Orange Host Yale in First Round

No. 7 SYRACUSE (11-5) vs. No. 12 Yale (9-5)
Game Details	Sunday, May 10, 2026 \| Syracuse, N.Y. \| 5 p.m. ET
Game Coverage	Live Coverage: Stats Television: ESPNU Stream: ESPNU 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
Yale Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Game Notes

THE GAME
- NCAA Tournament time for the Orange as sixth-seeded Syracuse prepares to host a First Round game for a third straight season. The Orange welcome back the Bulldogs of Yale for the first time since the 2017 First Round, despite a series ranging back to 1920.
- Syracuse was dropped from the ACC Tournament in the semifinal round in a fight-to-the-finish battle with second-seeded North Carolina last weekend in Charlotte.
- Likewise, Yale is coming off an Ivy League semifinal loss to eventual champion Princeton. The Bulldogs come to Central New York 9-5 overall, winning six of their last seven games.
- The Orange are looking to close the Dome for the year with a clean record, entering with a 7-0 mark within the friendly confines in 2026. The Orange have not had an unbeaten home record across a full season since going 9-0 in 2015.
- Syracuse dropped in the polls this week, falling to number seven in the Coaches Poll and eight in the Media Poll. The Orange have been inside the top 10 all season long.
- Sunday's Mother's Day game is the penultimate game of the First Round in this year's NCAA Tournament. Opening faceoff is set for 5 p.m. ET on ESPNU
- Anish Shroff and Quint Kessenich will have the call for ESPNU - 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 for the game.
- The winners of Sunday's game will get the winner of Saturday's Tournament opener at noon between No. 4 North Carolina and No. 18 UAlbany in Chapel Hill.

TEWAARATON FINALIST
- Joey Spallina has been named as a Tewaaraton Finalist, as announced by the Tewaaraton Foundation Tuesday night.
- Spallina is the first Syracuse men's lacrosse player to be named as a finalist since Kevin Rice was tabbed in 2015. Syracuse has had three men's Tewaaraton winners since the award was first distributed in 2001: Michael Powell (2002, 2004) and Kevin Leveille (2008).
- The 2026 Tewaaraton Awards ceremony is set for Thursday, May 28 in Washington, D.C. at the University Club.
- Hailing from Mount Sinai, New York, Spallina became the program's all-time career points leader, passing Powell's previous mark of 307. Spallina has 321 points in his Syracuse career entering the NCAA Tournament this weekend.
- This season, the senior has 75 points behind 30 goals and 45 assists, the second-most assists in Division I this season and the fourth-best assist per game ratio. He is the only player in Division I with at least 30 goals and 45 assists while his 75 total points are tied for the sixth-most in the country with the ninth-best points-per game (4.69) mark.
- Over the course of his Syracuse career, Spallina has a 4.72 points per game mark, which is the best among active Division I players. He also has the best assists per game mark (2.69) among active players and the most total assists, 183, which are just four behind Syracuse's all-time assist leader Tim Nelson (187, 1983-85).
- In addition to Spallina, Shawn Lyght (Notre Dame), Owen Duffy (North Carolina), Nate Kabiri (Princeton), and Willem Firth (Cornell) were named as Tewaaraton Award Finalists.

ONE AND ONLY
- There's only one team in the field of 16 remaining hosting an NCAA Tournament game for a third straight season and that team goes by the Orange.
- After missing the Tournament for several years, Syracuse is back and hosting at home in its traditional Sunday evening spot, this time taking on Yale.
- Syracuse, Princeton, North Carolina, Cornell and Penn State are the only teams hosting a First Round game for a second year in a row as well.

A WIN ON SUNDAY WOULD...
- Improve Syracuse to 21-4 all-time against Yale in a series dating back to 1920.
- Secure the 72 NCAA Tournament win all-time for the Orange.
- Bump the Syracuse record to 4-0 in the postseason against Yale.
- Be the 32nd NCAA Tournament win for Syracuse at the JMA Wireless Dome and 34th all-time in the city of Syracuse (2-0 at Coyne Field).
- Lock down the 16th First Round win for Syracuse and improve the Orange to 3-1 as a six seed.
- Mark a third-straight season with an NCAA Tournament win, the first time Syracuse would advance to the quarterfinals in three straight years since 2015-17.
- Be the 973rd win in program history, the second-most all-time among Division I programs.

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Players Mentioned

Joey Spallina

Syracuse University Athletics