No. 5 Syracuse opens its 2020 season on Friday afternoon against Colgate, which beat the Orange in last year’s season opener. The Raiders lost their first game of this season last Saturday, 19-6, against No. 10 North Carolina. SU moved up two spots in the national poll without playing a game, after Air Force upset No. 7 Duke. Friday’s game will be broadcasted by ACC Network and is the first of only four games that will be played in the Carrier Dome this year. 

Here’s what the beat writers predict. 

Mitchell Bannon
Fool me once
Syracuse 18, Colgate 8

Last season, in the home opener, Syracuse fell to Colgate 12-9. The Raiders finished the season 4-9, and they didn’t beat a ranked opponent for the rest of the year.

This isn’t last year’s SU men’s lacrosse team. But they will have to prove it. Colgate lost its season opener last weekend to UNC, a team IL and coaches polls peg as worse than the Orange. Syracuse is going to score early, and they are going to score often. Tucker Dordevic will be breaking ankles on his now-healed foot, and Chase Scanlan is going to prove No. 22 is in good hands. The only way Syracuse stumbles in the opener is if it falls behind a few goals early, and the nerves of a new season and flashbacks of 2019 could prove too much.

Andrew Crane
Not last year
Syracuse 15, Colgate 9

Unlike the last time these two teams squared off, Syracuse won’t have a problem with Colgate. It’s not a question of if Syracuse will win, but how many goals this new-look offense under Pat March will score. Look for Dordevic’s return and Griffin Cook’s move back to his natural position of attack to lead the Orange’s surge. Throughout the preseason, players have insisted this team has championship weekend potential. They have all the right parts, all the right ingredients to book a final trip to Philadelphia. But that status requires wins like this one: a lowly Colgate team coming off a four-win season. There’s an element of revenge heading into the Carrier Dome on Friday, and that could play a role. In the end, a potential Achilles heel of close defense won’t matter if March’s new offense lives up to its hype.

Arabdho Majumder
Lightning doesn’t strike twice
Syracuse 21, Colgate 7

It’s time for a statement win, and Syracuse will deliver. Tucker Dordevic has waited a year to get a shot at playing in a regular season game again, and he’ll be the spark that makes the Orange’s new offense under Pat March go. 

Against North Carolina last Saturday, Colgate slid early on multiple occasions, especially early in the game, choosing to double- and triple-team the ball carrier. This led to the Tar Heels feasting with open players backside. The Orange have enough playmakers on the field to do the same thing. New No. 22 Chase Scanlan, who’s expected to be a “finisher,” could be the reaper of Syracuse’s many rewards. The only worry is if the Orange allow an early Colgate run, which hurt them in last year’s loss. Without that, this is a routine ‘W’ for SU.  

Published on February 5, 2020 at 10:19 pm