SU's Road To Baltimore Begins Sunday

NCAA First Round - #1 Syracuse (14-1) vs. #20 Siena (13-4)
Game Details	Sunday, May 15 \| Syracuse, N.Y. \| 7:30 p.m. Carrier Dome \| Tickets \| Weather
Game Coverage	TV: ESPNU \| Radio: WTKW 99.5 FM Orange All Access: Audio \| Live Stats Twitter: @suorangeempire
Syracuse Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Stats \| Guide \| Notes
Siena Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Stats \| Guide \| Notes
NCAA Lacrosse Links	News \| Championship Info \| Bracket

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Orange received the No. 1 seed in the 2011 NCAA Championship and will begin postseason play against MAAC champion Siena on Sunday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Carrier Dome. The game is a rematch of a 2009 NCAA first-round matchup won by the Orange, 11-4.

Syracuse earned the tournament's top seed on the strength of a 14-1 regular season. The Saints are making their second trip to the postseason in the last three years. They are 13-4 overall.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth 12 and under and available online, over the phone (1-888-DOMETIX), or in person at the Carrier Dome Box Office. Parking is $10 in the surface lots surrounding the Dome.

The game will be televised live nationally in its entirety on ESPNU. Fans can also hear the action live on the radio home of the Orange - TK 99 (99.5 FM). Live streaming audio is available on SUathletics.com as part of Orange All-Access.

FAMILIAR TERRITORY
This is SU's 31st trip to the postseason, the fourth-most NCAA appearances by any Division I program, and it enters the 2011 tournament with a 61-19 postseason record. It's 61 tournament victories are the second-most behind Johns Hopkins, and SU owns the all-time best postseason winning percentage at .763. The Orange has the most NCAA titles (11) of any Division I program and has reached the NCAA championship game 16 times.

NO. 1 SEED SUITS ORANGE WELL
This is the eighth time Syracuse has been seeded first in the postseason. The Orange owns a 17-3 all-time record when serving as the No. 1 seed, including winning the 1988, 1989, 1990 and 2000 national championships.

DESKO OWNS HIGHEST NCAA TOURNAMENT WINNING PERCENTAGE
Head coach John Desko took over the program in 1999 and has guided the Orange to 12 NCAA Tournaments in 13 seasons and five NCAA titles (2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009). Desko's clubs are 27-6 in the NCAA playoffs, good for an .818 winning percentage. That mark is the best among all head coaches that have coached at least 10 postseason games. Legendary Johns Hopkins mentor Henry Ciccarone is second with a .750 (18-6) winning percentage.

ORANGE DOMINATES BIG EAST AWARDS
Syracuse had 11 players recognized when the BIG EAST announced its 2011 men's lacrosse awards and all-conference teams on May 11. Seniors Stephen Keogh and John Galloway took home individual awards. Keogh was named the BIG EAST Attack Player of the Year and Galloway was tabbed the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year for the second straight season. In addition, seniors John Lade, Jeremy Thompson, Joel White and Jovan Miller joined the pair on the all-conference first team. Senior Josh Amidon, redshirt junior Tim Desko, junior Kevin Drew and sophomores JoJo Marasco and Brian Megill were picked to the second team.

John Desko was named the 2011 BIG EAST Coach of the Year.

SCOUTING THE SAINTS
Siena set the program record for wins this season and enters the postseason with a 13-4 overall record. The Saints defeated Jacksonville and Detroit handily to win the MAAC Tournament Championship for the second time in three years. Sunday's NCAA game will be the Saints' second trip to the Carrier Dome this season. Siena posted an 11-6 win against Air Force in a neutral-site encounter at the Dome back on Feb. 20.

Coach Brian Brecht's squad ranks seventh nationally in scoring (11.88 goals per game). Attackmen Bryan Neufeld and Danny Martinsen drive the Saints' offense. The two players are the second-highest scoring tandem in the nation this season with 117 combined points. Neufeld, the 2011 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, leads the way with 65 points (40g, 25a), while Martinsen has 52 (30g, 22a). Neufeld ranks seventh nationally at 3.82 points per game. Chris Roth has been dynamic from his position in the midfield, notching 29 goals and 14 assists.

In addition to the conference's top offensive player, Siena also boasts the league's best defender. Duncan Seale, the 2011 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, has started all 17 games and has 26 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers. Goalie Tom Morr is fifth nationally in save percentage (.588) and 11th in saves per game (11.18). He has 190 saves and an 8.64 goals-against average.

THE SYRACUSE-SIENA SERIES
Syracuse leads the all-time series with Siena, 1-0. The only other pairing between the two teams occurred on May 10, 2009 in the first round of the NCAA Championship at the Carrier Dome. The Orange advanced, 11-4, and eventually went on to win its 11th NCAA title.

UP NEXT
The winner of the Syracuse-Siena matchup will face the winner of North Carolina-Maryland on Sunday, May 22 in the NCAA quarterfinals at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass.

Syracuse University Athletics

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