Syracuse Lacrosse: We have a schedule, and wow is it a schedule

The 2018 Syracuse Orange lacrosse schedule was released on Thursday, a little earlier than usual. It’s a lot of what we’ve previously discussed but here’s the full slate:

Saturday February 10, 1 PM - Binghamton Bearcats

Saturday February 17, 2 PM - Albany Great Danes

Saturday February 24, 2 PM - Army Black Knights

Sunday March 4, 3 PM - @ Virginia Cavaliers

Saturday March 10, 1 PM - Johns Hopkins Blue Jays

Sunday March 18, 1 PM - @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Saturday March 24, 1:30 PM - @ Duke Blue Devils

Saturday March 31, 5 PM - Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Tuesday April 3, 7 PM - Hobart Statesmen

Tuesday April 10, 1 PM - @ Cornell Big Red

Saturday April 14, 5 PM - North Carolina Tar Heels

Saturday April 21, 2 PM - Navy Midshipmen

Friday April 27, 1/3:30 PM - ACC Semifinals (Charlottesville, VA)

Sunday April 29, Nooner - ACC Championship (Charlottesville, VA)

Saturday May 5, 2 PM - Colgate Raiders

First off, if your a fan of the Colgate-SU rivalry game, enjoy it because this could be the last one for a while given the new two-weekend ACC Tournament coming in 2019.

Second, PRAISE THE LORD WE DO NOT HAVE A GAME ON THE SATURDAY OF ST. PADDY’S DAY WEEKEND, which has been a staple of this team’s schedule for as long as I can remember!

Third, no I do not know what is up with this 1 PM game against Cornell on a Tuesday. Maybe spring break week? Seems suspicious.

Fourth, there are 13 games on the schedule with just four away games, so there’s plenty of opportunities to catch this squad.

At last year’s media day, coach John Desko mentioned that he would like to get “a couple more tigers on the schedule.” when talking in regards to the importance of the RPI in the eyes of the NCAA Selection Committee. The NCAA selects teams for the NCAAT based on a number of criteria but has shown particular fondness for head-to-head matchups and RPI, so unlike college football, scheduling cupcakes will not help you. Basically you want to schedule lacrosse like Syracuse scheduled football up until very recently. Ultimately, it looks like the coaching staff did exactly what Desko said they would do for the 2018 year as Navy and Rutgers are added while the St. John’s Red Storm and Siena Saints get the boot. I’m probably looking forward to the Navy game the most but it is nice to have another “hatable” team on the schedule with the Scarlet Knights.

While the Syracuse schedule is always one of the toughest, this year it is especially daunting. The only opponents not listed in Inside Lacrosse’s Top 25 preseason rankings are Binghamton, Colgate, and Hobart. Following the opener against the Bearcats, the Orange will have a seven week gauntlet. When all is said and done, SU could finish the season having played the 2018 conference champions from the Big Ten, Patriot League, and America East Conference.

Honestly, I don’t know if there has been a more intriguing, or more difficult, schedule for the men’s lacrosse team in the last 15 years.