SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The
Orange men's lacrosse team (9-7) received the BIG EAST Conference’s automatic
berth in the 2012 NCAA Championship and will begin postseason play against No. 3
seed Duke (13-4) on Saturday, May 12 at Koskinen Stadium. Faceoff is slated for
12 p.m.
The game is a rematch of this year’s Big City Classic contest won by the Blue Devils, 12-10, at MetLife Stadium. Saturday’s game also marks Syracuse’s first trip to Durham since 1978, and it's the first time since 2005 the Orange will play on the road in the tournament's opening round.
The game will be televised live nationally on ESPN with Eamon McAnaney and Paul Carcaterra on the call. Fans can also hear the action live on the radio home of the Orange - TK 99 (99.5 FM) in Syracuse. Live streaming audio is available on SUathletics.com as part of Orange All-Access.
BREAKING DOWN THE ORANGE
Senior attackman Tommy Palasek (Rocky Point, N.Y.) leads the Orange in points (51), assists (28) and he is second in goals (23). Palasek, who was named the BIG EAST Tournament's Most Outstanding Player last weekend, is averaging 3.8 points per game in his last 11 outings. He's flanked by sophomore Derek Maltz (Ashburn, Va.), who leads the club with 28 goals, and redshirt senior Tim Desko (Syracuse, N.Y.) (21g, 10a).
Midfielders Bobby Eilers (Simsbury, Conn.) and JoJo Marasco (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) have combined for 60 points, including 33 goals. Eilers leads all SU middies with 21 goals, including six last weekend to earn him a spot on the conference's all-tournament team. Marasco has 12 goals, and is second on the squad behind Palasek in assists with 19.
Junior Brian Megill (Clark, N.J.) is Syracuse's defensive leader. He's picked up a career-best 58 ground balls and has already set the school single-season record with 36 caused turnovers. Redshirt junior David Hamlin (New Hartford, N.Y.) has started all 16 games at close defense and has 26 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers on the year. Freshman Brandon Mullins (Coppell, Texas) joins Hamlin and Megill in close. Mullins moved into the starting lineup nine games ago. He's been a consistent presence and has collected 26 ground balls and forced 12 turnovers.
Freshman Bobby Wardwell (Clifton Park, N.Y.) has started the last eight games in goal. He has a .537 save percentage and a 8.37 goals-against average with 73 saves. Wardwell matched his career high with 12 saves in last weekend's BIG EAST semifinal game against Villanova to earn a spot on the all-tournament team.
FAMILIAR TERRITORY
The NCAA Tournament is familiar territory for the Orange. This is SU’S 32nd trip to the postseason, the fourth-most NCAA appearances by any Division I program, and it enters the 2012 tournament with a 62-20 postseason record. Its 62 tournament victories are the second-most behind Johns Hopkins (66), and SU owns the all-time best postseason winning percentage at .756. The Orange has the most NCAA titles (11) of any Division I program and has reached the NCAA championship game 16 times.
DESKO OWNS HIGHEST NCAA TOURNAMENT WINNING PERCENTAGE
Head coach John Desko took over the program in 1999 and has guided the Orange to 13 NCAA Tournaments in 14 seasons and five NCAA titles (2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009). Desko’s clubs are 28-7 in the NCAA playoffs, good for an .800 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.
MAN-UP UNIT COMES ALIVE
Syracuse’s extra-man offense has improved greatly in the last third of the season. In the last six games, the Orange is 15-for-26 (.577) with the man advantage. The previous 10 games, Syracuse was 12-for-44 (.273). The improvement has coincided with the insertion of freshman Matt Walters (Villanova, Pa.) into the man-up rotation. Four of Walters’ five goals this season have come with the man advantage, including a pair of extra-man tallies at Villanova in the BIG EAST semifinals.
