Between The Lines

Trivia Question (Terps Edition): How many straight years have the Orange played Maryland in a men's lacrosse exhibition game?

This week: The games don't count quite yet. Thursday's third and fourth exhibition games for the men's lacrosse team went much better than the first two. Last Saturday the offense sputtered in a 6-5 loss to Hofstra, but Thursday “the offense was ten times better” according to hat trick scorer Tim Desko.

Team captain and big picture man, goalie John Galloway, is well aware of where the team was, is, and where it needs to be. “I think to get out there to play a full four quarters with the guys that we'll be seeing next week on Sunday, and just to have that chemistry built throughout the game and have the same couple of middie lines, the same attack guys rotating through, I think that gives us a good feel of what to expect in a real game time situation and we're going to learn from that in film.”

The starters took care of 4^th ranked Maryland 11-9 in the first scrimmage Thursday before mostly reserves dispatched of Canisius 10-6 in the day's second game. It counts for real Sunday the 20^th when #12 Denver comes to the Dome. Not that we were expecting anything less but new #22 JoJo Marasco is certain the team will “be ready 100% for that game.”

Your Twitter Inquiries: This week @bcmontgomery wanted to know, “Can Cuse lax go undefeated at home and besides UVA Cornell and JH what is their biggest trap game?”

Despite the tough schedule, John Desko's squad going undefeated at home is always an option. It most recently happened in 2008 en route to the team's 10^th national title. The Orange went 9-0 in the Carrier Dome that season including a 9-8 double overtime victory over Georgetown that was tied by Steven Brooks with 2 seconds left in regulation before Brendan Loftus buried the winner in the second OT.

Last year the Orange were on their way to another undefeated Dome season (6-0) before Army short circuited win number seven in the first round of the playoffs. That leads directly into the second half of the question. What is the toughest non Virginia, Cornell or Hopkins home game this season? Denver opens the year in the Dome for the second straight season with Bill Tierney at the helm and April visitor Notre Dame was seconds away from the national title last year. But the game that jumps off the page is Army's visit on Sunday February 27^th.

Given the way last season ended I imagine the Orange will be more than a little bit fired up when the Black Knights of the Hudson arrive for their annual regular season meeting. One would think the Cadets will also be out to prove last year's playoff win in the Dome, the first such accomplishment by a road team since 1991, was no fluke. Oh, both teams are also really good. Circle Syracuse-Army on your schedule right now.

Want your question answered next week? Tweet me @BrianHigginsSU.

Higgo's Hero: The Pink Zone. This is the fifth year of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Pink Zone initiative to raise breast cancer awareness. The catalyst for pinkifying the month in women's basketball was former longtime North Carolina State head coach Kay Yow who passed away from her third bout with breast cancer two years ago.

Throughout the month most teams across women's basketball will don anything ranging from specially designed pink uniforms to pink shoelaces and pink headbands. In the first four years of the campaign nearly 3.3 million dollars have been raised for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund which works in concert with the V Foundation.

This Saturday will be Syracuse's turn to host a Pink Zone game when the women take on Villanova in the Carrier Dome at 1:00. It's one of 16 Pink Zone games Big East teams will be involved in this year. You can show your support for the fight against cancer in a variety of ways. Donations can always be made to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund , its parent organization the V Foundation or of course Jim Boeheim's cause Coaches vs. Cancer at any time. Or you can dress yourself from head to toe in pink and head on out to the game. Either way, your point will be made. The Pink Zone is this week's hero.

Trivia Answer: Two. Maybe it's just me, but doesn't it seem like the Orange-Terp exhibition series has been going on forever? Apparently not. Go figure the two perennial powers haven't met in the regular season since the season opener in 1983, a 16-13 Orange win that began the charge to Syracuse's first ever national title.

The last time the Orange and the Terps met in a game that counted, Syracuse prevailed 11-6 in the 2009 quarterfinals en route to the school's 11^th national title. That day will long be remembered for Al Cavalieri's spectacular 14 saves in place of an ill John Galloway.

Upcoming Schedule: We'll discuss the lacrosse opener against Denver in a week's time. Before then women's basketball holds court twice inside the Carrier Dome. Saturday is the Pink Zone affair versus Villanova at 1:00. Then Louisville comes to town Wednesday at 7:00. We'd love to see you wearing your pink, or orange, at the Dome this week but if you can't make it ESPN 97.7 and Orange All Access are your places for all the women's basketball action.

Questions: Tweet your 140 characters my way @BrianHigginsSU. Answers could come straight back on twitter, in an upcoming broadcast or in next week's column, so keep your eyes and ears open.

Syracuse University Athletics

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