Western Swing Begins Thursday

No. 7 SYRACUSE (5-2) at Air Force (1-5)
Game Details	Thursday, March 12, 2026 \| Colorado Springs, Colo. \| 5 p.m. ET/3 p.m. MT
Game Coverage	Live Coverage: Stats Stream: ESPN+ Listen: Cuse.com \| TK99/105 \| Learfield IMG College \| Cuse App \| Varsity App \| TuneIn \| WAER Twitter: @CuseMLAX Instagram: @CuseMLAX Facebook: CuseMLAX
Syracuse Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Game Notes
Air Force Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Game Notes

THE GAME

Syracuse men's lacrosse has landed in the Centennial State as the Orange open their Spring Break action on Thursday with a clash against the United States Air Force Academy.
The Orange and Falcons meet for the first time since 2002 and for the third time ever. Thursday's game will be the first time Syracuse takes on Air Force in Colorado Springs. The last game was a 20-8 Syracuse win at University of Denver while the first in 1986 was a 22-6 win at the Dome.
After picking up another top 15 win last weekend at Hopkins, Syracuse moved up in both the USILA Coaches Poll, now seventh, and the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, jumping to eighth.
Air Force was not mentioned in either poll this week, but was receiving votes earlier in the season.
This trip marks a second-straight season the Orange tussle in the Rocky Mountains after a successful trip to University of Utah last season.
Syracuse improved to 5-2 after knocking off then-No. 11 Johns Hopkins 12-8 at Homewood Field last weekend.
Air Force slipped to 1-5 on the season after dropping a 21-6 decision against No. 4 Duke a week ago. The Blue Devils are one of two common opponents between the Orange and the Falcons this regular season. The other is Denver, which beat Air Force 10-2 in early February. Air Force also played ACC foe Notre Dame in the preseason.
Thursday's game is slated for a 3 p.m. MT/5 p.m. start on ESPN+. The game will also air on the Syracuse Sports Network with Tim Leonard and Kyle Fetterly on the call for TK99/105 in Syracuse, through Cuse.com, The Varsity App, and the TuneIn app. Syracuse student-radio station WAER will be on hand as well with Jake Klein and Ben Chadwick calling the game.

ANOTHER POTW PAIR

For a third time this spring, Syracuse men's lacrosse picked up two ACC Player of the Week honors as Joey Spallina was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week with Jimmy McCool earning ACC Defensive Player of the Week plaudits.
Spallina racked seven points on four goals and three assists as the Orange knocked off No. 11 Johns Hopkins 12-8 last weekend at Homewood Field. The Mount Sinai, New York scored his four goals on six total shots, five of which were on cage.
While having a hand in half of the Orange goals, Spallina helped push Syracuse past the 10.00 goals per game the Blue Jay defense was surrendering on average entering that game.
In net for Syracuse, McCool stopped 14 Blue Jay shots while holding No. 11 Hopkins to its fewest goals at home this season. The Boston, Massachusetts native made saves at a 63.6 percent rate while dropping in an assist to close defenseman Billy Dwan III and helping the Orange clear at nearly 90 percent on the road.

KEEPING THE DOOR SHUT
- The Syracuse defense combined with a potent offense and a sharp faceoff has helped the Orange shut the door on opposing teams this season.
- Syracuse has kept opponents off the board for at least 15 minutes on five separate occasions so far this year, with the longest as a 23 minute, 4 second drought for Saint Joseph's in the second game of the year.
- Of those five droughts, three have come at the end of games. On Sunday as the Orange erased a four-goal, third-quarter deficit, Syracuse kept Penn off the board for the final 19:50 of the game. The final Quaker goal came with 4:14 left in the third quarter.
- The Orange defense has allowed just nine goals in the fourth quarter of games this season, while scoring 17 times across the fourth quarter and into overtime.
- Syracuse has allowed the fewest fourth-quarter/overtime goals in the ACC so far this year at just nine. Notre Dame is second in fourth quarter goals with 11 in just five games. North Carolina has given up 17, Virginia 15, and Duke with 14 given up in the final frame.

A WIN ON THURSDAY WOULD...
- See the Orange extend their winning streak to three straight after topping No. 19 Penn and No. 11 Johns Hopkins. It would tie the longest run of wins this season.
- Improve Syracuse to 3-0 all-time against Air Force and 2-0 in the state of Colorado.
- Bump Syracuse's road record to 3-2 on the season and would be the third-straight road win on this six-game swing.
- Be the 967th win in program history, the second-most all-time among Division I programs.