SYRACUSE MEN’S LACROSSE TO FACE DUKE IN FIRST ROUND OF 2012 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange men’s lacrosse team (9-7) will take on ACC champion and No. 3 seed Duke (13-4) in the first round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship on Saturday, May 12 at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. Faceoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. on ESPN.

Syracuse is making its 32nd appearance in the NCAA playoffs. The Orange is the 2012 BIG EAST Conference champion and received the league’s automatic berth in this year’s 16-team tournament. The Blue Devils were one of nine at-large selections into the field, which was announced Sunday night on ESPNU.

The Orange and Blue Devils have combined to win three of the last four NCAA championships. Syracuse brought home the 2008 and 2009 gold trophies, while the Blue Devils won their first national championship in 2010.

Syracuse is 6-2 all-time against Duke, including a 3-0 mark in the NCAA Tournament meetings. The two sides have already met once this year with the Blue Devils posting a 12-10 victory over the Orange on April 1 at the Konica Minolta Big City Classic.

Duke defeated Maryland and North Carolina in late April to win its seventh ACC championship. The Blue Devils lost at Denver in its regular-season finale, 15-9. All-ACC performer Jordan Wolf is the team’s leading scorer with 57 points (29g, 28a). The Blue Devils also feature the ACC co-Defensive Player of the Year in CJ Costabile (113 ground balls).

This is the third time Syracuse has entered the tournament unseeded, and the team’s upcoming trip to Durham marks the first time since 2005 the Orange will play on the road in the first round.

The winner of the Syracuse-Duke game will meet the winner of Massachusetts and Colgate in the quarterfinals. The Minutemen won the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and received an automatic berth into the field. They are the only undefeated (15-0) team in the country and earned the tournament’s No. 6 seed. Colgate is 13-3 and received an at-large bid.

Syracuse holds a 62-20 record in NCAA Tournament play. Its .756 tournament winning percentage is the best in NCAA history, and its 62 tournament victories is second all-time behind Johns Hopkins (66).

The Orange has 31 previous NCAA invitations to its credit, including 24 straight from 1983-2006. SU advanced to the national semifinals 22 consecutive years from 1983-2004 and has won 11 NCAA championships (1983, 1988-90, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008-09).

Head coach John Desko has directed the Orange to five NCAA titles (2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009). His Orange squads are 28-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, and Desko owns the highest tournament winning percentage (.800) in NCAA history.

Press release provided by SU Athletics