SCOUTING DUKE
The Blue Devils rode a 10-game winning streak all the way to the ACC title before losing their regular-season finale at Denver, 15-9, on April 27. Overall, Duke is 13-4 and earned the No. 3 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament field. The Blue Devils are averaging 11.24 goals per game and boast a goals-against average of 9.06.
Duke features a pair of 30-goal scorers in Josh Dionne (32 goals) and Robert Rotanz (30 goals). The Blue Devils also have one of the quickest attackman in the nation in Jordan Wolf. An All-ACC performer, Wolf leads the team in scoring with 57 points (29g, 28a). Defensively, Tewaaraton Award finalist CJ Costabile has been a consistent force. Costabile is the 2012 co-ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and the longstick midfielder has 113 ground balls and ranks eighth nationally in ground balls per game (6.65). He’s also the team’s top faceoff specialist (119-231, .515), and has contributed 10 points, including six goals, on offense.
Dan Wigrizer has cemented his place as Duke’s starting goalkeeper. Wigrizer has 11 starts on the year. He owns a .518 save percentage and an 8.74 goals-against average. Wigrizer was crucial to Duke’s win over Syracuse earlier this season making four saves in the fourth quarter, including two on the doorstep that helped seal the victory.
Head coach John Danowski is in his sixth season at Duke. He ranks third on the NCAA Division I career wins list with 312 victories. Overall, Danowski is 312-162, including a 93-23 record since taking over the Blue Devils in 2007. He’s guided the team to two NCAA championship game appearances (2007, 2010) and brought home the program’s first national championship in 2010.
THE SERIES
Syracuse has won six of the eight all-time meetings with the Blue Devils, including five of the last six. The only Duke victory in that stretch was its 12-10 triumph at the Big City Classic earlier this season. In NCAA playoff pairings, Syracuse is 3-0 against the Blue Devils, including a dominating 17-7 victory in the 2009 NCAA semifinals at Gillett e Stadium.
UP NEXT ...
The Syracuse-Duke winner will face either Colgate or Massachusetts in the NCAA quarterfinals at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. on Sunday, May 20. The Raiders and Minutemen square off in an NCAA first-round game Saturday afternoon.
The game is a rematch of this year’s Big City Classic contest won by the Blue Devils, 12-10, at MetLife Stadium. Saturday’s game also marks Syracuse’s first trip to Durham since 1978, and it's the first time since 2005 the Orange will play on the road in the tournament's opening round.
The game will be televised live nationally on ESPN with Eamon McAnaney and Paul Carcaterra on the call. Fans can also hear the action live on the radio home of the Orange - TK 99 (99.5 FM) in Syracuse. Live streaming audio is available on SUathletics.com as part of Orange All-Access.
BREAKING DOWN THE ORANGE
Senior attackman Tommy Palasek (Rocky Point, N.Y.) leads the Orange in points (51), assists (28) and he is second in goals (23). Palasek, who was named the BIG EAST Tournament's Most Outstanding Player last weekend, is averaging 3.8 points per game in his last 11 outings. He's flanked by sophomore Derek Maltz (Ashburn, Va.), who leads the club with 28 goals, and redshirt senior Tim Desko (Syracuse, N.Y.) (21g, 10a).
Midfielders Bobby Eilers (Simsbury, Conn.) and JoJo Marasco (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) have combined for 60 points, including 33 goals. Eilers leads all SU middies with 21 goals, including six last weekend to earn him a spot on the conference's all-tournament team. Marasco has 12 goals, and is second on the squad behind Palasek in assists with 19.
Junior Brian Megill (Clark, N.J.) is Syracuse's defensive leader. He's picked up a career-best 58 ground balls and has already set the school single-season record with 36 caused turnovers. Redshirt junior David Hamlin (New Hartford, N.Y.) has started all 16 games at close defense and has 26 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers on the year. Freshman Brandon Mullins (Coppell, Texas) joins Hamlin and Megill in close. Mullins moved into the starting lineup nine games ago. He's been a consistent presence and has collected 26 ground balls and forced 12 turnovers.
