What to know before SU’s matchup with Denver

Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

For the first time since 2017, Syracuse has the chance to make it to Championship Weekend. After a stellar 11-win regular season, including three Atlantic Coast Conference victories, the Orange earned their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2021.

SU clinched the number four overall seed and a matchup with Towson, the Coastal Athletic Association champions, in the opening round. In its first tournament game under Gary Gait, the Orange took care of business. Despite trailing 9-8 at halftime, Syracuse opened up the third quarter with a nine-goal run to flip the game on its head and come out with a 20-15 victory.

The next opponent for the Orange is No. 5 overall seed Denver. The Pioneers avoided an upset from Michigan — which ran the table in the Big Ten tournament — defeating the Wolverines 16-11. Syracuse looks to make its first Final Four since 2013 if it defeats Denver.

Here’s everything to know about Denver (12-3, 5-0 Big East) ahead of its matchup with Syracuse (12-5, 3-1 ACC) in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal.

All-time series

Syracuse leads 4-0

Last time they played

Syracuse and Denver squared off on May 25, 2013 in the NCAA semifinals, where the Orange won 9-8. Despite facing top seeded SU, the No. 4 seed Pioneers came out on fire, jumping out to a 5-2 halftime lead. Syracuse still trailed by three going into the fourth quarter, but battled back to tie the game with a minute left. Derek Maltz put the Orange ahead with 20 seconds left for SU’s third goal in two and a half minutes to seal the win.

JoJo Marasco led the way with five points for Syracuse, while Luke Cometti was his leading scorer with a hat trick. Dylan Donahue also finished with a goal and an assist for the Orange. Dominic Lamolinara made eight saves in net and despite going just 9-for-21 at the faceoff X, SU came out with the victory to advance to the championship game, where it fell to Duke.

The Pioneers report

Ranked No. 13 in the preseason poll, Denver didn’t enter 2024 as one of the top teams in the country, but quickly worked its way into the upper tier of college lacrosse. The Pioneers won their first five games and climbed the rankings. Then, Notre Dame and Duke lost in back-to-back weeks at the top of the poll to give Denver the No. 1 ranking. The Pioneers suffered their first defeat at Yale on March 10 before it could maintain its spot atop the polls.

Duke was the only other team to beat Denver in the regular season, when it defeated the Pioneers 11-7 on March 24. Similar to Syracuse, Denver is one of the most balanced teams in the country with seven players totaling at least 16 goals. Led by JJ Sillstrop with 27, Michael Lampert also provides a spark with 19 scores and a team-leading 22 assists. Noah Manning and Cody Malawsky have also passed the 20-goal mark with 22 and 20 goals, respectively.

Defense is where Denver sets itself apart. It allows just 9.27 goals per game which is the third best mark in the country. The Pioneers have held their opponents to single digits nine times this season and are 8-1 in such contests. In his first season as a starter, Malcolm Kleban has emerged as the top option in goal for Denver, starting all 15 games. With a strong defense in front of him, Kleban comes up with big saves when needed with a 50.7% save rate.

How SU beats Denver

Syracuse needs to build off its third quarter success against Towson. Frailties on the defensive end and sloppy turnovers led to a one-goal halftime deficit against the Tigers, but that was quickly erased in the second half. Quicker ball movement and aggressive defense led to a 9-0 run to start the third quarter as the Orange blew the game wide open. SU spread the ball around with nine different goal scorers. To have success against an aggressive Denver defense Sunday, that needs to continue.

Will Mark also needs to get back to his best if the Orange want to advance. In Syracuse’s ACC semifinals defeat against Duke, Mark let up eight goals in the first quarter and was pulled for freshman Jimmy McCool. The struggles continued against Towson, failing to record a save on six shots in the first quarter before gaining a rhythm in the second half, finishing with 10 saves. Mark’s played at an All-American level at times this season and in what should be a close contest Sunday, he has to bring his A-game for the Orange to have success.

Stat to know: 1577

Denver’s faceoff man Alec Stathakis has taken 1577 total faceoffs during his five year career. In his fifth season as a starter, Stathakis is one of the most experienced faceoff men in the country. In 2024, he’s taken all but 15 of the Pioneers attempts at the X so far, with a 60.6% win rate, which ranks eighth in the country. Stathakis’ career faceoff percentage sits at 60.2% with his worst season coming in 2022, when he still won over 56%. This season he’s only had two games where he’s lost more faceoffs than he won, first against Yale on March 10, then against Michigan in the first round last Saturday.

Player to watch: No. 5 JJ Sillstrop

Sillstrop has clearly been Denver’s most potent attack in 2024. His 27 goals leads the Pioneers while his 17 assists ranks second only behind Lampert. He started the season on fire with a career-high six goals against Johns Hopkins on Feb. 3, including a last second buzzer-beater to send the game to overtime before scoring the game-winner in extra time.

In Denver’s first six games, Sillstrop totaled 18 goals, but went five of the next seven games scoreless including the Pioneers final three regular season matches. After his longest goal drought of the season, Sillstrop has heated up as of late. In Denver’s Big East semifinal loss to Villanova, he scored a hat trick before following it up with three more goals against Michigan. Sillstrop’s fifth hat trick of the season helped the Pioneers get by the Wolverines.