Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Orange No. 12 in Inside Lacrosse’s preseason media poll

Lacrosse season is now less than three weeks away, and we got one step closer on Monday when Inside Lacrosse released their 2022 men’s Division I preseason media poll.

The Syracuse Orange came in ranked No. 12 in the poll, tied with Denver.

The top of the poll is dominated by teams that happen to be on SU’s schedule, no surprise given the perennial strength of the ACC in lacrosse.

Two-time defending national champions Virginia took the top spot in near-unanimous fashion, garnering 19 of the 20 first-place votes. That other vote went to last year’s runner-up, Maryland, who also comes in at No. 2 in this poll. Duke, Georgetown, Notre Dame and North Carolina round out the top six.

So, to recap, the Orange play five of the top six teams in the preseason rankings, two of whom they play twice. That's a total of seven games against the top six!

Other Syracuse opponents in the poll include Army at No. 10, Cornell at No. 15, and Johns Hopkins at No. 19. Albany was not in the top-20 but did end up receiving votes.

All told, 10 of SU’s 14 games are against currently ranked teams. Talk about diving into the deep end for Gary Gait.

The Orange will be led against this formidable schedule by a core of four returning preseason All-Americans in Tucker Dordevic, Brendan Curry, Brett Kennedy and Owen Hiltz.

Syracuse’s 2022 season opens in less than three weeks on Saturday, February 12 at 12:30 PM against Holy Cross in the Carrier Dome.