Syracuse faces 3 of last season’s Final 4 teams in 2016
Spencer Bodian | Staff Photographer
Kayla Treanor and the Orange will face a lot of tough opponents in 2016, but head coach Gary Gait said the challenging schedule is intentional.
Syracuse will face the three other national semifinalists from 2015 this upcoming season, SU Athletics announced in a release Tuesday with the Orange’s full 2016 schedule. Syracuse also reached the Final Four last season. It’s the fourth consecutive year that the Orange will play three of the previous season’s Final Four teams. The schedule also features 11 total teams from the 2015 NCAA tournament.
“Once again this season, we will have the toughest schedule in the country,” said Syracuse head coach Gary Gait in the release. “To be the best, you have to play the best.”
SU fell short of the program’s first-ever national title last season when it lost to Maryland 10-8 in the national semifinal. It was the fourth consecutive year the Orange had made it that far in the tournament. SU also won its first Atlantic Coast Conference championship and finished 16-8 overall.
Syracuse gets a chance to avenge its season-ending loss as the defending national champion Terrapins visit the Carrier Dome on March 12.
SU starts its season on Feb. 14 with a split doubleheader. The first game features a rematch of last season’s NCAA tournament quarterfinals with Loyola. The second game is against Binghamton. The Orange then play another split doubleheader on Feb. 21 against Wagner and Marist. Wagner is coached by former SU assistant coach and Orange All-American Katie Rowan.
Syracuse then plays four consecutive games against 2015 NCAA tournament teams. Two at home against Northwestern (Feb. 28) and Florida (March 1) before its first road game and ACC opener against Virginia (March 5).
SU returns to the Dome to play Maryland then has road dates with Harvard (March 16), Boston College (March 19) and Notre Dame (March 26). The team fits in two games at the Dome, Connecticut (March 29) and and Duke (April 3), before another road stretch. The Orange will face Canisius (April 5), Virginia Tech (April 9) and Albany (April 12).
North Carolina, a 2015 national semifinalist, visits Syracuse on April 16 and then SU travels to Cornell on April 19. SU hosts its regular-season finale against Louisville on April 23.
The 2016 ACC tournament will take place on April 28-May 1 in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Published on December 15, 2015 at 4:37 pm
Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR
