College lacrosse: Syracuse men double up Virginia in ACC opener

Feb. 28—SYRACUSE — The Syracuse men's lacrosse team broke out offensively in winning its Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Virginia on Saturday night.

Brendan Curry totaled seven points, including three goals, as No. 9/10-ranked Orange rallied to double up the No. 3-ranked Cavaliers in a 20-10 triumph at the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse (1-1), heralded as one of the top offensive teams in the nation entering the season, bounced back after being dealt an 18-11 home setback to Army last Sunday in its opener.

In all, nine Orange players scored at least a goal, with Tucker Dordevic, Stephen Rehfuss and Owen Hiltz scoring three goals each.

Jamie Trimboli, Owen Seebold and Lucas Quinn chipped in with two goals apiece for Syracuse.

Trailing 4-2 in the first quarter, the Orange outscored the Cavaliers, 7-3 the rest of the first half to take the lead for good en route to a 9-7 halftime lead.

Syracuse followed with a 7-3 surge in the third quarter and closed the game with a 7-0 run.

Virginia was held to three goals in the third and didn't score in the fourth quarter.

Syracuse goalie Drake Porter made 13 saves to register the win.

Ian Laviano scored three goals to pace Virginia (3-1), and Connor Shellenberger, Payton Cormier and Charlie Bertrand tallied two goals each.

The Orange also avenged a 15-14 overtime loss to Virginia on March 2, 2019 at the Carrier Dome in the previous meeting between the two teams.

Neither Syracuse nor Virginia played an ACC game last year after the conference season was canceled in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

With the win, Syracuse also took a slight lead in the all-time series against Virginia, which the Orange now lead, 19-18. Syracuse also leads in goals scored in the series, 486-476, a statistic that stood at 466 goals apiece heading into Saturday in the series, which dates back to 1938.

Syracuse will host Vermont at 1 p.m. next Saturday in a nonconference game.

WOMEN'S LACROSSE

Megan Carney totaled five goals and an assist and Sam Swart and Sierra Cockerille each scored four goals to pace the No. 2-ranked Orange past the No. 5-ranked Seawolves in a nonconference game at the Carrier Dome.

Meaghan Tyrrell contributed two goals and two assists for Syracuse (2-0) and Emma Ward recorded three assists.

"It was another great team win today," Syracuse coach Gary Gait said. "We had people step on offense and our draw team, led by Kate Mashewske, did a great job of getting us the ball."

The Orange never trailed and used a 9-1 scoring run during the final 11 minutes of the first half to build a 12-3 lead and put the game out of reach.

Syracuse graduate student and South Jefferson grad Morgan Alexander scored a goal, her first of the season, to complete a 6-0 run during this stretch.

Orange goalie Asa Goldstock made 11 saves on 17 shots faced to record the win.

Siobhan Rafferty tallied four goals to pace Stony Brook (2-2).

Syracuse will play at Duke at 1 p.m. next Saturday to begin its Atlantic Coast Conference season schedule.