Opponent Preview: What to know about No. 11, 7-4 UNC

By Connor Smith senior staff writer

Syracuse beat No. 15 Princeton on Saturday 16-13 for its fourth win in five games. The Orange got at least three goals from Joey Spallina, Cole Kirst and Finn Thomson, and Will Mark recorded 17 saves as SU shutout the Tigers in the fourth quarter. The win helped Syracuse jump into Inside Lacrosse’s top-20 poll. The Orange are now ranked No. 17 after a six-week absence from the national rankings.

Next up for SU is a trip to Olney, Maryland, where it’ll play No. 11 North Carolina in a rematch of the late-February contest inside the JMA Wireless Dome. Syracuse is playing in the neutral site game at a suburban Washington, D.C. high school to reach local recruits and fans in the region. The Tar Heels beat SU 19-13 earlier this season, using a seven-goal second quarter to run away despite 17 saves from Mark.

Here’s everything to know about UNC (7-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) before Saturday afternoon’s matchup:

All-time series Syracuse leads, 18-12.

Last time they played Owen Hiltz put SU in front just over a minute into the game on Feb. 25, but North Carolina struck back with three straight scores and took a 12-6 lead into halftime. Down 13-6 early in from page 12

Locastro

Locastro arrived on campus weighing 165 pounds. But even so, he impressed the coaching staff and won the starting shortstop job.

As a freshman, Locastro was an honorable mention for the Empire 8 All-Star Team, and as a sophomore, he earned First-Team Empire 8, Second-Team D3baseball.com New York All-Region and Second-Team ABCA New York All-Region accolades.

In the offseason after his sophomore year, Locastro dedicated himself to the base paths and the weight room. He recalls only stealing seven bases while getting caught five times his sophomore season. Before his junior season, Ithaca’s coaching staff taught Locastro proper technique to get the most out of his speed. He also improved his frame, bulking up to 185 pounds.

As a junior, Locastro set a program record by stealing 40 bases, and was only caught once. Locastro’s offseason work also paid dividends at the plate, as he hit .443 with a career high 23 extra base hits.

Locastro helped Ithaca win a schoolrecord 41 games and finish third at the D-III Championship. He earned All-American honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association as well as D3baseball.com, and the third quarter, Syracuse notched four unanswered goals, but the Tar Heels scored seven of the game’s final 10 goals.

Logan McGovern registered eight points — on four goals and four assists — and Lance Tillman finished with six points. Spallina, who had three goals and two assists, and Thomson who had one goal and three assists, led Syracuse’s attack.

Mark faced a tough test throughout the game, and the 19 goals allowed are SU’s second-most allowed in a game this season, just behind the 20 Notre Dame poured in on April

1. UNC outshout Syracuse 50-41, in large part because the Orange lost the ground ball (36-22 in North Carolina’s advantage) and face-off (19-16 UNC) battles. And Syracuse’s offense, despite an efficient performance, couldn’t do enough to mitigate those losses.

“I didn’t think we played particularly bad on the offensive end,” Alex Simmons said postgame. “It just came down to possessions. We didn’t have the ball that much.”

The Tar Heels report

North Carolina has gone 4-3 since beating Syracuse, with wins over Brown, Dartmouth, High Point and Providence and losses to Duke, Denver and Virginia. Like Syracuse, UNC scheduled an easier three-game stretch against nonconference foes to gain some momentum heading into its final stretch of the season. The Tar Heels lost 19-12 to the Cavaliers on Saturday, allowing their most goals of the season.

UNC, though, does have one of the best was named the Empire 8 Player of the Year.

Soon after, he caught the attention of pro scouts and entered his name in the 2013 MLB draft. Locastro listened to every pick of the first 10 rounds of the draft on the radio in his parents’ basement.

At the beginning of the 13th round, when Locastro was getting ready to head over to a friend’s house, he remembers his father, Tim Sr., shouting “Yes, yes! You just got drafted!”

With the 385th pick, the Toronto Blue Jays selected Locastro, who spent two years in their minor league system before getting traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline in 2015.

Locastro worked his way up the Dodgers’ farm system, reaching Triple-A in 2017. After slashing .388/.443/.544 with 12 stolen bases in 31 games, the Dodgers brought Locastro to the big leagues a week before the end of the season, wanting to evaluate him as a potential pinch runner for the postseason.

