Syracuse needs a victory.

Teetering on the edge of a .500 record, which is necessary for participation in the NCAA tournament, the Orange currently sit at 8-6 with three regular season games remaining – all against ACC rivals, No. 5 North Carolina, undefeated No. 2 Boston College and unranked Louisville.

If they beat the Cardinals, but fall to the Tar Heels and Eagles, they’re 9-8 entering the ACC tournament. But if they lose all three, they’re 8-9 before conference finals. Three wins are obviously ideal, but losing four of the past six games, most recently to Virginia Tech, the question marks stand.

NO. 5 NORTH CAROLINA AT NO. 15 SYRACUSE
WHEN: Saturday, April 14, 12 p.m.
WATCH: ACC Network Extra

Both Syracuse (8-6) and Louisville (6-8) have yet to win an ACC game, tied for last in the conference. North Carolina is coming off a three-game win streak over Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and Louisville, good for second place, and Boston College is sitting pretty at 15-0 for first.

The Orange will want to knock off the Tar Heels in regulation time this week as it took overtime to beat Loyola on April 5 and double overtime to fall to the Hokies two days later.

It’ll be a tall task, but the motivation is there for Syracuse, especially with home field advantage in the Carrier Dome.

Other games highlighting the weekend include:

• No. 17 Colorado at No. 12 Stanford
  Friday, 10 p.m., Stanford Live Stream
  
  Stanford is on an eight-game win streak since just its third loss of the season – to Colorado 18-16 on March 9. The Buffs have won two straight since falling to Denver on March 29. Both Stanford and Colorado are 6-1 in the conference, tied for first, making Friday night’s matchup a battle for bragging rights in the Pac-12. Which team will prevail? Stanford might have the edge with its No. 5 scoring offense and draw control game. Colorado’s best feature is its No. 9 scoring defense.

• No. 13 Virginia Tech at No. 2 Boston College
  Saturday, 12 p.m.
  
  The undefeated Eagles are coming off a scare from Dartmouth in a midweek tilt that they won 13-10, pushing them to 15-0 on the season. They trailed midway through the second half, but quickly showed why they’re still undefeated, which Virginia Tech will soon see, but is up for the challenge. The Hokies are riding a double overtime win over Syracuse, their first-ever over the Orange in program history to sit third in the ACC for their best year yet. A win for Boston College would earn the team its first-ever conference title.

• No. 7 Northwestern at No. 16 Penn State
  Saturday, 5 p.m., LionVision
  
  Penn State got a huge significant win last Friday, a 22-13 upset of Virginia. The victory was needed to boost their postseason resume and NCAA tournament chances as it marked its first over a Top 20 opponent since defeating then-No. 17 Cornell on Feb. 21. A win over Northwestern would spike their odds even more in its favor, but the Wildcats are riding a six-game win streak, most recently a dominating 20-10 rout of Notre Dame.

More Games On Our Radar

All times are listed in ET. For a full list of broadcast games, please visit our US Lacrosse TV listing page, presented by Nationwide.

FRIDAY, APRIL 13

5 p.m.

No. 4 James Madison at William & Mary (Tribe Athletics TV)

6 p.m.

No. 10 Towson at Elon (Lax Sports Network)
San Diego State at No. 18 USC (USC Live Stream)
UMass at George Mason (Patriot Vision)

7 p.m.

Johns Hopkins at No. 1 Stony Brook (AmericaEast.TV)

SATURDAY, APRIL 14

12 p.m.

Marquette at No. 6 Florida (YouTube)
Columbia at No. 8 Penn (Ivy League Network)

1 p.m.

No. 11 Virginia at Louisville (ACC Network Extra)
No. 20 Dartmouth at Cornell (Ivy League Network)
Brown at Harvard (Ivy League Network)

2 p.m.

Georgetown at Vanderbilt (Facebook Live)

3 p.m.

Lafayette at No. 9 Loyola (Patriot League Network)
No. 19 Navy at Army (WatchStadium.com)
Yale at Princeton (Ivy League Network)

SUNDAY, APRIL 15

11 a.m.

No. 5 North Carolina at Canisius

12 p.m.

New Hampshire at No. 1 Stony Brook (AmericaEast.TV)
No. 3 Maryland at Ohio State (Big Ten Network)

1 p.m.

No. 4 James Madison at Elon (Phoenix All Access)
No. 10 Towson at William & Mary (W&M Live Stream)
No. 14 Duke at Notre Dame (ACC Network Extra)

3 p.m.

No. 17 Colorado at Cal (Cal Live Stream)

4 p.m.

Oregon at No. 12 Stanford (Stanford Live Stream)