Rematch with Notre Dame Awaits Orange in BIG EAST Semifinals

2013 BIG EAST Championship - #5 Syracuse (11-3) vs. #6 Notre Dame (10-3)
Details	Thursday, May 2 \| Villanova, Pa. \| 4:30 p.m. Tournament Central \| Villanova Stadium \| Tickets \| Weather
Game Coverage	TV: ESPNU \| Radio: ESPN Radio 97.7 FM (Syracuse) WatchESPN.com: Watch Orange All Access: Listen \| Live Stats Twitter: @Cuse, @sumenslax
Syracuse Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Stats \| Notes \| Guide
Notre Dame Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Stats \| Notes \| Guide

VILLANOVA, Pa. -- In a unique twist, No. 5 Syracuse (11-3) finds itself squaring off against No. 6 Notre Dame (10-3) for the second time in six days when the 2013 BIG EAST Championship commences on Thursday, May 2. The Orange and Irish meet at 4:30 p.m. at Villanova Stadium. The Orange closed the regular season with a 10-4 victory against the Irish in the Konica Minolta Big City Classic to earn a share of the league regular-season title and the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.

Tickets are available online at BIGEAST.org. Thursday's game will be televised live nationally on ESPNU. Fans can also hear the action live on the radio home of the Orange - ESPN Radio (97.7 FM). Live audio is available on SUathletics.com as part of Orange All-Access.

ABOUT THE 2013 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
The BIG EAST started sponsoring men's lacrosse in 2010, but this is only the second year of the league championship tournament. Villanova is the top seed and will play No. 4 seed Georgetown in the tournament's second semifinal at 7 p.m. Syracuse and Notre Dame are seeded second and third, respectively, and their game precedes the Villanova-Georgetown contest. The two semifinal winners meet at 12 p.m. Saturday, May 4 to decide who receives the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship.

ORANGE NABS ANOTHER REGULAR-SEASON TITLE
Syracuse claimed a share of the 2013 BIG EAST regular-season title with its 10-4 win against Notre Dame. The Orange shares the crown with Villanova as both teams finished with 5-1 conference records. It's the third time in four years Syracuse has won at least a piece of the regular-season title. In 2010 and 2011, the Orange repeated as undefeated regular-season league champs (there was no conference tournament). Notre Dame was the regular-season BIG EAST champion in 2012.

2012 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP REWIND
Syracuse won the inaugural BIG EAST Championship tournament with a convincing 12-4 victory over St. John's in the league title game on May 5, 2012 at Villanova Stadium. Overall, the Orange dispatched Villanova (15-6) in the semifinals and the Red Storm in the final by a cumulative score of 27-10.

Tommy Palasek was named the championship's most outstanding player. Palasek recorded 10 points (four goals, six assists) in the two games. Bobby Eilers, Brian Megill and Bobby Wardwell joined Palasek on the all-tournament team.

ORANGE IN THE RPI
Syracuse is sixth in the latest RPI released by the NCAA on Monday, April 29. The Orange IS 2-0 against teams in the top five of the RPI (#1 Notre Dame, #4 Cornell) and 6-1 against the top 20.

COUNT TO 10
With 11 victories this season, Syracuse has reached double-digit wins for the 44th time in 97 varsity seasons. The Orange has won at least 10 games in 12 of John Desko's 15 years as head coach.

SCOUTING THE IRISH
The Irish are currently tied for sixth in the USILA Coaches' Poll after having their four-game winning streak snapped by the Orange last weekend. Syracuse limited the Notre Dame offense to a season-low four goals in the victory, dropping the Irish's season scoring average to 10.46 goals per game.

Four players account for nearly 60 percent of all Notre Dame's points. Freshman attackman Matt Kavanagh (25 goals, 13 assists), who led the U.S. U-19 National Team to the gold medal last summer, is the team's top scorer. He had a team-best two goals in the first meeting with Syracuse. Two points behind him is senior attackman Sean Rogers (20 goals, 11 assists). Rogers was blanked by Orange senior Brian Megill last time out. Midfielder Jim Marlatt (18 goals, 9 assists) and attackman Conor Doyle (15 goals, 9 assists), the team's third and fourth leading scorers, also did not record a point against the Orange last weekend.

Senior goalie John Kemp anchors the nation's ninth-ranked scoring defense (8.08 goals per game). Kemp was named the nation's top netminder last season and was voted the BIG EAST Preseason co-Defensive Player of the year in 2013. He has 115 saves and ranks ninth in the NCAA in goals-against average (7.93). Kemp totaled nine saves against the Orange on April 27, but did not have a stop in the decisive fourth quarter that saw Syracuse outscore Notre Dame, 6-0. The trio of Matt Miller, Stephen O'Hara and Brian Buglione have combined to start every game this year on close defense.

Head coach Kevin Corrigan is in his 25th season at Notre Dame and owns a 240-112 (.682) record with the Irish. Overall, he is 250-127 (.663) in 27 seasons as a college head coach. Corrigan ranks seventh among active Division I coaches in winning percentage and sixth in victories. He's guided the Irish to the Final Four in two of the last three years.

THE SYRACUSE-NOTRE DAME SERIES
The Orange is 6-1 all-time against Notre Dame. Syracuse is 3-0 against the Irish at neutral sites, including Saturday's 10-4 victory at MetLife Stadium in the Big City Classic.

Syracuse University Athletics

Rematch with Notre Dame Awaits Orange in BIG EAST Semifinals

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