No. 13 Syracuse (3-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) hosts No. 15 Rutgers (4-3) in the Carrier Dome on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Orange enter the game off a come-from-behind win against then-No. 17 Johns Hopkins. The Scarlet Knights most recently dropped a 13-10 contest to then-No. 16 Lehigh on Tuesday.

Here’s what the beat writers expect for the outcome of Saturday’s game.

Andrew Graham (3-2)
Rutgers football
Syracuse 12, Rutgers 7

Before you even get there, Michael does not get extra points unless I get mine for getting the Army game perfect. As for Saturday, I think the Orange picks up a key ranked win against Rutgers this weekend. Weirdly, it might come down to how SU’s man-up offense (No. 8 in the country) fares against the Scarlet Knights’ No. 2-ranked man-down defense. Fifteen percent of Syracuse’s offense comes from the man up (nine of 60 goals), and Rutgers has only allowed two goals in 18 attempted kills. I have no doubts about SU’s defense or faceoff unit, which have proven to be on par with the other top-20 teams. As Syracuse’s offense has grown and matured throughout the season, it seems less likely it gets burned. But it’ll be interesting to see if the Orange can carve out the same man-up edge. I think they do.

Michael McCleary (3-2)
Scarlet is just knock off red
Syracuse 14, Rutgers 11

Do I get extra points for getting the score exactly right last week? We’ll review that. Syracuse looks in good position to snag another one after the performance last week against Johns Hopkins. Though the Blue Jays got off to a hot start in the first quarter, the Orange defense held JHU to just five goals in the final three quarters while their offense exploded on a 6-1 run in the fourth quarter. Every time Syracuse has lost — Colgate and then Virginia — it’s seemingly corrected its biggest issue immediately. It was possessions and ground balls against Colgate, and it was a late collapse against Virginia. The Orange responded in both and followed each game with some of their strongest production in each respective category. Though a loss to the Cavaliers provided a slight bump, Syracuse’s momentum hasn’t stopped growing since the season opener. It won’t stop Saturday, either.

Nick Alvarez (2-3)
Seeing red
Syracuse 15, Rutgers 13

The Johns Hopkins win had to mean something, right? Syracuse head coach John Desko has repeatedly lauded the parity in lacrosse this year, and he’s not wrong. But Syracuse strings together its second victory in a manner it hasn’t done this season: By winning a shootout. They were supposed to pull away against Virginia but didn’t. Expect a similar scenario on Saturday, but the Orange do enough to get the win. Jacob Buttermore has scored six goals in the last two games, and there’s no reason he won’t stay with the first-line midfield. On the other side, Rutgers looks for Kieran Mullins to unlock its offense, and SU’s defense needs to build off a strong second half and lock him down. JHU went to the big-little, behind-the-crease offense that plagued Syracuse against Virginia, but instead, the Orange handled it with ease. Stop Mullins, and SU gets back-to-back wins before jumping back into conference play.

Published on March 16, 2019 at 12:21 am