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After rattling off two straight wins against Princeton and North Carolina, Syracuse men’s lacrosse lost 19-12 to then-No. 4 Virginia and fell three spots to No. 15 in the latest Inside Lacrosse Rankings. The Orange allowed seven goals in the first quarter and never held a lead, plagued by inconsistent defense and faceoff struggles, a revert to the SU team that lost four straight games in the middle of the season.

With just one regular season game remaining against No. 2 Duke, the Orange fell one spot in the men’s lacrosse RPI rankings to No. 20, which would make them the final team to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse, who hasn’t made the playoffs since 2021, is hoping to earn a spot for the first time under head coach Gary Gait and erase a historically bad 4-10 2022 season.

“That’s what happens when you’re a young team,” Gait said after the loss. “You got to play a perfect game to beat a top-three team. And unfortunately, we didn’t get it done today.”

Syracuse was jumped in the rankings by Villanova, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Orange are three spots above the Tar Heels, who fell to No. 1 Notre Dame on Saturday. SU is 2-2 on the road, and travels to the Blue Devils on Saturday to complete its season, looking for the most wins in a year since 2019.