Do or die in Virginia
12th-ranked Syracuse field hockey faces its biggest test of the campaign this weekend against UVA. The Orange are hot, riding a four game win streak over the last two weeks at Coyne stadium. Three of the teams that Syracuse has defeated in that span were also top 20 teams. So you might be asking yourself, if the Orange are a top 15 team, are on fire right now, and seem like they can make a deep playoff run regardless of how they finish out the season, why is this game so crucial? Let’s jump into all of that and more.
Cavalier domination
Syracuse has lost the last 11 matchups against Virginia. That’s simply not good enough. It’s not as bad as it might seem though, the last five out of six games between the two sides have been decided by just one goal. The Orange have been close to beating the Cavaliers in the past, but SU needs to close the door once and for all in Charlottesville on Friday.
ACC Standings
With just four games left to go in the season, Syracuse currently sits at fifth out of eight teams in the ACC boasting a 4-2 record in conference play. The two losses SU has this year in conference were a 5-0 defeat at UNC, and a 1-0 penalty stroke loss visiting Duke. The four wins the Orange have in the ACC this year are all against the bottom four teams. That’s why it’s crucial Syracuse add at least one more ACC win. Luckily for the Orange, they have two ACC matchups left on the year. The first being against fourth-ranked Virginia on Friday, and the second in SU’s season finale when it hosts ninth-ranked Boston College who currently sit at the top of the conference.
What a win would do
You might be wondering, what would a win really do for this team? Well, it would certainly shake things up in the ACC. For the first time in over a month, Syracuse has just one game this weekend. What that means is that most of the other teams in the ACC will play their game in hand this weekend. So, if the Orange are to come out winners, they could make a huge jump in the ACC standings. With just two weeks to go, that could be significant with the conference championship just a couple weeks away.
Current playoff position
As mentioned above, the Orange currently sits at fifth in the ACC. With the ACC championship being expanded to eight teams this year due to the addition of Cal and Stanford, that means Syracuse currently has the fifth seed in the conference. If the playoffs were to start today, SU would face Duke in the first round. Ideally, the Orange would want to play a bottom-four team that they have already beaten this year. That’s why Syracuse needs to come out victorious in at least one of their two remaining ACC games down the stretch to give itself a chance at a higher seed come November.
