Orange Have Earned Attention After Saturday's Eye-Catching Result

Even a dozen years removed from its last Memorial Day weekend appearance and 16 years after its last national championship, Syracuse is accustomed to commanding attention.

After Saturday’s 14-9 victory over Notre Dame, the Orange have earned it.

It was an eye-catching result for a team that had to that point quietly gone about its business after back-to-back February losses to Maryland and Harvard. Sure, Syracuse has beaten the likes of Johns Hopkins, Colgate and Virginia since then, but nothing as certain to carry value into May like knocking off the two-time defending NCAA tournament champs.

Syracuse has won six in a row, the second-longest streak in Division I behind Ohio State, and it is making a credible push to land in the top five in a season when it was expected to take the next logical step and advance to the final weekend of the season after last year’s quarterfinal appearance.

Beating Notre Dame is the strongest sign yet that it could happen. And with Cornell, Duke and North Carolina up the next three weekends, the Orange have opportunities to further build off its best result of the season to date.

The below ranking is Patrick Stevens' submission to the USA Lacrosse Top 20.

PATRICK STEVENS' TOP 20

1. Cornell (9-1)

It was a two-victory week for the Big Red, including a closer-than-the-score-suggested 13-9 defeat of Brown. The CJ Kirst Watch is now fully on; the senior attackman is within 10 goals of former Virginia star Payton Cormier’s Division I career goals record. (Last week: 1)

2. Ohio State (11-1)

No team has ever upended all four programs that made the previous year’s NCAA semifinals. The Buckeyes, with defeats of Virginia, Notre Dame and Denver during their 11-game winning streak, can become the first with a victory over Maryland on Saturday. (LW: 3)

3. Maryland (8-2)

The Terrapins’ offense went missing Saturday in the Garden State, managing to make just 15 percent of its shots in an 8-6 loss at Rutgers. Maryland still belongs ahead of a batch of two- and three-loss teams it defeated, but there isn’t that much daylight anymore between the Terps and the next tier. (LW: 2)

4. Princeton (8-2)

Like Cornell, the Tigers have a goals record on the horizon. Coulter Mackesy’s four-goal day Saturday against Vermont gave him 154 for his career, nine shy of matching Jesse Hubbard for the most in Princeton history. (LW: 4)

5. Syracuse (9-2)

The Orange’s home Dome advantage was evident in its victory over Notre Dame. The crowd of 11,268 was the largest for any Division I regular season game since the 2019 Hopkins-Maryland game drew 12,405. (LW: 6)

6. Army (9-1)

There was no hangover from beating North Carolina and no getting caught looking ahead to Navy. The Black Knights shredded any thought of those clichés by scoring the first four goals and never trailing in a 13-7 defeat of Colgate. (LW: 7)

7. North Carolina (8-2)

Whoever discovered their defense first was going to win Saturday’s game between the Tar Heels and Virginia. North Carolina did so and dominated the second half on the way to an 18-9 rout, its most lopsided victory in the series since the 1992 ACC tournament. (LW: 8)

8. Penn State (7-3)

Avoided an 0-3 start to Big Ten play with a five-goal spurt in the fourth quarter to collect an 11-8 victory at Michigan. The Nittany Lions return home to face Johns Hopkins on Saturday. (LW: 9)

9. Harvard (8-2)

The Crimson scored six goals in the first eight minutes and the first nine goals overall in an emphatic 18-7 pounding of Dartmouth. Next up is a visit from struggling Penn on Saturday. (LW: 11)

10. Notre Dame (5-3)

The Irish couldn’t follow up on a quick start and fell to Syracuse for the first time since 2018. Notre Dame will attempt to get to 2-1 in the ACC when Virginia visits South Bend on Saturday. (LW: 5)

11. Richmond (8-3)

Zach Vigue is now the winningest goalie in Spider history, collecting victory No. 36 as Richmond rolled past Hobart 15-7. Next up is a date at home with High Point, a matchup of the only two teams still undefeated in Atlantic 10 play. (LW: 10)

12. Duke (9-3)

The Blue Devils snapped a two-game slide with a 12-7 road defeat of Boston U. It’s back to the ACC for the next three weeks, starting with Saturday’s visit from North Carolina. (LW: 14)

13. Georgetown (7-3)

The Hoyas haven’t exactly dominated in their first two Big East games, but they have come away with a pair of victories. Senior Aidan Carroll scored in overtime for the third time in two seasons on Saturday, scoring in the second extra session to down Marquette. (LW: 12)

14. Boston U (8-3)

The good for the ever-aggressive Terriers? Their 10-man ride helped force Duke into eight failed clears. The not-so-good? Boston U managed only 28 shots in a 12-7 loss to the Blue Devils. It’s all Patriot League competition the rest of the regular season, including a trip to Lafayette on Saturday. (LW: 13)

15. Michigan (6-5)

The Wolverines’ took their first Big Ten loss of the season Sunday. Then again, four of the five teams just below them in last week’s exercise also lost over the weekend. So Michigan stays in the same spot heading into next Sunday’s visit to Rutgers. (LW: 15)

16. Fairfield (10-1)

The Stags led wire-to-wire in a 14-10 defeat of Hofstra, bouncing back from their first loss as Luke Okupski had four goals and Keegan Lynch added two goals and three assists. Fairfield visits Delaware and Towson the next two weeks as it continues to chase a CAA regular season title. (LW: 19)

17. Rutgers (6-6)

The Scarlet Knights had done plenty since the formation of the Big Ten, but they hadn’t defeated Maryland — until Saturday. The 8-6 slugfest was Rutgers’ first over the Terrapins since 1980 and snapped a 19-game slide in the series. (LW: Not ranked)

18. Johns Hopkins (6-5)

Never led in a 14-10 loss to Ohio State while falling to 0-3 in Big Ten play. A regular season conference title is out of the picture now, but Hopkins still has two prime opportunities to revive its NCAA tournament hopes with visits to Penn State and Maryland coming the next two weekends.

19. UMass (8-3)

Didn’t exactly look the part of a ranked team in a 14-9 loss at home to High Point, but it would be hard to knock the Minutemen out of the Top 20 while moving Saint Joseph’s — a team they just beat a week earlier — back into the rankings. (LW: 17)

20. Saint Joseph’s (8-3)

Held St. Bonaventure scoreless for the first 31-plus minutes while cruising to a 15-3 victory. The Hawks head back home to face Hobart this weekend. (LW: Not ranked)

Also considered (alphabetical order): Colgate (6-5), Dartmouth (7-3), Denver (6-5), Navy (7-4), Sacred Heart (9-2), Virginia (5-6)