SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The second-seeded Orange (13-2) continues its quest for its 11th NCAA Championship on Saturday, May 16 when it meets ACC foe Maryland at 12:00 p.m. at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship. It will mark the first meeting between the two schools since the 1997 NCAA semifinals.

Syracuse advanced to the quarterfinals for the 28th time in school history with an 11-4 victory versus Siena at the Carrier Dome in the tournament's opening round. The Terrapins moved on with a 7-3 triumph over No. 7 seed Notre Dame in South Bend. Saturday's second quarterfinal pairing features two Ivy League rivals - No. 4 seed Princeton and No. 5 seed Cornell.

The winner of the Syracuse-Maryland matchup will face the winner of third-seeded Duke and sixth-seeded North Carolina in the national semifinals on Saturday, May 23 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass.

Tickets for the quarterfinal round can be purchased by calling the Hofstra Athletics Ticket Office at 516-HOF-TIXX. They are also available online at gohofstra.com until Friday, May 15 at 5:00 p.m. Tickets are $20 and there are no reserved seats. Parking is $10 per vehicle.

Saturday's game will air live nationally on ESPN2 and ESPNU. Fans can listen to the action via the Syracuse ISP Sports Network's flagship station TK 99 (99.5 FM). The audio stream of the broadcast is available world-wide on SUathletics.com as part of Orange All Access. The game is also available on ESPN360.com

ORANGE IN THE NCAA QUARTERFINALS

Syracuse is 27-2 all-time in NCAA quarterfinal games. The Orange has won its 24 quarterfinal-round pairings dating back to 1983 and hasn't lost a quarterfinal contest since 1981 versus North Carolina. Syracuse head coach John Desko is 8-0 during his career in NCAA quarterfinal games.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Maryland holds the advantage in the all-time series, 8-5, on the strength of seven consecutive victories from 1931 to 1979. The Orange has the edge in recent matchups, winning four of the last five between the two schools. Each of the last four pairings have come during postseason play, and Syracuse holds the overall advantage in NCAA Tournament meetings, 3-2. This will be the first neutral-site game in the series.

SCOUTING MARYLAND

Maryland enters the game with a 10-6 overall record after defeating Notre Dame, 7-3, in its NCAA first-round matchup. The Terps boast one of the most imposing attack groups in college lacrosse. Notre Dame transfer Will Yeatman stands at 6-6 and has 13 goals and 15 assists on the year. Sophomore Grant Catalino is 6-5 and he leads the team in all three offensive categories - goals (23), assists (21) and points (44). He also plays in the midfield. Sophomore Ryan Young (19g, 18a) is 6-0 and classmate Travis Reed (16g, 7a) stands at 5-9. Senior Dan Groot is Maryland's top offensive threat in the midfield with 21 goals and 14 assists.

Head coach Dave Cottle has played two goalies the entire season. Both junior Brian Phipps and senior Jason Carter have started eight games this year and both have five wins. Phipps has the edge over Carter in saves (96 to 52), save percentage (.593 to .491) and goals-against average (7.13 to 7.54).

MORE MARYLAND

In addition to the men's NCAA quarterfinals, No. 7 seed Syracuse and No. 2 seed Maryland will also meet at noon on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the women's NCAA Championship at the Field Hockey/Lacrosse Complex in College Park. Current SU head women's lacrosse coach Gary Gait was an assistant for the Maryland women's team for nine seasons and helped the Terps win seven NCAA titles.

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2009-05-14