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For the second straight week, Syracuse is facing a top-three opponent, heading to Charlottesville, Virginia, to take on the No. 2 ranked Cavaliers.

The Orange showed defensive improvements from last season against No. 1 Maryland, holding the Terrapins’ stacked offense to six goals below its average. But Syracuse will have to replicate that performance on Saturday as it looks to upset Virginia for the third straight time.

Here’s everything you need to know about No. 2 Virginia (3-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) before it plays No. 9 Syracuse (1-1, 0-0 ACC) on Saturday:

All-time series

Syracuse leads the all-time series 20-18.

Last time they played

Following a 20-10 win in its second game of last season, the then-No. 11 Syracuse upset the then-No. 5 Cavaliers again almost two months later, defeating them 13-11.

Before the game, Chase Scanlan was suspended indefinitely from the men’s lacrosse program. His replacement, Owen Seebold — who is now a mainstay in the Orange attack — debuted as a starter against Virginia, notching four points. Owen Hiltz had five points as well.

Like its first meeting, Syracuse got off to a quick 7-2 lead, but after back-and-forth scoring, UVA went on a 3-0 run in the third period. Still, the biggest factor in SU’s victory was Jakob Phaup, who finished 24-of-27 at the faceoff X against the ACC’s top faceoff man, Petey LaSalla. He continued to give the Orange’s offense opportunities, helping them respond with four unanswered goals and chew the clock to secure the victory.

The Cavaliers report

Just three games into the season, Virginia already has three players scoring double-digits in points — Connor Shellenberger, Payton Cormier and Xander Dickson. Dickson has the best shooting percentage out of the bunch at 47% along with eight goals.

Defensively, the Cavaliers have won 55.5% of ground balls this season, according to Lacrosse Reference. They’ve found a replacement for goalkeeper Alex Rode in goal too, with freshman Matthew Nunes recording a 54.5% save percentage — head coach Gary Gait said that any goalie with a mark over 50% is vital for the defense’s success.

How Syracuse beats the Cavaliers

With Gait’s revamped attack, the Orange completely tore apart Holy Cross. But that didn’t happen against Maryland. The Terrapins were able to get rid of SU’s offensive movement, leaving Tucker Dordevic to carry much of the offensive load for the game. This is something that it can’t repeat against the Cavaliers’ strong defense, needing a more balanced attack with Seebold, Dordevic, Brendan Curry and even Lucas Quinn.

Defensively, goalie Bobby Gavin proved that he was capable of stopping a star-studded offense with his performance against Logan Wisnauskas and Maryland. And this game is particularly personal for him as the sophomore transferred from Virginia only six weeks ago. Gavin has seen Shellenberger, Cormier and Dickson throughout practices all of last season, giving him an advantage in the cage this weekend.

Stat to know: 13.33 turnovers per game

In its three games so far, Virginia has only turned the ball over 40 times and its 13.33 turnovers per game are seventh best in the country and third in the ACC. Though Syracuse and North Carolina sit higher than the Cavaliers in this statistic, the Orange’s defense will need to try and force as many turnovers as possible in order to give its offense a chance to seal the game.

Last season, UVA contended with Syracuse in the Cavaliers’ second loss, allowing only 10 turnovers compared to the Orange’s 18. SU will need to win the turnover battle this time around if it wants a chance, meaning that they can’t leave players on the Cavaliers’ attack open or make mistakes sliding over.

Player to watch: Connor Shellenberger, No. 1, attack

Shellenberger has recorded 18 points this season and is already on the Tewaaraton Award watch list. But what’s going to be the biggest challenge for the Orange’s defense is stopping Shellenberger from feeding open teammates for scoring opportunities, as he’s only scored five times this season, assisting 13.

Virginia head coach Lars Tiffany said that Shellenberger and Matt Moore are “the two-headed quarterback” for the Cavaliers’ offense, which has averaged 16.7 goals this season. Against Maryland, Syracuse had trouble sliding to guard open players, something it can’t repeat with Shellenberger at the forefront of Virginia’s attack.

Published on February 23, 2022 at 10:19 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu