Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Four named preseason All-Americans

The Orange will begin a new era led by this group of standouts on the field.

2022 is a season of significant change for the Syracuse Orange men’s lacrosse program.

As head coach Gary Gait takes over at his alma mater, he and his staff will have many questions to answer on the field. While much is currently unknown about how this year’s team will play, what is known is that coach Gait has a strong core around which to build.

On Thursday, that core received some January praise as four Syracuse players were named to Inside Lacrosse’s preseason All-American team.

Redshirt junior Tucker Dordevic earned third team honors, while senior Brendan Curry, redshirt senior Brett Kennedy and sophomore Owen Hiltz were all named honorable mention selections.

Maryland paced all teams in the country with eight overall selections, while Georgetown led the way with three first-teamers.

As for the ACC, Notre Dame and Duke tied for the lead with six each, while Virginia and North Carolina came in with five each. So, the Orange do have the fewest preseason All-American selections in the conference, but the overall numbers are very tightly bunched for all five schools.

Dordevic, Curry and Kennedy represent the veteran core of this Syracuse team. Dordevic and Curry are in their fifth year in the program, while Kennedy is in his sixth. All three are captains of this year’s team (along with Owen Seebold), and all have been given the difficult task of leading this team in the middle of a transition between coaching staffs and systems. No doubt their collective experience and leadership will be required to help guide the Orange through an arduous schedule

As a sophomore, Hiltz is the youngster of the group, but he came onto the scene like a man on fire last year. He collected 48 points (29,19) to finish with the eighth-most productive freshman season in program history. Hiltz’s stick skills are downright sublime, and I can’t wait to see what he does under Gait’s tutelage.

The Gary Gait era opens for business in just a few short weeks on Saturday, February 12 at 12:30 PM in the Dome against Holy Cross. Mark those calendars, Orange fans!