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Message: [QUOTE="Powellfan, post: 5395590, member: 4819"] Tough one for the Orange tomorrow in the Dome. Despite some early season struggles, it seems as though the Irish are finding their groove with blowout wins over Michigan and Duke. As well all know, the recent history vs ND is not good, seven straight losses and most of them blowouts. How can the Orange turn the tide? I think first things first, the Orange have to do better at the face-off X. Last year the Irish won 20-29 face-offs and John Mullen went 3-8. Mullen is coming off perhaps his worst performance of the year vs Virginia, which doesn't inspire a ton of confidence. I don't know what the answer is here, just need to play better. ND's turnaround has been connected to moving Devon McLane from midfield to attack. My biggest concern however is still the midfield - ND has some freakish athletes in Matt Jefferey and Jordan Faison. I imagine Faison will draw the pole, but I worry about SU's shorties matching feet with the likes of Jeffery and Will Angrick. With ND's finishers on attack, Syracuse will need to limit the amount of times they are sliding to the midfield. You would think that the Orange would get a reprieve after facing Liam Entemann in goal for four years, however the Irish seem to have reloaded with Thomas Riccarldeli, whose saving the ball at nearly 60%. He hasn't given up more than 11 goals in a game this year (a one goal loss to Maryland). Hopefully Syracuse can break through against this defense. Despite everything these last seven years, I have gotten the impression that SU can score on ND, it's just a matter of having the ball. Even though the Irish have faced good teams this year (Maryland, OSU, Georgetown, Michigan), I do think that SU is the best offense they will have faced. But SU will have to stay focused this game, and continue to protect the ball. Also with so much hype surrounding this game, I do worry that SU will come out over aggressive and rack up a bunch of penalties. Have to avoid that here. I don't have a magic answer for this game. Obviously the implications are huge as a win would almost guarantee a spot in the ACC tourney and make the NCAA's that much more likely (plus chance at a seed). But SU will have to play their best game of the season to make it happen. What better time than now? [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?