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Syracuse moved up one spot in this week’s Inside Lacrosse rankings to No. 4. The Orange beat Holy Cross, their third consecutive unranked opponent, 15-6 on Saturday.

Georgetown previously held the No. 4 spot but tanked seven places to No. 11 after a six-goal loss to Denver and a five-goal win over Providence. North Carolina, Duke and Maryland have remained in the top-three since week three of the poll, though UNC overtook Duke for the top spot two weeks ago.

Syracuse is scheduled to face No. 2 Duke in Durham, North Carolina on Thursday in what’s likely to be the Orange’s biggest game of the regular season. The Orange were originally scheduled to play against Hofstra on Saturday, but the Pride’s program went on pause due to COVID-19. As a result, SU scheduled a game with Holy Cross to avoid an unnecessary pause, head coach John Desko said.

Syracuse goalie Drake Porter said that the Orange would practice on Sunday instead of taking the day after the game off due to their short week.

“I came to Syracuse because I watched the Syracuse-Duke game,” Porter said after the Holy Cross win. “Duke’s always my favorite game — if you’re not getting up for Syracuse-Duke, I don’t know what it is.”

Syracuse attack Chase Scanlan led SU with seven goals in the victory over the Crusaders, while the defense allowed a season-low six goals. Holy Cross finished with more turnovers (24) than shots (20), and Scanlan finished with as many shots on goal (11) as the Crusaders entire team.

After playing No. 2 Duke on Thursday, the Orange are scheduled to face No. 6 Notre Dame on April 3.

Published on March 22, 2021 at 11:28 am

Contact Roshan: rferna04@syr.edu | @Roshan_f16