Eight Home Games Highlight 2015 Schedule

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse University men's lacrosse team will face eight teams ranked in this year's Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Top 20 poll, including six of the top 10, as part of its 2015 schedule, released today by head coach John Desko. This year's slate features dates with seven NCAA Tournament teams from last season, including both national championship game participants.

The Orange's four Atlantic Coast Conference opponents all start the year ranked in the top 10. NCAA finalist Notre Dame (No. 2) and two-time defending national champion Duke (No. 3) are both in the top five. North Carolina is No. 6 and Virginia is No. 10. In addition, the Orange will take on No. 5 Johns Hopkins, No. 8 Cornell, No. 13 Albany and No. 18 Army this season.

Syracuse's home schedule features eight games at the Carrier Dome, including conference clashes against Virginia and Duke. The Orange has three true road games on the docket as well as a neutral-site contest versus St. John's in a return trip to the Cobb County Classic. This year's ACC Championship will once again be held at PPL Park outside Philadelphia.

The Orange opens the season with four consecutive home dates. For the second year in a row, Syracuse starts off against Siena in the earliest season opener in school history on Feb. 7. A massive non-conference clash follows, as Cornell comes calling on Feb. 15, marking the first time in series history the Orange and Big Red will stage their annual battle for Central New York lacrosse bragging rights before March.

Following the Cornell game, SU welcomes Army back to the Dome on Feb. 22. The Orange and Black Knights did not play last season, the first year since 2002 the two traditional lacrosse rivals did not square off. A visit by Virginia on March 1 kicks off the start of ACC play.

After the homestand, Syracuse heads to Georgia for a March 7 clash with St. John's in this year's Cobb County Classic at Fifth Third Bank Stadium on the campus of Kennesaw State University. The Orange defeated the Red Storm in last year's inaugural event, 14-8.

Syracuse returns home to face archrival Johns Hopkins on March 14, then welcomes Duke to the Dome for the first time since 1994 on March 22. The Orange closes out the month with a road date at Notre Dame (March 28).

Albany makes its annual trek to the Dome on April 2, and the Orange wraps up conference play at North Carolina on April 11, the team's first trip to Chapel Hill since 1993. Syracuse hosts Hobart in the annual battle for the Kraus-Simmons Trophy on April 14 before heading to PPL Park for the ACC Championship. The top four teams in the league standings play in the tournament semifinals on April 24, with the two winners advancing to the conference championship game on April 26. The fifth-place ACC team is scheduled to play Penn at PPL Park on April 25.

SU closes out the regular season at Colgate on May 2.

The 2015 campaign marks the 96th season of varsity lacrosse at Syracuse. The Orange is ranked No. 4 in the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook preseason poll and was picked to finish second in the ACC in a vote of the league's coaches. Last year, Syracuse posted an 11-5 record and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for 31st time in the last 32 seasons.

A list of televised games will be released at a later date.

Syracuse University Athletics

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