Men's Lacrosse NCAA Playoff Action Begins May 16 Against Albany at the Dome
5/14/2004 8:23:09 PM | Men's Lacrosse
2004 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse First Round
Albany (10-5) at No. 4 Syracuse (11-2)
Sunday, May 16, 1 p.m.
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Television: None
Radio: ESPN Radio 1260 AM (Brian Higgins and Kyle Fetterly) - listen to broadcast over the internet at www.suathletics.com
WAER 88 FM (Jason Benetti, sports director)
Syracuse will play Albany at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 16, at the Carrier Dome in the first round of the 2004 NCAADivision I Men’s Lacrosse Tournament. The Orange earned the No. 4 seed in this year’s 16-team tournament with an 11-2 regular-season record. Johns Hopkins (11-1) is the No. 1 seed, followed by No. 2 Navy (12-2) and No. 3 Maryland (12-2).
“We always look forward to this time of year,” said SU head coach John Desko. “It’s a new season. You can’t afford any slip-ups.”
Albany (10-5) and Syracuse met for the first time this season on April 24, at the Carrier Dome. The Orange posted an 18-8 victory.
Syracuse comes into this contest winners of its last three games against the Great Danes, Massachusetts (17-10) and Georgetown (13-9). SU’s last loss was a 14-10 decision at Rutgers on April 17.
It is the second year in a row that the Orange is hosting an NCAA first-round game. Last year, Dartmouth traveled to Syracuse for a first-round playoff game and was defeated by the Orange, 13-11.
This is the second consecutive appearance for Albany in the NCAA Tournament. The Great Danes earned their first-ever bid last year when they faced another No. 4 seed in Princeton and lost a 16-10 decision. UAlbany has captured back-to-back America East Conference championships. It beat Binghamton this year for the title, 10-4, on May 8.
Orange Has the Second-Best Winning Percentage in NCAA Tournament Play
This will be Syracuse’s 25th appearance(22nd consecutive) in the NCAA Tournament. The Orange first qualified in 1979, which coincidentally was Coach Desko’s senior year at SU. The team made it again in 1980 and 1981, but missed the 1982 tournament. Since 1983, Syracuse has participated every year. The only other time the Orange earned a No. 4 seed was in 1998. SU lost a one-goal game to Princeton in the NCAA semifinals that year at Rutgers, 11-10. Syracuse has played in an unprecedented 21-straight NCAA semifinal games. The Orange has appeared in 13 championship games and won eight titles. It has won two of the last four NCAA crowns (2000 and 2002). Its other championship titles came in 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993 and 1995. Syracuse owns an NCAA Tournament record of 47-16 to rank second in all-time tournament winning percentage (.746). Princeton (26-8) has the best winning percentage at nearly 77 percent. SU’s participation in the 1990 tournament was vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions, so the NCAA does not recognize the Orange’s 3-0 record or its national championship from that season. According to the NCAA, SU owns the second-highest winning percentage in tournament play with a 44-16 record and .733 mark.
