Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Penn preview and game thread
· Yahoo Sports
Things can change quickly in the college lacrosse world.
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Just about a week and a half ago, the Syracuse Orange were riding high on the wave of momentum created by their win over Maryland that earned them the No. 1 ranking for the first time in almost six years.
That moment feels like it was about six years ago, as ‘Cuse has since gone 0-2 after giving away a game against Harvard and getting overrun out of the gates by Princeton in the first leg of the ACC-Ivy Challenge.
The second and final leg takes place today at 12 PM on ESPN+, when the Orange take the drive down to historic Franklin Field in Philadelphia for a meeting with their third straight Ivy opponent, the Penn Quakers.
ACC/Ivy Challenge on tap this weekend.
— Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse (@CuseMLAX) February 24, 2026
#7 Syracuse at #10 Princeton
Friday | February 27 | 4 p.m.
Princeton, N.J. | ESPN+
#7 Syracuse at #19 Penn
Sunday | March 1 | Noon
Philadelphia | ESPN+#HHH x #LikeNoOtherpic.twitter.com/JSfxmS5Kzp
Penn is off to a competitive start in Taylor Wray’s first year as their head coach, going 2-2 so far with wins over UAlbany and Delaware, and close losses to Georgetown and North Carolina.
They’re a well-coached team who are going to give you a fight and make you earn whatever you get against them.
Workmanlike defense
This may not be the ideal assignment for a ‘Cuse team that has struggled with making mistakes the last two games, and particularly for an offense that has big questions surrounding it as they come off a confused, seven-goal performance against Princeton on Friday.
Penn’s defense is off to a great start, giving up an average of only 9.75 goals per game, and that’s against a very solid schedule so far. On Friday against the Tar Heels, they caused nine turnovers and held UNC to 11 goals despite being minus-nine on face-offs and minus-16 on ground balls. They lost the game, but they did an impressive job keeping it close and limiting a high-powered offense getting lots of opportunities to less than a dozen tallies.
Shining specialists
Despite a bad day against super-FOGO Brady Wambach on Friday, the Penn face-offs guys are having a great start to the season. Three guys have taken double-digit face-offs for them so far, and all three have tremendous numbers. Mac Eldridge is 29-of-49 (.592), Ethan Costanzo is 20-of-33 (.606) and Quinn Ball is 9-of-13 (.692).
Those are scary numbers any time, but especially so with Johnny Mullen struggling so badly with violations and his reaction times at the moment. Mullen has really looked lost the last roughly two and a half games, winning only 21 of his last 51 restarts, a .412 win percentage. He and Drew Angelo will have their hands full in this one, it seems.
And the specialist success doesn’t stop there. Sophomore goalie Jack Pelot is crushing it in the early returns to his first year as starter. He has 49 saves through four games, with a 9.75 goals-against average and a .557 save percentage.
As it does in a lot of games, the battle of the specialists will go a long way in deterring who comes out on top in this matchup. Who can win more possession and who can get more stops?
Offense building
An offense that has a handful of guys stepping into larger roles this season has been uneven in the early going. The Quakers are only averaging 11.75 goals per game so far, and both Georgetown and UNC held them to nine tallies.
The Orange defense has really struggled the last two games after a solid start, but does the Penn offense provide as much danger as the last two opponents?
They’re led by junior Davis Provost, a big-bodied attacker who leads the team with 14 points. Senior Griffin Scane had a big game on Friday with four goals against the Tar Heels, and leads the Quakers with 13 on the season.
Freshman Jackson Maher has blossomed early in his career, picking up 12 points in his first four games, while Payton Anderson’s former high school teammate, Leo Hoffman, is tied with Maher for the team lead in assists with six at the moment.
Hoffman, Ben Beacham and Nate Lucchesi make up the first midfield line and have produced 23 points among them so far this year. Provost, Scane and Maher make up the starting attack.