The No. 14 Virginia men’s lacrosse team is hoping to make a mark early in the conference schedule heading into its ACC opener against No. 3 Syracuse Friday at 5:30 p.m.
The Cavaliers (2-2) did not start off their season quite like they expected, dropping their season opener to No. 5 Loyola and losing a second-straight home contest to High Point.
However, last Sunday’s game was a different story. The Cavaliers finally felt like they were reaching their potential when they defeated Pennsylvania, 15-10.
"I think we came closer to a full 60 minutes,” junior defenseman Tanner Scales said. “Our six-on-six defense, we were a lot more consistent. I don't think we're happy giving up 10 [goals], but offense really stuck together today, and gutted us through to a win."
The undefeated Orange (3-0) will bring a challenge to Klöckner Stadium, as coach John Desko, who has coached his teams to five NCAA titles, returns for his 18th season with the team.
Virginia will have its hands full defensively against Syracuse, with senior attackman Dylan Donahue leading the team with six goals and 10 assists and holding the nation’s second-highest scoring streak, having scored in the past 28 straight games.
The Orange have a big threat in faceoff specialist Ben Williams, a junior who has garnered a lot of attention in collegiate lacrosse. Williams was 15-of-19 in faceoffs against the Cavaliers last year and is winning 71.2 percent of his challenges going into Friday’s match-up.
“Faceoffs have been what we had hoped they would be, and maybe exceeded our expectations a little bit,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “But the competition continues to get tougher, and that Williams kid at Syracuse, we’ll have our hands full with that one.”
However, Virginia can counter that threat with sophomore midfielder Jason Murphy’s performance at the faceoff X. Murphy follows closely behind Williams and is currently No. 2 in the ACC and No. 7 nationally, winning 69.4 percent of his draws.
The Cavaliers will hope to continue their offensive momentum going into Friday’s contest. Junior midfielder Zed Williams leads Virginia with nine goals and is tied with senior attackman James Pannell with 10 points. The last time Syracuse traveled to Charlottesville, Pannell put up seven goals to contribute to the 17-12 Cavalier win.
Virginia holds a slim lead, 16-15, of the all-time series, which is heading into its 32nd match-up Friday. Since 2011, the home team in the match-up between the Cavaliers and the Orange has been victorious.
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