SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The 2020 Syracuse lacrosse slate is as challenging as ever, featuring road trips to the defending NCAA Champions, two Championship Weekend participants and five games against NCAA Tournament teams from last season.
The Orange will open the season with four-straight games in the Dome, before hitting the road to conclude the regular season with a stretch of six of their final eight games away from home. Season tickets for all six Syracuse home games (four Dome, two Cicero-North Syracuse) are available at a cost of $65 for adults and can be purchased at Cuse.com/Tickets, 888-DOME-TIX or in person at the Box Office (Ensley Athletic Center). Season tickets come with reserved seating, among other exclusive season ticket holder benefits throughout the season.
Syracuse welcomes Colgate to the Dome on Friday, Feb. 7. ‘Cuse seeks revenge from a season-opening loss to the Raiders. Then, Binghamton returns to the Syracuse schedule following a two-year hiatus. The Bearcats and Orange will faceoff on Saturday, Feb. 15.
On Sunday, Feb. 23, Army West Point visits Syracuse in what has always been a closely contested matchup. Only one game this decade between the two schools has been decided by more than three goals. Five of the last seven were by a single goal.
Fittingly, the last game under the inflated roof of the Dome – which has been home to 11 NCAA Championship teams for the Syracuse lacrosse program – will come against the program’s oldest rival. Syracuse and Hobart will square off for the 106th time on Friday, Feb. 28, before the building is closed to finish enhancements for the new stadium experience. The $118 million dollar renovation will debut in the fall of 2020.
It’ll be another old rival that ‘Cuse will face in its first road trip of the season at Johns Hopkins. Making their first return to Homewood Field since 2017, the sport’s two winningest programs will play on Saturday, March 7. The two programs that’ve combined for 21 NCAA Championships and played each other eight times in Championship Weekend, will meet for the 59th time this season.
A road trip to Rutgers will be next. The Orange and Scarlet Knights will meet for the third-straight season in Piscataway, N.J. on Saturday, March 14.
ACC play begins with Syracuse at Duke. The regular-season matchup between these two teams has been decided by one goal in each of the last four seasons, including three in overtime. Last year, Brendan Curry played the OT hero by scoring the overtime game-winning goal in Syracuse’s 9-8 come-from-behind victory.
‘Cuse will play its first-of-two regular season home games at Cicero-North Syracuse when Notre Dame comes to town on Saturday, March 28. As was the case last year, season ticket holders will get access to a reserved seating area on a first-come, first-serve basis for games played at CNS. All other tickets are general admission and parking is free at the venue as well.
For the first time in program history, Syracuse head east on I-90 to take on Albany. The previous 18 matchups between the schools have been in the Dome, but Casey Stadium will be this year’s venue on Friday, April 3.
Syracuse will continue its in-state road swing four days later, when the Orange travel to Cornell on Tuesday, April 7.
Senior Day will be on Saturday, April 11, when North Carolina comes to CNS. That’ll close a stretch of three games in eight days vs. teams that ended last season ranked in the top-20.
The regular season will conclude with a trip to the defending champs, in what has been one of the most entertaining rivalries in college lacrosse. Syracuse will travel to Virginia on Saturday, April 18. The series is as even as it gets: In 36 meetings, each team has won 18. Syracuse has scored 466 goals, Virginia has scored 466 goals, and the game has been decided by one goal on 17 occasions, seven of which have been in overtime.
The ACC Tournament will be hosted by the No. 1 seed this season, with the top-four teams gaining entrance to the field. The semifinals will be on Friday, April 24 and the championship will be played on Sunday, April 26. Should ‘Cuse earn the No. 1 seed, Syracuse will host the ACC Tournament at Cicero-North Syracuse, as it would an NCAA Tournament first round game if the team is selected as one of the top-eight seeds nationally on Selection Sunday (May 8).
Syracuse returns five USILA All-Americans from last season (Nick Mellen, Brett Kennedy, Jamie Trimboli, Peter Dearth and Brendan Curry), All-ACC goaltender Drake Porter, its assist leader Stephen Rehfuss and the entire starting midfield, setting up for what is expected to be an exciting 2020 campaign.