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Men's Lacrosse

Syracuse men’s lacrosse opponent preview: What to know about No. 9 Army

Alexandra Moreo | Senior Staff Photographer

Last season against Army, Jamie Trimboli tallied an assist in the Orange's loss.

No. 16 Syracuse (1-1) faces off with No. 9 Army (3-0) on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. It’ll mark the second straight week the Orange welcomes an opponent ranked higher than itself to its home confines. Syracuse enters the game following its brutal 15-3 loss against then-No. 4 Albany. Meanwhile, Army currently holds a three-game winning streak including its most recent win, a 9-7 victory over then-No. 11 Rutgers.

Here is everything you need to know about the Black Knights ahead of the matchup with SU.

All-time series: Army leads, 40-24

Last time they played: Army handed then-No. 6 Syracuse its only regular-season loss of the 2017 regular season with a 14-13 last-second victory over the Orange in the Carrier Dome. Army dominated SU in most major categories including faceoffs (17-13), shots on goal (26-19) and ground balls (31-24). In the fourth quarter of that contest, Syracuse senior midfielder Nick Mariano knotted the game at 13 with just more than two minutes remaining. After an SU turnover, Army controlled the ball for the final minute of play. Then-junior midfielder David Symmes ripped a shot past SU goalie Evan Molloy with just one second remaining on the clock, propelling the Black Knights to victory.

The Army Report: The Black Knights have played stingy defense thus far this season. In three games, Army has allowed 18 goals. The six goals-against per game average ranks third in the country behind Vermont and Albany. The Black Knights held Rutgers to seven goals last week, the Scarlet Knights’ lowest output this season. Army has won 58.8 percent of its faceoffs this season, ranking it three spots ahead of SU nationally. Through three games, Army’s only close game came against Rutgers.  The Black Knights currently stand fourth nationally in scoring margin. On average, Army outscores its opponent by more than seven goals.  



How Syracuse beats Army: Syracuse needs the ball. SU head coach John Desko said on Thursday his team had the ball for roughly one and a half minutes in the third quarter of its loss to Albany. In the quarter, Syracuse was outscored 7-1 as the Great Danes further extended its 4-1 halftime lead. Desko pointed out that SU’s offense was sloppy last week but it starts with winning faceoffs. Syracuse had no answer for Albany’s TD Ierlan a week ago as he and the Great Danes dismantled Syracuse 17-5. A season ago, then-freshman and backup Danny Varello entered the game late against Army to aid a struggling Ben Williams. Varello finished the game 10 of 17 at the faceoff X. If Syracuse is to win, it will have to control the ball better and longer than it did against Albany a week ago.

Number to know: 5.78

Army goalkeeper AJ Barretto’s goals against average ranks fourth in the country.

Player to watch: No. 18 Dom Ricca, senior defender

Ricca leads Army’s defense with four caused turnovers, two of which came in the win over Rutgers. Ricca started all 16 games for Army a year ago and averaged more than one groundball per game in those contests.





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