Syracuse men’s lacrosse starts slow in 20-11 loss at No. 2 Virginia

SU men's lacrosse starts slow in 20-11 loss at Virginia

The Orange lost its second game in a row after trailing by seven early in Charlottesville.

Story by Dean Zulkofske / Photos by Jamey Bulloch

Published: February 26, 2022

Syracuse men’s lacrosse trailed early in Charlottesville, Virginia, and never recovered. The defending national champion No. 2 Cavaliers topped the Orange 20-11, serving SU its second consecutive loss.

Syracuse midfielder Griffin Cook‘s three goals led SU’s offense. The Orange’s top three offensive players, Tucker Dordevic, Brendan Curry and Owen Seebold, combined for four goals.

Virginia, which had not scored more than three goals in a first-quarter yet this season, scored eight times against Syracuse in Saturday’s first frame. The Orange (1-2) trailed by seven to start the second quarter. The group trailed No. 1 Maryland by five last week in its first loss of the year.

The Orange defense that held Holy Cross to five goals and the top-ranked Terps to 14 conceded 20 goals on Saturday. The Cavaliers outshot SU 32-27 on goal, picked up 10 more ground balls and won 10 more faceoffs than Syracuse.

SU outscored Virginia 6-1 over the late stages of the first half and the dawn of the second. Goals from Lucas Quinn and Curry pulled the Orange within three of the Hoos midway through the third quarter.

But the Cavaliers scored the next seven goals after Curry’s grasping strike. Former UVA goalie Bobby Gavin started and played all 60 minutes for the Orange. Gavin made 12 saves compared to Matthew Nunes‘ 15 for Virginia.

Cook and Mikey Berkman added late goals but fell short of sparking a Syracuse comeback.

Syracuse only scored on one of its seven man-up opportunities. They scored one more goal than High Point scored against the Cavaliers earlier this year.

Syracuse will look to get back in the win column against Army at the Carrier Dome on Wednesday, March 2.