No. 7 Syracuse (6-4, 3-0 Atlantic Coast) was on a hot streak before Tuesday night’s 13-8 loss to Cornell in Ithaca. The Orange had defeated conference rivals Duke and Notre Dame and in-state foe Hobart in three-straight games while finding its groove on offense and its intensity on defense.

But against the Big Red, that offensive firepower turned to smoke as SU couldn’t match the nation’s top offense. Still, SU is undefeated in the ACC and has already punched its ticket as the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

On Saturday, the Orange will look to finish perfect in the ACC regular season for the second-straight year as it faces North Carolina (6-6, 0-2) at 4 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. UNC enters this matchup on a slide. After starting the year 6-0, the Tar Heels have lost their last six games to fall to .500 on the season.

Here are three storylines to watch out for heading into Saturday’s matchup.

The injury bug won’t die

One of the reasons for North Carolina’s struggles in the second half of the season is injuries. Thirteen Tar Heels will miss the contest against SU on Saturday, UNC head coach Joe Breschi said. That includes the team’s starting goalie, top defenseman and “arguably” the team’s top midfielder.

Junior defenseman Joe Kenna and starting goalie Luke Millican both went down in the second week of the season, Breschi said, and it has been an adjustment since. The team has had to thrust players into the spotlight and it worked. The Tar Heels began the season 6-0 including a win over Johns Hopkins. But as injuries piled up and the schedule grew tougher with games against Denver, Duke and Virginia, the team has folded.

“We’ve been right there. We’ve had opportunities to win games,” Breschi said. “We just haven’t been able to finish. And I think that’s part due to inexperience and also some of the guys that have been out during that stretch one.”

Adding to that bug is sophomore midfielder Justin Anderson, who went down for the season just two weeks ago. Anderson had been a sparkplug in the midfield with 19 points in 11 games, but it’s back to the drawing board to plan how to replace him.

“It’s been kind of a rollercoaster,” Breschi said. “You’ve just got to go through it. Next man up.”

Different year, same question. How do you stop 45?

Chris Cloutier punished SU in the first round of the ACC Tournament last year, resulting in a 16-15 win for North Carolina and snapping a nine-game win streak for the Orange. The senior is back this year and is leading the Tar Heels in scoring with 37 points on the season, creating a matchup problem for anyone he plays.

“He’s just a physical dodger,” Breschi said. “He draws a lot of attention because of his physicality.”

At 6 feet tall and 227 pounds, Cloutier can run through most smaller, quicker defenders and can use his finesse to beat bigger, stronger defenders. Cloutier also comes from a box lacrosse background, making his style of play much different from a typical attack.

Albany is a much different team than North Carolina, but the last time SU played an attack this big with a box lacrosse background, Tehoka Nanticoke put five goals past the Orange.

Mirror image

Syracuse and North Carolina are two very similar teams. Both can go ice cold offensively, can’t trust their defense game-in and game-out and don’t dominate at the faceoff X.

This is likely a game that will be won through turnovers and shot efficiency. The way these teams have been able to put together six wins on the season and beat formidable opponents has been taking care of the ball.

In a loss against Rutgers, Syracuse coughed the ball up 22 times. But the next week, the Orange turned it over just eight times in a one-goal victory at Duke. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels rank third in the country in turnovers per game, trailing only Maryland and Penn. Both SU and UNC rank inside the top-15 in adjusted offensive efficiency according to analyticslacrosse.com.

The team that controls the ball offensively and takes good shots will win this game. SU had been doing that well until Tuesday’s loss to Cornell. Syracuse will have to return to form if it wants to take down a hungry UNC team on Saturday.

Published on April 11, 2018 at 11:01 pm

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