Orange and Tar Heels Meet in ACC Opener on Thursday

#7 SYRACUSE at NORTH CAROLINA
Game Details	Thursday, April 25 \| UNC Lacrosse Stadium \| 6 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 plays North Carolina at UNC Lacrosse/Soccer Stadium for the second time in 12 days on Thursday.

- 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 NORTH CAROLINA SERIES

- The Orange and the Tar Heels meet for the 27th time, with Syracuse controlling the all-time series, 18-8 and having won six of the last-seven matchups with Carolina.

- Two of their last-seven matchups have come in the ACC Semifinals, with the teams splitting those two contests.

- Three of the last four matches 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.

- In their matchup earlier this season, Nate Solomon led the Orange to a 12-9 victory in Chapel Hill with his 10th career hat trick.

ORANGE IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT

- This is Syracuse's sixth ACC Tournament, since joining the league in the 2014 season.

- The Orange has reached the title game in three of their first-four appearances, winning a pair of titles in that span (2015, 2016).

- This is the fourth time Syracuse has played UNC to open the ACC Tournament in its six seasons participating. The Orange are 2-1 against the Heels in the conference tournament winning the 2015 and 2016 semifinals, while falling just short in the 2017 semifinal.

- This is the second-straight season that Orange have opened the tournament against its host.

ALL-ACC HONORS

- Six members of the Orange garnered All-ACC accolades on Wednesday, the most of any school in the conference.

- Nick Mellen, Brendan Curry, Nate Solomon, Peter Dearth, Drake Porter and Brett Kennedy were all honored by the league's head coaches. The balance of the team was on display as well as the Orange earned an honoree at every position except faceoff specialist.

TEN BELOW

- Syracuse has won 59-straight games when holding opponents to under 10 goals in a game.

- Since the calendar flipped to April, the Orange have not allowed double-digits, winning four-straight games by holding the opposition under 10.

- 39 of those 59 games have come since the start of the 2015 season, including a high of 11 in 2016. Syracuse has done so six 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.

MELLEN THE MAGICIAN

- Redshirt-junior Nick Mellen has made his opponents disappear this season, having not relinquished a goal to the man he's been guarding since the calendar flipped to April.

- Brendan Gleason at Notre Dame was the last attackman to score on Mellen, holding four-straight off the scoreboard.

- On the season, Mellen has allowed 0.91 goals per game, while his opponents are averaging 1.8 goals per game on the year. He's also let up a total of 2.3 points per game, while they average 3.53 on the year. The stats have come against some of the nation's best as well, guarding three of the top-15 and four of the top-20 scorers in points per game nationally.

SOLOMON'S GOING STREAKING

- Senior attackman Nate Solomon enters Saturday's game having registered a point in 29-straight games, dating back to the Colgate game of 2017.

- Solomon's point streak is the second-longest in the ACC, behind Virginia's Michael Kraus' 43-game streak, and ranks T-16th nationally.

- He's the first Syracuse player to reach the 20-game mark with a point streak since Dylan Donahue went 55 games from 2013-2016.

- Loyola's Pat Spencer - who has scored a point in all 62 games of his career - is the nation's current active leader.

A WIN OVER CAROLINA WOULD...

... advance the Orange to the ACC Semifinals to face top-seed Virginia.

... be Head Coach John Desko's 254th career win, surpassing Orange legend Roy Simmons Sr. for second in SU history and sole possession of 17th in NCAA Division I history.

... give the Orange a 19-8 record versus the Tar Heels.

... give 'Cuse 10 wins, marking 17 double-digit win seasons in the 21-year tenure of Head Coach John Desko.