'Cuse and Duke Set for Top-5 ACC Clash

No. 5/6 SYRACUSE (7-2, 0-0 ACC) vs. No. 3/4 Duke (8-1, 0-0 ACC)
Game Details	Wednesday, March 20, 2024 \| Syracuse, N.Y. \| 7 p.m.
Game Coverage	Live Coverage: Stats Television: ACC Network Extra Stream: ACC Network Extra Listen: Cuse.com \| TK99/105 \| Learfield IMG College \| Cuse App \| Varsity App \| TuneIn \| WAER Twitter: @CuseMLAX Instagram: @CuseMLAX Facebook: /CuseMLAX
Syracuse Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Game Notes
Duke Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Game Notes

THE GAME
- After picking up a second-straight top 20 win last week with a 14-6 decision against No. 20 Delaware, Syracuse returns home for a brief, one-night-only appearance as the No. 5/6 Orange host No. 3/4 Duke to open ACC play.
- Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the JMA Wireless Dome, Jack Gordon and Luke Burgess on the call for ACC Network Extra, while Tim Leonard (play-by-play) and Kyle Fetterly (analyst) take to the airwaves TK99/105, Cuse.com, The Varsity App, and TuneIn App, as will WAER.
- Syracuse returns to the Dome after a pair of neutral site games, knocking off No. 4/2 Johns Hopkins 14-13 in Charlotte, North Carolina before picking off the 20th-ranked Blue Hens 14-6 in Chantilly, Virginia.
- The Orange are the only Division I team that has yet to play a true road game this season.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE DOME
- As the saying goes, there's no place like home - doubly true when it's the JMA Wireless Dome.
- Syracuse opens the 2024 season with seven-straight games at home - the most consecutive home games to open a season since the Orange moved into the Dome in 1981.
- The previous highwater mark for consecutive games at the Dome to open a season was six to lead off the 2019 season. The Orange went 4-2 in that span, picking off No. 14 UAlbany, No. 15 Army West Point, No. 17 Johns Hopkins, and No. 16 Rutgers along the way.
- Syracuse is 29-3 in season openers at home since the Dome opened.
- 'Cuse is 267-54 all-time in the JMA Dome since the 1981 season after taking down rv/rv High Point on March 2.
- The Orange went 5-2 in the seven-game homestand that opened the 2024 season.

THE DUKE SERIES
- Wednesday marks the 24th meeting all-time between the Orange and Blue Devils.
- Syracuse leads the all-time series 14-9, though Duke won last season's pair of meetings. The Orange are hunting their first win over Duke since a 14-10 win during Gary Gait's first season at the helm of the men's team in 2022.
- The Orange are 5-1 at home against Duke, while the teams are split 5-5 in conference showdowns.
- Series history is dotted with long stretches of absences, leading from the 1938 Syracuse win in Durham until it was resumed in 1978, a 10-7 Duke win back in Carolina. The teams would not meet again until the early 1990s and once more with a decade-long hiatus until 2002.
- Syracuse and Duke have met each season since 2011, whether in the postseason or the regular season when the Orange joined the ACC.
- The Blue Devils won the final meeting last spring, an 18-15 decision in Durham. The first clash ended with a 14-13 overtime victory for Duke.
- Eight of the 10 ACC meetings between these two teams have been decided by one goal, including four overtime thrillers. The sides are split 2-2 in extra-time contests.

Weekly Honors
- Another week, another pickup of weekly honors for a Syracuse men's lacrosse player.
- Fifth-year netminder Will Mark was selected as both the ACC Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday and The Lacrosse Network's Player of the Week on Monday.
- Mark made 17 saves in a 14-6 win over No. 20 Delaware on Saturday, turning aside shots at a 73.9 percent clip.
- It was Mark's fifth-straight game with double digit saves, helping the Orange to a 4-1 mark in the span.
- The Danville, Californian surpassed the 800 career saves mark after the Delaware contest, becoming the 15th NCAA Division I men's lacrosse player over that milestone. He has 809 career stops, including 499 during his three seasons at LIU with another 310 coming here with the Orange.

A WIN ON WEDNESDAY WOULD...
- Syracuse improve to 8-2, the first time Syracuse opens 8-2 in the Gary Gait era.
- Mark the 15th win for Syracuse over Duke.
- Snap a two-game slide against the Blue Devils.
- Improve Syracuse to 2-2 against top-five opponents this year (Win: vs. #4 Hopkins, overtime losses to #4 Maryland, #5 Army West Point). A win moves Syracuse to 5-2 against opponents receiving votes in that week's Coaches Poll.
- Be a third-straight win over a ranked opponent for Syracuse, paired with a 14-13 win over No. 4 Johns Hopkins and a 14-6 win over No. 20 Delaware. Syracuse last beat back-to-back ranked opponents in April 2023 over No. 14 Princeton and No. 12 North Carolina.
- Mark a fourth-straight win over an opponent that at least received votes in the USILA Coaches Poll that week (rv High Point, No. 4 Hopkins, No. 20 Delaware).
- Be the 944th win all-time in program history, second-most among Division I programs.

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Players Mentioned

Will Mark

Syracuse University Athletics