Porter were all named to the team.

Syracuse’s four selections to the 15-player team led the way, followed by three players each from the Virginia Cavaliers, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Duke rounded out the team with two players.

Tough to pin down exactly how the team that most experts agree is the preseason No. 1 in the country ends up with the fewest selections to their all-conference team, but such is the nature of the ACC. Notre Dame, coming in a distant fifth in the coaches poll, was ranked No. 8 in last week’s Inside Lacrosse preseason Top 20. The competition in the ACC is ferocious to say the least.

The preseason accolades have simply been rolling in for the Orange left and right. Also on Tuesday, Inside Lacrosse named their preseason All-Americans, and Syracuse once again led the way with three first-team selections and seven players total receiving honors. Curry, Trimboli, and Porter were the first teamers.

Schedule News

While we are still, somehow, waiting on the full men’s lacrosse schedule to be released, we did receive a couple more nuggets today courtesy of an ESPN press release on the February ACC Network schedule.

The Orange are now officially scheduled to play two home games in February, starting on Sunday, February 21 at Noon against Army. On Saturday, February 27, they will play host to Virginia at 6 PM. Both games will be televised on the ACC Network.

Officially, here is what we know right now of SU’s 2021 schedule:

February 21 - vs. Army West Point

February 27 - vs. Virginia

March 27 - at Duke

May 8 - vs. Utah