Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse Steamrolls Jacksonville 24-5 in Season-Opener

It seems like a mentality switch was all that Syracuse men’s lacrosse needed in its 24 to 5 season opening victory over Jacksonville on Saturday. After a tough defeat in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals last season to Denver, SU’s leading scorer, both in that game and against the Dolphins, Michael Leo, believes it’s best that the Orange have turned the page.

“Yeah, I mean, obviously that loss, I think, made a lot of us change our attitude entering the offseason. So I mean, I know everyone in this team worked their tail off in the offseason, had a great fall ball. And honestly, that game has just passed us now. And we’re just focusing on one game at a time. I’m fully confident that this team is going to take one game at a time and just have an amazing season. And I can’t wait for it.”

That mentality switch helped SU on offense and on defense. Syracuse had eight different players score two or more goals tonight. Then on the defensive side, SU held JU to just five scores. Reminder, the Dolphins were a top 10 scoring offense in the nation last year. Defenseman Billy Dwan says that to build up to a victory like this, it takes everyone to lead. Yeah, I mean, obviously I think it’s a big honor to be a captain and everything like that, but I think

“Coach says it, Coach Gait says it, like there’s only four captains and we’re not going to go to a place if you want to go if we only have four captains. And if you look at these two guys too, they’re great leaders on this team.” 

SU looks to feed off the momentum from its biggest win since its season opener of 2022 on Friday against Vermont. Opening faceoff is at 6 o’clock. Reporting from the JMA Wireless Dome, John Boccio, Citrus TV.