Syracuse University
#12 Georgetown
Orange Opens BIG EAST Play Saturday
3/12/2010 8:24:47 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Tickets | Watch/Listen Live | Live Stats | Game Notes
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Saturday, March 13 marks the dawn of a new era for the Syracuse men's lacrosse team. The second-ranked Orange (2-1) will host No. 11 Georgetown (2-1) in its first BIG EAST Conference game at 2 p.m. at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse built a long and storied history as one of the sport's few independents before joining the BIG EAST for the league's inaugural season.
The Orange is coming off its first loss of the year (11-10) at Virginia. The Hoyas have won two in a row, including a 9-6 win against St. John's last Saturday in the conference's first-ever men's lacrosse game.
Tickets for the game are available online at SUathletics.com, over the phone (1-888-DOMETIX), or in person at the Carrier Dome Box Office during normal business hours. 'Cuse Kids Club members get in free with their membership card.
The game will be televised live nationally on ESPNU. Fans can also hear the action live on the radio home of the Orange - TK 99 (99.5 FM). Live streaming video and audio are available on SUathletics.com as part of Orange All-Access.
ABOUT THE BIG EAST
The conference came to fruition on June 11, 2008 when former commissioner Mike Tranghese announced that BIG EAST's 16 athletics directors voted unanimously to start the league. Men's lacrosse is the 24th sport overall and the 11 men's sport sponsored by the conference. The league consists of seven teams: Georgetown, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John's, Syracuse and Villanova. The schools will play a six-game round-robin regular-season schedule with the winner being named conference champion.
BRING YOUR CAN TABS TO THE DOME
The Orange men's lacrosse team and the Syner-Cuse student marketing group from the University's sports management program have joined forces to start a can tab collection program to benefit the Ronald McDonald House. Fans can drop off their aluminum soda and beer can tabs at Gate B of the Carrier Dome during the Georgetown game on Saturday, March 13 for collection.
In addition, collection boxes/”houses” have been placed on campus. They are located at campus residence halls, dining areas and University buildings, including the Schine Student Center, Bird Library and Archbold Gym where they will remain throughout the season.
Following collection, the local Ronald McDonald House chapter will bring the tabs to local recycling centers where they are weighed to determine their value. The recycling center then sends the chapter a check for the total value of the collected tabs.
THE COACHES
Saturday's game represents a clash of two of the top five Division I coaches in active winning percentage. Orange mentor John Desko is at the top of that list with a career .760 winning percentage. Desko has five national championships and a 136-43 overall record. Georgetown's Dave Urick is third in active winning percentage (.743). He also has the most wins (324) of any active head coach and lists second behind Jack Emmer (326) in career coaching victories. Urick won 10 NCAA Division III Championships as the head coach at Hobart during the 1980's.
Desko is 11-3 all-time in head-to-head meetings with Urick and has won the last three. Urick is 6-22 in his career against the Orange. He was 2-8 versus Syracuse as the head coach at Hobart and he is 4-14 against the Orange since taking over at Georgetown in 1990.
MAN-UP OFFENSE HEATS UP
The Orange converted on five of its six extra-man opportunities at Virginia on March 1. All five of the team's first-half goals against the Cavaliers came with the man-advantage. The performance increased the team's 2010 man-up conversion rate to .429 (6-14) and represented the most extra-man goals for the Orange since it tallied six against Providence in the 2009 season opener.
THOMPSON = INSTANT OFFENSE
Junior Jeremy Thompson's ability to win faceoffs and score transition goals has been instrumental in the Orange's quick-strike attack. Syracuse has scored three times in six seconds or less this season and Thompson has been on the back end of all three goals. In every instance he's won the ensuing faceoff and found the cage himself. Against Virginia, Thompson and Chris Daniello tied the school and NCAA record for the fastest goals by the same team when the duo scored five seconds apart late in the fourth quarter.
Against Army, Thompson scored six seconds after the Black Knights' Tyler Seymour buried a goal. The tallies were two seconds shy of the SU record for the fastest goals by opposing teams (six seconds by Hobart's Jim Bardwell and SU's Greg Burns) set on April 16, 1988.
SCOUTING THE HOYAS
Georgetown has posted wins against Harvard (13-12) and St. John's (9-6) since losing its season opener to Maryland by the score of 15-13. Senior Craig Dowd leads the Hoyas in points (8) and assists (5). Junior Rickey Mirabito is tops on the squad with seven goals. Mirabito is tied for the BIG EAST lead in goals per game (2.33) and has both game-winners for the Hoyas.
Defensively, Georgetown is without BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Barney Ehrmann, who has missed the last two games due to injury. Senior Chris Nixon leads the Georgetown defense with 10 ground balls and six caused turnovers. Reigning league defensive player of the week Jack Davis has 26 saves in the cage this season. The senior goaltender stopped 12 shots in the win against Harvard and had 14 saves against St. John's.
THE SERIES VERSUS GEORGETOWN
This is the 15th straight season Syracuse and Georgetown have met on the lacrosse field. The two schools have played at least once every year dating back to 1995 and the Orange holds a 14-4 series advantage. SU holds the longest winning streak in series history, winning eight straight meetings from 1999-2004. One of those pairings was a 24-16 SU win during the 2000 season. The Orange's 24 goals in that contest are the most scored by the team in Desko's tenure as head coach.
