Cuse Lacrosse looking bright

The North Carolina Tar Heels have now lost three straight to Denver, Hofstra, and Richmond. In its favor are wins over Lehigh and Johns Hopkins. We can argue about whether the Heels belong in or out but I think number 20 is fine. The Virginia Cavaliers are 6–2 with a one goal loss to Syracuse and a two goal loss to Notre Dame last weekend. In between those two games the Hoos have a three goal win over Manhattan and a one goal win over Stony Brook. In my mind they are not a top ten team. The Syracuse Orange hangs on to a top 20 ranking in both major polls. They are the only team in either poll to have a .500 record or worse. In my mind the ‘Cuse is right on the edge of being left out of the top 20.

Syracuse, right now is looking strong after their win against #4 Duke Blue devils, but this is still the start of the season and the ball is still getting rolling. Syracuse’s game plan should focus more on the face-off factor, being just under 50% for face-offs. A lot of young talent is in the depth chart. The young guys are really stepping up. If this team can find a face-off guy and another good goalie (Madonna graduates this year), next season is looking very bright. For now though, ACC Tournament is in hand and the odds of making it to the NCAA Tournament just got a lot better.