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3 takeaways from Syracuse lacrosse's 15-14 win over UNC

Michael Leo
Michael Leo (Saugat Sen/The Juice Online)
Saugat Sen • The Juice Online
Staff Writer
Saugat Sen is a graduate of Syracuse University. He is heavily involved with the sites social media presence as well as coverage of football, basketball and lacrosse teams.

OLNEY, Md. — Syracuse picked its second straight win over a ranked opponent, as it topped No. 12/11 North Carolina on Saturday, 15-14, in dramatic fashion. Here are three takeaways from the win.

Michael Leo heeds his coach's advice

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With 15 seconds left and the game tied at 14, Michael Leo heard offensive coordinator Pat March yelling from the sideline. “Go, just go,” March said. The play was originally for Syracuse to run its offense on the left side of the field, but instead, Leo had the ball and heeded his coach’s advice. He dodged on defenseman Matt Wright and cut back inside for a diving shot that beat Collin Krieg with 12 seconds left to go. It proved to be the game winning shot, giving Syracuse a win it absolutely needed to have to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive. “It’s a hell of a play,” head coach Gary Gait said. “He listened to the coach and buried it.”

Syracuse learns from its previous loss to UNC

Saturday’s win was in sharp contrast to when the two teams matched up earlier in the season at the JMA Wireless Dome. In that Feb. 25 game, the Tar Heels defeated SU, 19-13, stifling a third-quarter rally from the Orange. Though there were certainly parallels to the February matchup on Saturday (UNC outshot SU 50-36 and also won 22 of 32 faceoffs), the Orange also applied some of the lessons it learned from that loss and throughout the year. SU was only outshot 27-23 on shots on net and also effectively killed three man-up opportunities for the Tar Heels, while capitalizing on two of its own. Also, this time, it was Syracuse stopping a late surge from UNC after the Tar Heels had scored two goals with under five minutes to tie the game.

Syracuse keeps its postseason hopes alive

The win was Syracuse’s second in a row both on the schedule and also against ranked teams. The Orange knocked off No. 14/15 Princeton last week, and now have a win over No. 11/12 North Carolina. Aside from Syracuse likely vaulting in the upcoming polls, it also keeps its NCAA Tournament hopes alive, though the road to the postseason will not be easy. Syracuse faces No. 3/2 Virginia next week, followed by No. 2/3 Duke on April 29. Then again, Syracuse is playing its best lacrosse of the season and has essentially passed two consecutive tests in ‘must win’ games. “There was a ton of pressure on us,” Gait said. “We felt it was a playoff game, and they came through and pulled it out.”

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