Orange Watch: The schedule is challenging as usual for 2020 Syracuse lacrosse

Syracuse Lacrosse
Syracuse celebrates a goal. Mandatory Photo Credit: Kicia Sears, The Juice Online.

Item: With the goal to return to championship weekend surrounding Memorial Day in Philadelphia, the site the last time the Orange advanced to the NCAA title game in 2013, the robust 2020 schedule was released this week, with preseason practice a little over a month away.

As with so many other aspects of the athletic department, the Dome’s roof renovation with the building’s closing date set for March 1, 2020, will create an unbalanced look to the 2020 schedule for the Orange. There will be a construction-necessitated, top-heavy home schedule in February, and only two home games at near-by Cicero-North Syracuse High School over the final eight games of the season.

Here’s a couple of notes surrounding the 2020 schedule:

*It’s an All-New York State college lacrosse party the month of February, with games versus Colgate, Binghamton, Army, and Hobart. The annual contest against the Statesmen is usually played in early April, and this year’s game is the final Friday night before the Dome closes. The next day, the basketball team hosts North Carolina, and John Wallace has his No. 44 jersey celebrated at halftime.

*As previously announced, Syracuse plays another annual state opponent, Albany, on the road for the first time, on a Friday night (April 3). Syracuse also renewed a home-and-home series with Rutgers playing in New Jersey this year (March 14), and meets old rival Johns Hopkins in Baltimore (March 7).

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*Syracuse hosts ACC games against Notre Dame (March 28) and North Carolina (April 11) at C-NS as they did last year against Duke. SU would also host the ACC Tournament (April 24 & 26) at that venue if it’s the highest seed. All ACC games finish up the season, with the road game against Virginia moved from its prior early-season date to April 13.

*Interestingly, there is now uniformity to the home game start times (and all ACC games). The three evening games in February begin at 7:00, and all Saturday afternoon games begin at 1:00 p.m. (except Binghamton at 4:00 p.m. on Feb. 15 because the basketball team plays at Florida State at 12:00 p.m.).

*If Syracuse qualifies to host a first-round NCAA Tournament game, it will not be locked into hosting that game in the final TV window, Sunday night (May 10) at 7:30, of the opening weekend’s eight games. With the Dome closed, commencement ceremonies will be on the Quad, there is no building event conflict.

*The NCAA quarterfinal round sites are Hofstra (again on May 16) and this year Brown Stadium in Providence (May 17). The semifinals and championship are at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia (May 23 & 25) before moving to East Hartford, Conn. in 2021-22.

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About Brad Bierman 848 Articles
Now in his sixth decade of covering SU sports, Brad was sports director of WSYR radio for eight years into the early 1990s, then wrote the Orange Watch column for The Big Orange/The Juice print publication for 18 years. A Syracuse University graduate, Brad currently runs his own media consulting business in the Philadelphia suburbs. Follow him on Twitter @BradBierman.