No. 5 Syracuse takes on No. 7 Army in the Carrier Dome this Sunday at 1 p.m. This will be the Orange’s first top-10 test of the season after beating Colgate and Binghamton by a combined score of 38-18. Army already has two top-20 wins this season and shot up to No. 7 in the rankings, but the Black Knights were upset by Marist this past Tuesday in Poughkeepsie, New York. 

Here’s what our beat writers think will happen at the Dome this Sunday. 

Mitchell Bannon (2-0)
Good Knight
Syracuse 16, Army 13

Army defeated its first three opponents 51-9. They outshot then-No. 19 UMass, NJIT and then-No. 20 Rutgers by 46. The Orange and Black Knights were headed for a battle of undefeated teams, two of the nation’s top ten and the best teams in New York state. Then, Marist — 5.5-goal underdogs — shocked Army Tuesday afternoon and handed the Knights their first loss of the season. Before their loss to the Red Foxes, the Army game looked like it would give the Orange an opportunity for a resume-building win early in the 2020 season. Now, a win seems mandatory for Syracuse to legitimize themselves as championship weekend contenders. And it must come against a team looking to prove Tuesday’s loss was merely an anomaly.

Andrew Crane (2-0)
Unarmed
Army 17, Syracuse 14

Many in the lacrosse world gasped on Tuesday when Army rose six spots to No. 7 and then lost to unranked Marist by eight goals in less than 36 hours. But Marist isn’t half-bad and will likely be ranked next week. Maybe Army isn’t a road team and will drop a second-straight game outside of West Point. Maybe Syracuse is better than I predicted and can crack a defense that held then-No. 18 UMass scoreless in the first half. The Orange won’t, though, and I’ll stand by my prediction on the D.O. Sportscast earlier this week. This is their first test of 2020 — the Black Knights being leaps ahead of Colgate and Binghamton. When SU played the Raiders, 14 goals against caused head coach John Desko to harp about defensive problems. Close defender Nick Mellen’s knee injury was mitigated last week by an awful Bearcat offense, but that continued “week-to-week” absence will start to sting Sunday.

Arabdho Majumder (2-0)
Falling in line
Syracuse 18, Army 12

Marist exposed Army’s flaws this past Tuesday, and Syracuse will likely do the same. A lot of the looks Marist got against the Black Knights were similar to what the Orange got against Colgate in their season opener. Marist’s Jojo Pirreca scored a pair from the left wing in the first quarter on Tuesday. That’s Chase Scanlan’s avocado toast. From watching back the Marist film, I have doubts on Army’s one-on-one defense, and Syracuse has about five options to pick from to exploit that. The worry is defense, especially without Nick Mellen. Army loves sitting a player backside or right in front of the crease to try and feed. The Knights also love to run pick plays. That’s where I see the similarities to Colgate, and SU handled that well, even without Mellen in the second half. This weekend will be the first of multiple top-10 wins Syracuse earns this season.

Published on February 22, 2020 at 8:08 am