By Jonathan Lam, Special to Collegespots.com

On Saturday, the feisty Orange will make their 22nd-consecutive final four appearance. Syracuse won the bid on the combined performances of Steve Vallone and Sean Lindsay, who connected with eight seconds left in the 8-7 victory over Georgetown. In the other quarterfinal, Johns Hopkins rolled over North Carolina, 15-9.

The Blue Jays have been virtually perfect all year, suffering one loss to Virginia, 9-8 OT, on March 27. Face-offs and goalie play were two problems that prevailed against Carolina, but they will not likely surface again against Syracuse. Although Hopkins posted just 11 draws against Tar Heel Kevin Frew's 17, the Blue Jays will most likely beat Syracuse in that area. Also, goalkeeper Scott Smith let in two easy goals, so he will need to be more careful. Other than that, Hopkins has no faults.

Syracuse, however, has much to work on. The Orange turned the ball over 20 times on Sunday. The most noticeable problem was dropped passes in addition to seven failed clears - which could generate some fast breaks for Hopkins. The defense cannot afford one failed clear this time around. Groundballs will also prove to be crucial for the Orange. They only won 27 groundballs to Georgetown's 39 and battling the Hopkins' vacuum will be much more difficult to overcome.

Mike Powell will need to increase his scoring opportunities for 'Cuse. Georgetown's Brodie Merrill kept him silent for the first half, and that is far too long for Powell. He needs to establish his flow early into the game for an Orange win. Merrill may be a Tewaaraton finalist, but Hopkins' Tom Garvey is one of two defensemen to ever shut out Powell; the other is Damien Davis '03 from Princeton.

The Syracuse ride broke up Georgetown's 6-of-26 clear attempts. Merrill, however, still managed to clear the ball and score. The man-up offense needs to take advantage of their situation. Georgetown committed seven penalties, but Syracuse did not score one goal. Its defense needs to find some weakness in the Hopkins offense. Neither man nor zone has been applicable for an entire game. A possible strategy is to switch its play as Jay Pfeifer (19 saves) directs.

The major concern for the defense is to stop a Hopkins run. Carolina had some success by allowing only 3-0 runs, but the Blue Jays made three of those. Pfeifer needs to make more saves on Saturday, because Hopkins will definitely give him more shots than he can handle. Even Hoya Andy Corno, the nation's best drawman, committed false starts at the face-offs. If Syracuse is lucky, Hopkins will do the same. Otherwise, Danny Brennan would be the safest bet against the Hopkins face-off men. Although the win was close, it should give the Orange some much needed energy.