Coming off a comfortable 19-10 win over Loyola, No. 1 Maryland Men’s Lacrosse (1-0) will travel on the road to face what could be its toughest opponent all season.

The Terps will take on No. 2 Syracuse (2-0) in a matchup between the top-two ranked teams in the country.

Maryland has had great success against the Orange, boasting a 16-6 record all-time. In their last meeting, the Terps won 14-8 to advance to the 2025 National Championship game. 

After playing inside the Jones-Hill house against Loyola, Maryland will have another game indoors as they will play inside the JMA Wireless Dome.

Syracuse

After a slow start to the Gary Gait era, Syracuse has been rolling over the last three years, including a Final Four appearance in 2025. This season looks to be Syracuse’s best shot to end its national championship drought, with its last coming in 2009. 

Leading the way is senior attacker Joey Spallina. The former top-ranked recruit has dominated in his time at Syracuse. He scored 88 points in 2024 and 90 last season.

Spallina is ranked the No. 1 player in the country for this year by Inside Lacrosse and has gotten off to another elite start. He has totaled 14 points in two games, including four goals and five assists in Syracuse’s dominant 20-2 win over St. Joseph’s.

Along with midfielder Michael Leo and attacker Finn Thomson — each have four goals on the season — the Orange have dominated on offense, averaging 16.5 goals per game.

Syracuse’s defense has been lockdown as well, allowing just eight goals on the season. 

Anchoring the defense is senior goalkeeper Jimmy McCool. The 2025 ACC goalie of the year has made 22 saves this year. His 73.3% save percentage ranks fourth in the country so far this season.

With one of its best teams in a long time, the Orange look to finally get over the hump of beating John Tillman’s Terps — something they’ve never done. 

Will Maryland stamp itself as No.1?

Maryland is ranked No. 1 in the country by every major outlet, but some other teams have received first-place votes in the polls.

The Terps have a chance to change that and securely place themselves in the No. 1 spot with a win over Syracuse.

The Terps strong outing against Loyola was promising, but the matchup against Syracuse will be more telling with the tough competition ahead on the schedule