Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse Announces 2017 Schedule
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Head Coach Gary Gait and the Orange announced its schedule for the upcoming season on Wednesday. The daunting 18-game slate includes 14 teams that reached the NCAA tournament in 2016.
The team will open the season against an ACC opponent for the first time in school history as Boston College visits the Carrier Dome on Feb. 11. The four-game homestand will continue with a doubleheader against Canisius and Binghamton on Feb. 18 and a date against Massachusetts Feb. 25. The Orange will face a quick turnaround as it travels to Albany just two days later, Feb. 27, to take on the Great Danes.
Syracuse will open the month of March with a neutral site meeting against Northwestern on March 3, followed quickly by a matchup with Virginia in the Carrier Dome on March 5. Coach Gait’s squad will spend Spring Break on the road as it faces last year’s national runner-up Maryland in College Park on March 11. The Orange then heads to Florida for a showdown in the swamp with the Gators on March 14 and a contest against Harvard at Rollins College on the 18th. Notre Dame comes to town on March 26, followed by a trip to Princeton on March 29.
ACC play resumes with a game against the Duke in Durham, N.C. on April 2 before another midweek road test at Loyola (MD) on April 5. The team will hope for fair weather on April 9 as the women will host Virginia Tech at the SU Soccer Stadium. Less than one week later, on April 15, the defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels travel to the salt city. The Orange’s final home matchup will come against Cornell on April 18 as it wraps up the regular season at Louisville on April 22.
The ACC Tournament will stay down south in 2017, as it will be held in Richmond, Virginia from April 27-28, with the championship being played on the 30th.
Gary Gait and company will look to improve upon its 19-6 record from last season and finally get over the championship hump, as the Orange has been defeated in the national semifinals or finals in each of the past five seasons.
