When you beat No. 1, you become No. 1.

That’s a true statement for this week, at least.

Fresh off of its 11-9 defeat of top-ranked Maryland, the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team rose one spot to No. 1 in the Inside Lacrosse media poll, released Monday.

Syracuse captured all 22 first-place votes. The Terrapins slid to No. 2.

It’s the first time since March 2020 – right before the pandemic ended the season – that Syracuse has held that position.

But Syracuse is not going to be celebrating that No. 1 at practice.

After the game on Friday, with Syracuse the presumptive No. 1, senior attack Joey Spallina wouldn’t engage in talk about what it would mean to reach the pinnacle for the first time in six years.

“Means nothing. All the rankings mean nothing,” he said. “Sorry to interrupt, coach, but I assume you're going to say that too.”

Head coach Gary Gait agreed.

“He knows me pretty well. Yeah, it's February. It doesn't mean anything,” Gait said. “The goal is always to win the last game of the year and that, you know, isn't lost over a big win.

“If it had gone the other way, we would have refocused like we did last year when we had a couple losses. We buckled down and we went to work and we did what we needed to do to get back into the championship weekend. So, you know, we're focused on winning the day, winning the week, and it all starts again for us Monday.”

Syracuse (3-0) will be focusing this week on its game set for Saturday at No. 14 Harvard (1-0), its first of six consecutive road games. The Orange do not return home until their March 22 contest against Georgetown, currently ranked No. 4.

Until then, Syracuse also will play at No. 12 Princeton (Feb. 27), Penn (March 1), No. 13 Johns Hopkins (March 7), Air Force (March 12) and No. 17 Denver (March 16).

The win against Maryland came in front of more than 10,000 fans who gathered inside at the JMA Wireless Dome on a frigid February day. Gait said the team needs to be ready to get outdoors on this road swing.

“I think that's going to be the real test for us – to get out on the road, not be in front of 10,000 people on a cold winter day. It's now being outside on a cold winter day and trying to execute at the same level. So, we'll put in the work this week. It looks like a decent week. Maybe we'll get outside, prep.”

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