Berth in the NCAA Semifinals on the Line Sunday Against #5 Notre Dame

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NCAA Bracket (.pdf)

ITHACA, N.Y. - The third-seeded Syracuse men’s lacrosse team (13-2) continues its quest for its 10th national championship on Sunday, May 18 when it meets Great Western Lacrosse League champion Notre Dame (14-2) at 3 p.m. in the NCAA quarterfinals at Cornell's Schoellkopf Field. A victory would put the Orange in the Final Four beginning on Saturday, May 24 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass.

Tickets for Sunday's quarterfinals are on sale at www.cornellbigredtickets.com or in person at the Cornell Box Office. They are $10 for adults and $5 for children and students. All tickets are general admission. No tickets are available at the Carrier Dome Box Office.

The game will be broadcast live on the Syracuse Radio Network. Brian Higgins and Kyle Fetterly will have the call on TK-99.5 FM in Syracuse and 1180 WHAM-AM in Rochester. Live streaming audio of the contest can also be found on SUathletics.com via Orange All Access. The game will also be televised nationally on ESPNU.

The Orange advanced to the quarterfinal round for the 27th time in school history with a 20-3 win against Canisius in the tournament’s opening round. The sixth-seeded Irish rallied for an 8-7 overtime win against Colgate to move on. Sunday’s other quarterfinal pairing features top-seeded Duke and Ohio State. The Blue Devils and Buckeyes will face off at 12 p.m.

OFFENSE ABOUND IN CORNELL SUNDAY
The four teams that will descend upon Schoellkopf Field for Sunday’s NCAA quarterfinals all know how to put the ball in the cage. All four squads at the site rank in the top five nationally in scoring offense. The first game features Duke, the highest scoring team in Division I (15.22), and Ohio State, which owns the third-best scoring offense (13.38). Sunday’s second quarterfinal pits Syracuse (No. 2 in scoring offense at 13.93 gpg) against Notre Dame. The Irish are fifth in that category with a 12.31 goals-per-game average.

Three of the five Tewaaraton Trophy finalists will also be on hand. Duke’s Matt Danowski is the nation’s leader in points per game (5.35) and assists per outing (3.12). He is also the NCAA’s career scoring leader. The Blue Devils’ offense also features Zack Greer, who owns the NCAA career goals record, and leads the country in goals per game at 3.41. The Orange’s Mike Leveille (Delmar, N.Y.) lists third in points per game (4.67). He ranks seventh in goals per game (2.8) and ranks ninth in assists per contest (1.87).

MANO-E-MANO
The two best faceoff men in the country will go head-to-head Sunday. Syracuse’s Danny Brennan (Farmingdale, N.Y.) is the national leader with a .676 winning percentage. He is 165-for-244 on the season and won all four of his draws versus Canisius in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Irish will send its faceoff ace Taylor Clagett to the X to counter Brennan. Claggett lists second nationally in winning percentage (.645), and as a team, the Irish lead the country in faceoff winning percentage at .650. Claggett is 198-for-307 on the season and won 12-of-16 draws against Colgate and its dynamic faceoff ace Chris Eck.

ORANGE DISMANTLES CANISIUS IN TOURNAMENT’S FIRST ROUND
Syracuse used its explosive offense and stifling defense to post a 20-3 win over Canisius in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament on May 11 at the Carrier Dome. Eleven players scored in the contest and seven finished with multiple goals. The SU defense was just as dominant, allowing just three goals, which equals the Orange record for fewest goals given up in a postseason game (Army, 1996). For the second time in three outings, SU held an opponent scoreless for an entire half, not allowing a Canisius tally after the intermission. The victory improved the Orange’s all-time record in Carrier Dome playoff games to 21-1. It’s 17-goal margin of victory was its highest of the year and most since it beat Cornell by 17 (22-5) in 1994. It also represented SU’s largest margin of victory in a postseason game since knocking off Michigan State 28-7 in the first round of the 1991 NCAA Championship.

SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
The Fighting Irish are riding a season-best seven-game winning streak after knocking off Colgate, 8-7, in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Irish finished the regular season in a three-way tie with Ohio State and Denver for the Great Western Lacrosse League regular-season title. Notre Dame defeated the Buckeyes, 9-2, in the GWLL Tournament to secure the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championship. Notre Dame boasts the fifth-best scoring offense in the country at 12.31 goals per game and its faceoff unit is No. 1 nationally with a 65 percent success rate. The Irish defense also has been solid this season, giving up 6.81 goals per contest, which lists fifth nationally.

Junior attackman Ryan Hoff leads Notre Dame in points (44) and goals (40). He ranks 11th nationally in goals per game (2.5). Senior linemate Alex Wharton is one of the top feeders in Division I. He is seventh in the NCAA at 1.88 assists per outing and has 30 helpers on the year. Senior middie Taylor Clagett is second behind SU’s Danny Brennan in faceoff winning percentage. Clagett has won 64.5 perecent of his draws on the year and was 12-of-18 in ND’s first-round win against Colgate. Defensively, goalie Joey Kemp is one of the best in the business. Kemp lists second nationally in goals-against average (6.4) and is third in save percentage (.636).

SERIES NOTES
The Orange is 2-0 all-time against the Fighting Irish, including a 1-0 mark in the postseason. SU knocked off Notre Dame, 12-5 , in 2001 NCAA semifinals to reach the national championship game. It also posted a 19-13 victory against the Irish during the 2004 regular season.

IRISH NOT UNFAMILIAR TO ALL
Being that the last time Syracuse played Notre Dame was in 2004, most members of the Orange roster have never faced the Irish. However, three of SU’s fifth-year seniors have. Midfielder Steven Brooks (Libertyville, Ill.), attackman Mike MacDonald (Syracuse, N.Y.) and faceoff ace Danny Brennan (Farmingdale, N.Y.) each saw action in 2004’s 19-13 SU win. Brennan won his only faceoff of the contest and Brooks established a personal milestone, scoring the first goal of his college career in the third quarter.

Syracuse University Athletics

Berth in the NCAA Semifinals on the Line Sunday Against #5 Notre Dame

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