'Cuse Closes Conference Slate on Saturday

#11 SYRACUSE vs. #18 NORTH CAROLINA
Game Details	Saturday, April 13 \| North Carolina Lacrosse Stadium \| 3:30 p.m.
Game Coverage	Live Coverage: Stats Watch: ACC Network Extra Listen: Cuse.com \| TK99/105 \| Syracuse Sports Network from Learfield IMG College TuneIn \| WAER Twitter: @CuseMLAX Instagram: @CuseMLAX Facebook: /CuseMLAX
Syracuse Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Game Notes
UNC Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Game Notes

THE GAME
- Syracuse closes out its ACC Regular Season slate with a road trip to North Carolina, looking to win its third-straight game.
- The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. Brian Higgins and Kyle Fetterly will broadcast the action on TK99/105, Cuse.com and the TuneIn App, while WAER will also carry the game.

THE CAROLINA SERIES
- The Orange and the Tar Heels meet Saturday for the 26th time, with Syracuse controlling the all-time
series, 17-8 and having won five of the last-six matchups with Carolina.
- Two of their last-six matchups have come in the ACC Semifinals, with the teams splitting those two contests.
- The three most recent matchups have ended in one-goal thrillers. In 2017 Paolo Ciferri knotted the game late so Sergio Salcido could win it in overtime at Fetzer Field, but Carolina took the ACC Tournament game. The Orange trailed by nine at halftime, but stormed out of the locker room and nearly came all the way back, falling 16-15 as a potential game-tying shot didn't make it through traffic as time expired. Last time the teams met was Brendan Curry's first clutch moment as the freshman single-handedly erased a two goal deficit in the final 1:34 and assisted on Brendan Bomberry's overtime game-winner.

CONFERENCE KINGS
- Saturday's game holds crucial ACC Tournament implications. The Orange need a win to significantly improve its chances of avoiding the opening round game of the ACC Tournament and continue the program's streak of finishing .500 or better in each of the last-five seasons.
- Since joining the ACC, Syracuse boasts a 15-9 record in league games and also has two ACC Tournament titles. Duke holds the second-best mark in that period at 14-10 (Syracuse has played two ACC game already this season). Notre Dame (13-11), North Carolina (11-12) and Virginia (5-19) make up the remaining records.
- 'Cuse was 4-0 in league play in each of the last-two seasons and has never finished worse than 2-3 2014, its inaugural season in the league. The Orange have been .500 or better each year since.
- For that dominance, Head Coach John Desko has become the first coach in the history of the league to win ACC Men's Lacrosse Coach of the Year in four-straight seasons. No other coach has done so even three times.

TOURNEY TIME
- While a win won't guarantee Syracuse gets a spot in the 2/3 matchup of the ACC Tournament and a loss won't automatically put 'Cuse in the 4/5 game - each scenario makes the result more likely.
- With three total ACC games remaining, the only certainty is that Virginia will get the No. 1 seed – and with North Carolina and Notre Dame set to play next weekend, nothing will be firmly decided until then. However, there's one scenario that the Orange can automatically put themselves in the semifinal this weekend. If Virginia beats Duke AND Syracuse beats North Carolina, 'Cuse will get either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed. Without those results this weekend, 'Cuse won't know what round they'll open with until next week.

TEN BELOW
- Syracuse has won 57-straight games when holding opponents to under 10 goals in a game.
- 37 of those games have come since the start of the 2015 season, including a high of 11 in 2016. Syracuse already has done so four times this year.
- The last time Syracuse failed to win when keeping its foe to single digits was on April 28, 2012, when the Orange fell at Notre Dame, 8-6.

A WIN AGAINST NORTH CAROLINA WOULD...
- Be the program's 911th victory, second all-time behind Johns Hopkins.
- Improve SU's record to 65-26 since the start of the 2014 season.
- Make the Orange 7-2 vs. ranked opponents this season.
- Be head coach John Desko's 252nd career win as a head coach, passing longtime Maryland Head Coach Jack Farber for sole possession of 18th on the all-time NCAA Division I list.
- Make the Orange finish their ACC slate .500 or better for the fifth year in a row.

X-FACTOR
- The Orange have a solid 1-2 punch at the faceoff X in incumbent starter Danny Varello with the emergence of Jakob Phaup into one of the nation's best faceoff men.
- Phaup ranks sixth nationally in faceoff winning percentage, winning 66-percent of his restarts.
- At 156-of-256 (.661) Phaup's number would be the fifth-best single-season mark in program history.
- 'Cuse has won the faceoff battle in 7-of-10 games thus far, but the Albany and Virginia games were close as well (10-of-21 vs. Albany, 14-of-30 vs. UVA and 13-13 vs. Hobart), an upgrade at a spot where the Orange won just .482 percent of restarts last season.

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Players Mentioned

Brendan Bomberry

Paolo Ciferri

Brendan Curry

Jakob Phaup

Sergio Salcido

Danny Varello

Syracuse University Athletics