Syracuse was named the No. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament and will face Albany (12-3, 6-0 America East) in the first round in the Carrier Dome on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

The Orange beat the Great Danes on Feb. 21, 16-7. It was SU’s second game of the season and Albany’s first.

The Orange finished the season 11-4 (2-2 Atlantic Coast) and received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament when it won its second ACC title in a row. SU battled back from a stretch of four losses in five games during the middle of the season to win five straight — three over ranked teams.

Syracuse boasts the seventh-best offense in the country with 12.9 goals per game. Dylan Donahue leads the way with 59 points (28 goals and 31 assists) while Massachusetts transfer Nick Mariano has the most goals on the team with 34. Junior Sergio Salcido hadn’t scored a goal through the first two years of his career, but has 26 this season and is second on the team in points.

Faceoff specialist Ben Williams’ 63.1 percent winning percentage is eighth-best. Since becoming the Orange’s starter in goal seven games ago, Evan Molloy is 6-1 with a 58.3 save percentage.

If SU wins its first-round matchup, it will play its quarterfinal game in Providence, Rhode Island on May 21 against either No. 1 seed Maryland, Quinnipiac or Hartford.

Published on May 8, 2016 at 9:10 pm

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