#9 Notre Dame Visits #4 'Cuse on Saturday

Saturday, April 3

Syracuse, NY

12 PM

Syracuse University

Notre Dame

4/2/2021 8:59:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

Trimboli Press Conference Game Program Desko Press Conference Kennedy Press Conference Hype Video

Noon faceoff on ESPNU

#4 SYRACUSE VS #9 Notre Dame
Game Details	Saturday, April 3 \| Syracuse, N.Y. \| 12 p.m.
Game Coverage	Live Coverage: Stats Watch: ESPNU 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
Notre Dame Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Game Notes

THE GAME
- Syracuse returns home for its third ACC game of the year, when the Orange host Notre Dame on Saturday.
- The game will be broadcast on ESPNU with Anish Shroff '04 (PxP) and Orange All-American midfielder Paul Carcaterra '97 (analyst) on the call. Brian Higgins '04 (PxP) and Kyle Fetterly '09 (analyst) will broadcast the action on TK99/105, Cuse.com and the TuneIn App, while WAER will also carry the game.

THE NOTRE DAME SERIES
- Notre Dame returns to the Dome for the first time since 2018, when 'Cuse defeated the Irish 10-6. That game came also came the week after a Syracuse loss at Duke, when the 2018 Orange also fell 15-14, the same score Syracuse lost to the Blue Devils by last time out.
- Syracuse owns the all-time series 10-5 and has won two of the last-three contests.
- The matchup dates back to 2001 and head coaches John Desko and Kevin Corrigan have been at the helm of their respective programs for every contest.
- Last time out, Jamie Trimboli (3-1) led the Orange offensively at Arlotta.

ORANGE IN BOUNCE-BACK GAMES
- Head coach John Desko has had tremendous success in getting the Orange back on track following a loss.
- 'Cuse is 49-24 in games following a loss during a season under Desko (this record does not include the season opener following season-ending losses).
- Under Desko, 'Cuse has only had 13 "losing streaks" (two or more consecutive losses) in 23 seasons.

SECOND MID COMING ON STRONG
- Much has been made about Syracuse's top midfield line, and deservedly so, as all-three are on the Tewaaraton Watch List.
- But Syracuse's second midfield unit is having one of the most productive seasons to date from a second line in recent memory.
- Owen Seebold and Lucas Quinn have been headlining the unit, with Griffin Cook getting the most run at the third spot in place of Jacob Buttermore, who missed the last two games. The trio of Seebold, Quinn and Cook hace combined for 17 points (13-4) through six games, which is slightly behind the 2020 pace of Quinn, Buttermore and David Lipka (16 points through five games), although the 2021 squad has already played a pair of conference opponents, where points are traditionally tougher to come by.
- Prior to that, no other second-line midfield trio had averaged over 2.5 points per game since 2014, when Billy Ward, Nicky Galasso and Derek Maltz combined for 66 points (45-21) through 16 games, a total of 4.125 points per game.

CONFERENCE KINGS
- The Orange have finished with a .500-or-better record against conference opponents for the last five seasons (2015-2019, the Orange did not play a conference game in 2020).
- Since joining the ACC, Syracuse boasts a 17-10 record in regular season league games and also has two ACC Tournament titles. Duke moved into a tie with the Orange last night (17-10) with their victory over North Carolina. Notre Dame (13-13), North Carolina (13-14) and Virginia (6-22) make up the remaining records.
- 'Cuse was 4-0 in league play in the 2017 and 2018 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 (2015-18) seasons. No other coach has done so even three times.

REHFUSS RISING
- Stephen Rehfuss is four assists shy of becoming the 10th player in Syracuse history to record 100 career assists.
- The list above him is a who's who of lacrosse greats. Tim Nelson (187), John Zulberti (158), Tim O'Hara (158), Mike Powell (157), Ryan Powell (150), Casey Powell (129), Kevin Rice (126), Rob Kavovit (121) and Jamie Archer (108) is the entirety of the players ahead of him.
- The majority of the list played in the 80s and 90s. Of players that started their careers this century, only Mikey Powell and Kevin Rice have more assists in an Orange uniform.
- Rehfuss is 9th in the NCAA among active players in total assists (93) and 13th career assists per game (1.75).

TOUGH ROAD AHEAD
- Syracuse is currently in a six-game stretch that will feature five opponents that are currently ranked in the top-10 of the USILA Poll.
- The Orange have or will play seven teams in the top-10 this season, a mark that ties Virginia, Duke and North Carolina for the current national lead. Syracuse and UVA both played Army in February and the other six games come against league foes. Duke and Carolina's other top-10 opponent is current No. 10 Denver.
- Notre Dame (6) and Marquette (5) face the next most top-10 opponents this season.

A WIN AGAINST NOTRE DAME WOULD...
- Be the program's 922nd victory, second all-time behind Johns Hopkins.
- Move head coach John Desko past Carl Runk (262) and into a tie with Tony Seaman (263) for 15th in the NCAA Division I wins list.
- Improve Syracuse to a conference-best 18-10 record in ACC play since joining the league prior to the 2014 season.
- Improve Syracuse to 50-24 under Desko in games following a loss (regular season only, does not count season opener following a postseason loss in the prior year).
- Be the 527th win Desko has been part of at Syracuse, including his time as a player, assistant and head coach. Only 18 NCAA Division I programs have more total wins as a program than Desko has been on the Orange sideline for.