Syracuse, N.Y. -- One of Syracuse lacrosse coach John Desko's points of emphasis this season was upgrading his team's schedule.
"In past years we'd talked about strength of schedule and RPI,'' Desko said Thursday. "I know the playoffs are a long ways away but when you add (tougher teams), on the schedule, it's going to automatically bump up your strength of schedule and your RPI.''
So newcomers Navy and Rutgers were sprinkled onto the list of 2018 foes. But that meant other opponents had to go, including a very important warmup act: Siena.
The Orange played Siena in the season opener each of the past four seasons, winning by scores of 19-6, 18-5, 21-7 and 19-7.