Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Orange overcome mistakes, head back to Final Four with 13-11 win over North Carolina

HEMPSTEAD, NEW YORK - MAY 17: Payton Anderson #88 of the Syracuse Orange celebrates against the Princeton Tigers at James M. Shuart Stadium on May 17, 2025 in Hempstead, New York. (Photo by Evan Bernstein/Getty Images) | Getty Images The Syracuse Orange have struggled with critical mistakes in big games all season long.

On Saturday afternoon on Long Island, they finally figured out how to overcome them. It wasn’t the perfect outing, but Syracuse is heading back to the Final Four for the second consecutive season on the back of a total team effort that saw them finally outlast North Carolina in their third attempt with a 13-11 victory in the NCAA Quarterfinals at Shuart Stadium. In a heavyweight sparring match that was all about which team could react better to absorbing body blows of momentum, the Orange had the final answer after it looked like they might give away another fourth quarter lead against their ACC foes.

A couple of North Carolina goals early in the fourth quarter tied the game up at 10s with just over 10 minutes remaining. The goal that tied it up came after a series of brutal ‘Cuse miscues that looked like they were the beginning of another late-game mistake meltdown. But this time, the Orange overcame, making the plays late to return to Championship Weekend and keep their pursuit of the ultimate goal going.

They would score the next three goals of the game while making some huge stops on the other end to take control at 13-10 and never give it up. Appropriately, they leaned on their senior class to come up big, late when they were needed the most. They delivered.