Orange Win 900th Game; Clinch Share of ACC vs. Notre Dame

Saturday, March 31

Syracuse, N.Y.

5 PM

Syracuse University

5-3, 3-0ACC

Notre Dame

5-3, 1-1ACC

Notre Dame

Syracuse

Orange Win 900th Game; Clinch Share of ACC vs. Notre Dame

3/31/2018 7:17:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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Syracuse wins second-straight game against a top-10 team

Behind one of the best defensive performances in recent memory, the No. 9 Syracuse men's lacrosse team (5-3, 3-0 ACC) picked up its second-straight win over a top-10 opponent, defeating No. 6 Notre Dame (5-3, 1-1 ACC) 10-6 on Saturday.

The win is the 900th in program history, making Syracuse the second program in NCAA Division I lacrosse history to reach the milestone. Johns Hopkins (978) and Maryland (816) are the only other schools in the nation that have even 800.

With that win, Syracuse is the second program in collegiate lacrosse to reach 900 wins pic.twitter.com/9WwtYtxSx5
— Syracuse Lacrosse (@CuseMLAX) March 31, 2018

'Cuse also clinched at least a share of the ACC regular season title with the win. If the Orange win the league outright, Syracuse will have won a regular season or conference tournament title nine times in the nine seasons it has been associated with a conference. Syracuse has also now won eight-straight ACC games, dating back to the 2016 conference finale.

"It was definitely a great win for us today," said head coach John Desko. "I thought we played pretty well on both sides of the ball. With such a stingy defense that Notre Dame has, I had hoped that we could get to double-figures and hold them under. Not many teams get to double digits against them. Between some transition and being patient offensively, I thought we did a good job there.

"Defensively I thought we were terrific. I thought Dom had another special day making some one-on-one saves, especially on man-down. They were man-up eight times and they didn't score in those situations, so hats off to him and the man-down unit. Good win for the Orange, I think Notre Dame got a bit banged up, so we wish them the best. They played pretty well themselves on the defensive side of the field, especially."

The Orange defense is what propelled it to victory on Saturday, going 8-for-8 as a man-down unit, Dom Madonna made 13 saves in net, allowing just six goals and the unit held Notre Dame's top-three active scorers to no goals combined.

On offense, Nate Solomon led the way with four points (2-2), while Stephen Rehfuss (1-1), Brendan Bomberry (2-0), Jamie Trimboli (2-1) and Tucker Dordevic (1-1) also tallied multi-point games.

The Orange got started with three first quarter goals, with Bomberry, Trimboli and Pat Carlin opening a three goal lead.

The Fighting Irish would answer with three straight of their own to even things at three midway through the second, before the teams traded goals heading into the locker room. Bradley Voigt, and Bomberry were the goal scorers for 'Cuse in the second period, to allow the team to take a 5-4 lead heading into the break.

The second half was all Orange. After Notre Dame's Brian Willetts scored his first-of-two goals on the day to even the game at five, Syracuse went on a four-goal run, with two goals from Solomon, a tally from Rehfuss and a highlight-reel shot from Tucker Dordevic putting the exclamation point on the win.

???????????? #SCTOP10

Watch: https://t.co/5NbUQQSiVR pic.twitter.com/NjFxXuV3Cu
— Syracuse Lacrosse (@CuseMLAX) March 31, 2018

The Orange will have little time to enjoy the win, as the team hosts Hobart for the Kraus-Simmons Trophy on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on ACC Network Extra.

Tickets cost just $10 for adults and $5 for youth, with students admitted for free.

GAME NOTES: This is the 50th-consecutive game that Syracuse has won when it holds its opponent under 10 goals … Dom Madonna's save percentage of .684 is a career best in which he faces more than five shots … The 13 saves matches his career high from the Duke win last weekend … The win moved Syracuse to 10-4 all time against Notre Dame … Syracuse is now 13-7 in ACC play since joining the league in 2013 … This is the first game vs. an ACC opponent (regular season or tournament) that has been decided by more than one goal since the Orange won the ACC Championship in 2016 with a 14-8 win over Duke.