#2 Men's Lacrosse Opens Sunday Afternoon

Sunday, February 1

Syracuse, N.Y.

1 p.m.

Syracuse University

Boston University

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Photo by: Todd Michalek

1/30/2026 4:11:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Game Notes Ticket Information ACC Network Extra Syracuse Sports Network Live Stats

Top-20 Matchup to Begin the Season

No. 2 SYRACUSE (0-0) vs. No. 16 Boston University (0-0)
Game Details	Sunday, February 1, 2026 \| Syracuse, N.Y. \| 1 p.m. ET
Game Coverage	Live Coverage: Stats 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
Boston U Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Game Notes

THE GAME
- With the first game of the 2026 season, Syracuse will faceoff against brand new opponent Boston University.
- Syracuse racks up 32 returners. The new faces of the Orange include 12 freshman and graduate transfer Dante Bowen.
- Almost all of the Orange category leaders for 2025 return for the 2026 season. Junior John Mullen held down in the center where he grabbed 182 ground balls. Seniors Riley Figueiras, caused turnover leader (27), Joey Spallina, assists and points leader (55a, 90 points) and goalkeeper Jimmy McCool, saves leader (216), look to lead the group in the 2026 season.
- Syracuse and Boston University meet for the first time, officially, though the two teams scrimmaged ahead of the 2025 season. The Orange and Terriers share two opponents this season: Harvard and Colgate.
- ACC Network Extra will carry Sunday's game with Adam Gotkin and All-American Stephen Rehfuss on the call. Sean Dorcellus will be reporting from the line for the 1 p.m. game.
- Luke Burgess and Kyle Fetterly will have the radio call for the Syracuse Sports Network on TK99/105 locally.
- It's a doubleheader day of sorts at the Dome as Syracuse men's lacrosse opens its season after the Orange women's team concludes its exhibition game against Niagara. Opening draw for the women's scrimmage is 9 a.m.

THE GAUNTLET
- The 2026 Syracuse men's lacrosse schedule shied away from no one.
- Of the other 19 teams ranked in the USILA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll, Syracuse will face half of those teams during the regular season's 15 games: No. 1 Maryland, No. 3 Princeton, No. 5 Georgetown, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 8 North Carolina, No. 11 Duke, No. 13 Harvard, No. 14 Virginia, No. 16 Boston University, and No. 17 Johns Hopkins.
- The Orange will face Colgate, Saint Joseph's, Air Force, and Denver as well, all of which received votes. Taking in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, all 15 teams on the Syracuse slate this season are at least receiving votes, including Penn in the receiving votes column.
- This year's 15 opponents combined to go 142-94 last season, a 60.2 winning percentage, while each team on the calendar this season has made the NCAA Tournament at least once since 2022.
- Syracuse has one of the most difficult schedules in Division I this year. Syracuse, Maryland, and North Carolina will all face 10 teams ranked in the top 20 of the Inside Lacrosse Division I Preseason Media Poll, but the Orange have the toughest slate among those three. Syracuse's average for preseason ranked teams is 9.2 while North Carolina is second at 10.1 and Maryland checks in with a 10.6 average.

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 2026 seasons with a three-game home stretch. In 2025, Syracuse started the season with three home games, resulting in three straight home wins.
- Last year, the Orange only faced one ranked opponent in the three-game home streak. This season the Orange will start their season against #16/#17 Boston University, a Saint Joseph's team receiving votes, and then face #1/#1Maryland on Friday, Feb. 13.
- The Orange will be gone from the Dome for six straight games, hitting five states - Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Colorado - before returning on March 22 against the Georgetown Hoyas.
- Syracuse is 30-3 in season openers at home since the Dome opened.
- 'Cuse is 278-56 all-time in the JMA Dome since the 1981 season after taking down No. 12 Harvard 13-12 in an epic come from behind victory.
- Syracuse is 24-13 in the Dome under head coach Gary Gait, including an 8-2 mark two years over each of the last two seasons.
- Postseason play returned to the Dome for the second year in a row. Winning both NCAA home Tournament games in the past two years, the Orange took down #12/#15 Towson in 2024 and #12/#13 Harvard in 2025.
- The eight home wins last season are the most since the Orange went 8-1 at the Dome during the 2016 campaign. The eight home wins are the second-most for the Orange since joining the ACC for the 2014 campaign, one shy of the 9-0 mark in 2015.

THE BOSTON U PILOT
- Syracuse and Boston University will meet for the first time in program history on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Dome.
- The Orange will take on one other Patriot League opponent, Colgate, a team receiving votes, as the last home regular season game.
- No Syracuse player has faced off against the Terriers, but Boston University's senior Charlie Huntley saw the Orange his freshman year at Vermont.