Locastro made his Major League debut on Sept. 29, 2017. The next day, he stole his first major league bag but wasn’t added to the Dodgers postseason roster. In 2019, Locastro received extended playing time at the major league level with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Locastro is a valuable offensive player because of his ability to get on base in multiple different ways. Once, when Locastro defenses in the country, ranking first in the nation in defensive efficiency, per LacrosseReference. The Tar Heels give up only 9.45 goals per game, sixth fewest in the country. Eight of their 11 opponents have been held to single-digit goals this season, and they cause the ninth-most turnovers per game nationally.

Offensively, North Carolina is led by McGovern, who tops the team in goals (29) and points (51). McGovern’s 49.2% shot percentage is tied for ninth-best nationally. UNC’s team shooting percentage of 35.8% is third-best, per LacrosseReference, though the Tar Heels do average the fewest shots per game in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Tillman and Sean Goldsmith both have chipped in 31 points, too.

How Syracuse beats North Carolina

Winning this game for Syracuse starts with finding ways to consistently beat SU’s defense and find open windows to fire at goalie Collin Krieg, who averages just under 10 saves per game.

North Carolina’s two worst games in terms of defensive efficiency came last week against UVA (39.6%), but also in the first matchup against Syracuse (35.15%). The Orange — who have the fifth-most efficient offense in the country — seem to, unlike most others, have found a recipe for beating UNC’s defense and that will have to continue again on Saturday.

Syracuse recorded seven more faceoff wins and four more ground balls than Princeton on Saturday in its win. It was just the fourth game where SU has registered the told Valesente about coaches hounding him about low exit velocities and poor launch angles, Valesente reminded Locastro that his game was to “get on base and cause problems.”

And that’s exactly what Locastro has done throughout his career. At Ithaca, he set a school record for getting hit by 29 pitches in his junior season — across 646 minor league games, he’s been hit 174 times.

In just 557 MLB plate appearances — about equal to what the average everyday player gets in the regular season — Locastro has been hit 40 times. Since 1871, there have been just two players in MLB history to get hit by a pitch 40 or more times in one season.

On May 24, 2019, Locastro tied an MLB record for getting hit by a pitch three times in one game. The day before, he was also hit three times in one game playing in Triple-A.

Among players with at least 550 plate appearances since 2017, Locastro leads all players with a 20% infield hit. Despite a below average .225 career batting average and 5.9 BB%, Locastro has an above average .326 on base percentage due to his speed and getting hit.

“If you can get on base, you got to get on base,” Locastro said. “The game is hard enough. These pitchers are so good now, you got to do whatever you can to get on.” same or more faceoff wins than its opponents, and its record in those games is 3-1. When Syracuse has won more ground balls, its record is 4-0. UNC is fourth best in the ACC in ground balls per game, and third best in faceoff percentage. Syracuse is last in both categories, and winning one — or ideally both — would be instrumental in the Orange picking up a critical win on Saturday.

Stat to know: 24.6 csmith49@syr.edu @csmith17_

North Carolina has the second-fastest offensive pacing in the country at 24.6 seconds, per LacrosseReference. Syracuse, conversely, has a pacing of just over 30 seconds and ranks 29th nationally. The Tar Heels like to work quickly, meaning SU could gain an advantage by forcing UNC possessions deep into the shot clock.

Player to watch: Logan McGovern, attack, No. 1 McGovern will be the focal point of Syracuse’s defensive game plan. The Bryant transfer has made an instant impact in Chapel Hill, averaging three goals and nearly five points per contest. In the first matchup this season, the Orange slid to McGovern early in the game, but he racked up assists. And when SU stopped sliding in the second quarter, McGovern responded with goals. “We just didn’t match up well with him,” Gait said in the teams’ last outing.

At the trade deadline in 2021, the Diamondbacks traded Locastro to the Yankees, and he spent 2021-22 going back-and-forth between MLB and Triple-A.

While in the minor leagues, Locastro got first-hand experience with the new rules that Major League Baseball is adapting for 2023 and beyond.

“I absolutely love (the new rules),” Locastro said. “I think all speed guys love it. The bases are closer not only for stealing bases, but on infield hits and rounding bags. The disengagement rule helps base runners tremendously, especially when (pitchers) throw over twice. It’s like a freefor-all.”

With the new MLB rule changes that have brought bigger bases, new pickoff rules and a pitch clock, base stealing ability is more important than it has ever been. That’s one reason Locastro made the New York Mets’ Opening Day roster despite signing a minor league contract in the offseason.

“He has totally earned every bit of (success) with hard work, dedication, mental toughness and stick-to-it-iveness,” Valesente said. “Naturally, some guys are naturally gifted. They can hit harder, run faster or throw harder than others. In this case, he can run faster. He’s a grinder.” justingirshon@gmail.com