After one week atop the national rankings, the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team fell to No. 6 in the national poll following its 13-12 loss to Harvard on Saturday in Cambridge, Mass.

Voters in the Inside Lacrosse Top 20 poll gave first-place votes to six teams, with the Orange receiving one nod despite the defeat.

North Carolina, whom Syracuse will see on April 4 in Chapel Hill, N.C., received nine first-place votes to claim No. 1.

Last week, the Orange were a unanimous selection, with all 22 first-place votes going their way.

The loss to Harvard can’t be considered a shocker.

For Syracuse (3-1), which topped the poll after defeating then-No. 1 Maryland, it was the first time playing outdoors this season. And the first time on the road.

After the game, head coach Gary Gait said the team tried to replicate game conditions in practice last week.

“It's a cold day,” he told reporters. “We just made some mistakes and some stick errors that come. We spent the week outside trying to get used to this, and it’s just our first road (game). We'll learn from it and we'll get better and we'll improve. So, I'm looking for the experience that we get out of traveling here in the middle of February, end of February.

Syracuse took an early 4-1 lead but went scoreless in the second quarter and allowed five Harvard goals to trail 6-4 at the half.

Twelve turnovers on the game didn’t help.

“We had some opportunities in the second quarter and we weren't hitting the net,” Gait said. “We weren't getting great shots off, and we refocused at halftime and came out and played pretty well and made that a basically kind of the last minute or two to play. You know, whoever makes the play is going to win, and they made it today.”

And Gait gave Harvard plenty of credit. The Crimson rose from No. 14 in the poll last week to No. 4 on Monday, as Gait foreshadowed.

“The Harvard team, I think, they're going to be a top 10, top five team,” he said. “Everybody in the top 10's really good on any given day. And you got to make plays and you got to be ready and prepared. And I I think we did. We just need to, you know, pick up one ground ball here, one shot there, and we win that game. So that's why you play.”

The Orange next play Friday at No. 7 Princeton. The Tigers topped then-No. 2 Maryland 13-12 over the weekend.

Team, total points, first-place votes

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