Freshman Bobby Wardwell (Clifton Park, N.Y.) has started the last eight games in goal. He has a .537 save percentage and a 8.37 goals-against average with 73 saves. Wardwell matched his career high with 12 saves in last weekend's BIG EAST semifinal game against Villanova to earn a spot on the all-tournament team.
FAMILIAR TERRITORY
The NCAA Tournament is familiar territory for the Orange. This is SU’S 32nd trip to the postseason, the fourth-most NCAA appearances by any Division I program, and it enters the 2012 tournament with a 62-20 postseason record. Its 62 tournament victories are the second-most behind Johns Hopkins (66), and SU owns the all-time best postseason winning percentage at .756. The Orange has the most NCAA titles (11) of any Division I program and has reached the NCAA championship game 16 times.
DESKO OWNS HIGHEST NCAA TOURNAMENT WINNING PERCENTAGE
Head coach John Desko took over the program in 1999 and has guided the Orange to 13 NCAA Tournaments in 14 seasons and five NCAA titles (2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009). Desko’s clubs are 28-7 in the NCAA playoffs, good for an .800 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.
MAN-UP UNIT COMES ALIVE
Syracuse’s extra-man offense has improved greatly in the last third of the season. In the last six games, the Orange is 15-for-26 (.577) with the man advantage. The previous 10 games, Syracuse was 12-for-44 (.273). The improvement has coincided with the insertion of freshman Matt Walters (Villanova, Pa.) into the man-up rotation. Four of Walters’ five goals this season have come with the man advantage, including a pair of extra-man tallies at Villanova in the BIG EAST semifinals.
SCOUTING DUKE
The Blue Devils rode a 10-game winning streak all the way to the ACC title before losing their regular-season finale at Denver, 15-9, on April 27. Overall, Duke is 13-4 and earned the No. 3 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament field. The Blue Devils are averaging 11.24 goals per game and boast a goals-against average of 9.06.
Duke features a pair of 30-goal scorers in Josh Dionne (32 goals) and Robert Rotanz (30 goals). The Blue Devils also have one of the quickest attackman in the nation in Jordan Wolf. An All-ACC performer, Wolf leads the team in scoring with 57 points (29g, 28a). Defensively, Tewaaraton Award finalist CJ Costabile has been a consistent force. Costabile is the 2012 co-ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and the longstick midfielder has 113 ground balls and ranks eighth nationally in ground balls per game (6.65). He’s also the team’s top faceoff specialist (119-231, .515), and has contributed 10 points, including six goals, on offense.
Dan Wigrizer has cemented his place as Duke’s starting goalkeeper. Wigrizer has 11 starts on the year. He owns a .518 save percentage and an 8.74 goals-against average. Wigrizer was crucial to Duke’s win over Syracuse earlier this season making four saves in the fourth quarter, including two on the doorstep that helped seal the victory.
Head coach John Danowski is in his sixth season at Duke. He ranks third on the NCAA Division I career wins list with 312 victories. Overall, Danowski is 312-162, including a 93-23 record since taking over the Blue Devils in 2007. He’s guided the team to two NCAA championship game appearances (2007, 2010) and brought home the program’s first national championship in 2010.
THE SERIES
Syracuse has won six of the eight all-time meetings with the Blue Devils, including five of the last six. The only Duke victory in that stretch was its 12-10 triumph at the Big City Classic earlier this season. In NCAA playoff pairings, Syracuse is 3-0 against the Blue Devils, including a dominating 17-7 victory in the 2009 NCAA semifinals at Gillett e Stadium.
UP NEXT ...
The Syracuse-Duke winner will face either Colgate or Massachusetts in the NCAA quarterfinals at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. on Sunday, May 20. The Raiders and Minutemen square off in an NCAA first-round game Saturday afternoon.
Press release provided by SU Athletics
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