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Coming off an underwhelming regular season, Syracuse found itself just inside the bubble on Selection Sunday, getting an unseeded bid in the NCAA Tournament. The Orange’s first round opponent is none other than longtime basketball rival Georgetown, the Big East champion and No. 5 seed in the tournament.

Head coach John Desko and several players said that the postseason is a brand new season — nothing from the regular season matters, including a 2-5 record against ranked teams. A win over the Hoyas leads to a likely matchup with No. 4 seed Virginia, which Syracuse defeated twice already this season.

Here’s what our writers expect when Syracuse faces Georgetown for the first time since leaving the Big East:

Roshan Fernandez (8-4)
End of the road
Georgetown 11, Syracuse 9

Against the best scoring defense in the nation, I think Syracuse’s season will end. The Orange’s offense has appeared to be more dynamic since Owen Seebold was inserted three games ago, but the first-line midfield hasn’t lived up to its preseason potential. The three midfielders were on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List to start the season and have since been removed. Without those three at their best, Syracuse’s offense will be too one-dimensional to top the Hoyas. Stephen Rehfuss has been a constant as SU’s best player this year, but Owen Hiltz has quieted down after a hot start. On the other side of the field, Georgetown’s offense is average, but Syracuse’s defense ranks among the five-worst teams in the nation in defensive efficiency, per Lacrosse Reference. Coming off a win over Robert Morris should give the Orange an early confidence boost, but it won’t mask Syracuse’s issues against high-profile opponents not named Virginia this season.

Allie Kaylor (8-4)
Big East’s best rivalry
Georgetown 15, Syracuse 9

Georgetown couldn’t have asked for a better matchup in the first round than Syracuse. Where the Orange have weaknesses, the Hoyas have strengths, and where the Hoyas have weaknesses, the Orange do as well. Besides Virginia, Syracuse has never won the faceoff battle against a team that has won more than 50% of their faceoffs all season. James Reilly, Georgetown’s main faceoff man, is one of the best in the country and was named National Player of the Week last month after winning 16-of-24 faceoffs against Denver. While Syracuse has the 11th-best scoring offense, the Hoyas are in the top-20. Georgetown has the nation’s top scoring defense, while Syracuse scored 19 combined goals in two games against the third-best defense in Notre Dame.

Unless there’s some sort of miracle, it’ll be nearly impossible for the Orange to pull this one off — they’ve struggled too much against teams that are even just marginally better. By the “eye test” the selection committee used, No. 5 seed Georgetown is better than No. 6 seed Notre Dame, who easily blew out SU twice this season. Expect a similar result when the Orange play their final game of the season on Saturday.

Arabdho Majumder (7-5)
Wipe the slate
Syracuse 12, Georgetown 10

It’s a brand new season. The postseason is as fun as it is because what happened in the past doesn’t really matter any more. May lacrosse is different and can erase the emotions from an up-and-down season. When the bracket first came out, in many ways Syracuse got the better part of what was still the short end of the stick. The Orange come in unseeded, but a path to the Final Four remains possible because the highest seed in their region is Virginia, a program they’ve already beaten twice this year.

Getting past Georgetown won’t be easy and needs a Herculean effort from either the faceoff unit or Drake Porter. Georgetown won 59% of its faceoffs this year, but as has been evident from Jakob Phaup’s play this season, draws are all about matchups. If SU can’t control possession through faceoff wins, it’ll need a huge effort from Porter to stay in the game. Georgetown has plenty of outside sharpshooters, but that’s also the type of shot Porter is best at saving with his quick reflexes. He did it once, making a career-high 21 saves against Vermont’s outside shooting. Now he’s got to do it with the Orange’s season on the line.

Published on May 12, 2021 at 10:02 pm