The lone top-10 battle this week pits the nation’s top team, Boston College, at No. 10 Syracuse. This rare early-season ACC matchup has been a taut affair in the past with five games decided by two goals or fewer since 2014. Smattered in there are a pair of blowouts in 2017 in each direction.

Before 2015, BC had never beaten Syracuse. Last year’s 13-12 win gave the Eagles back-to-back wins for the first time in the series, following up an emphatic 21-10 thumping in the 2017 NCAA tournament. A win on Saturday would be BC’s third at Syracuse in the last four visits. 

NO. 1 BOSTON COLLEGE AT NO. 10 SYRACUSE
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 16, 12 p.m.
WATCH: ACC Network

The Eagles have the pieces in place to win a national title. Saturday’s game will be the first audition to show how good BC will be this year. A tight result would be surprising, but a definitive victory would send a message that the Eagles are the real deal.

How does Syracuse contend with the Boston College offense? The newly readjusted Kenzie Kent put up nine points in last week’s win over BU, while Sam Apuzzo added four and Cara Urbank tossed in a career-high four goals. Throw in Dempsey Arsenault (64 goals in 2018) and there are four primary options for the Orange to contend with.

For Syracuse to knock off the Eagles, it will have to win the draw. The last six winners in the series have won the draw battle. Last year’s 18-8 win by the Orange in the Carrier Dome featured a 20-8 advantage. If the Orange can figure out a way to outduel Apuzzo in the circle, Syracuse will find success.

Other games highlighting the weekend include:

• No. 20 Colorado at No. 13 Virginia Tech
  Saturday, 12 p.m. (ET), ACC Network
  
  Both teams are coming off losses to higher-ranked squads and looking for their first marquee win of the season. Also, the Hokies are looking to avenge a 15-goal drilling at the hands of the Buffaloes last season. Both teams have questions to answer. Virginia Tech will need someone to step up on offense and Colorado is sorting things out in the draw circle by committee and looking for a key distributor on offense.

• Duke at No. 7 Northwestern
  Sunday, 1 p.m. (ET), BTN Plus
  
  Duke will attempt to emulate last year’s 9-8 thriller over Northwestern. The Blue Devils contained Selena Lasota to just three goals on seven shots. Another staunch defensive performance will be required again. The Wildcats were impressive last week in a 21-11 drubbing of Louisville with nine different players registering multi-point games, including Lasota’s six-point effort. Duke will be well-rested after its blanking of Presbyterian on Wednesday, while Northwestern has to contend with Dartmouth on Friday.

More Games On Our Radar

All times are listed in ET. For a full list of broadcast games, please visit our US Lacrosse TV listing page.

FRIDAY, FEB. 15

6 p.m.

High Point at No. 3 North Carolina (ACC Network)

8 p.m.

Dartmouth at No. 7 Northwestern (BTN Plus)

SATURDAY, FEB. 16

11 a.m.

Johns Hopkins at No. 12 Loyola (JHU)

1 p.m.

Delaware at No. 6 Penn (YouTube)
No. 9 Princeton at Temple (ESPN+)
Lehigh at No. 11 Penn State (BTN Plus)
No. 16 Virginia at Elon (Phoenix All-Access)

3 p.m.

No. 14 Towson at Georgetown (HoyaVision)
Louisville at No. 15 Denver (Pioneers All-Access)

SUNDAY, FEB. 17

11 a.m.

No. 17 Notre Dame at Liberty (ESPN+)

12 p.m.

East Carolina at No. 3 North Carolina (ACC Network)
UConn at No. 8 James Madison

1 p.m.

Saint Joseph’s at No. 19 Navy (Patriot League Network)