The day of reckoning has arrived. Do you have your ticket?

Syracuse Smash owner Howard Dolgon has said that unless at least 5,000 of the War Memorial's 6,230 seats are filled with paying customers for today's 8:00 PM National Lacrosse League game against the Pittsburgh CrosseFire, he will get a strong message from the community that he should sell the team or move it to another city.

Dolgon has lowered ticket prices to $10 "so that pricing can not be an excuse for a less-than-desired fan turnout," he said in a Wednesday news release issued by the club. That's only $1 a loss, down from $1.25 before the announcement.

Fans who accept Dolgon's offer - and about 4,500 more will need to do so than witness the team's last home game in order for the quota to be met - will see a 0-10 team that lost to Pittsburgh 21-9 two weeks ago. They will also get a chance to see the two leading scorers in pro box lacrosse history, twins and former Syracuse University superstars Gary and Paul Gait. Unfortunately, neither plays for the Smash.

Paul Gait, 32, was the cornerstone of the franchise when Dolgon entered the NLL in 1998, but the team was 5-23 with him in the lineup. Following the team's 0-4 start this season, Dolgon accommodated Gait's request to finish his illustrious career alongside his brother by trading him to Pittsburgh for cash and draft choices.

The CrosseFire (6-5), which moved from Baltimore to Pittsburgh in the off-season, was 2-3 when the 12 February deal was announced. It is 4-2 since then but needs to win tonight to remain in contention for one of the eight-team league's four playoff berths.

Paul Gait, who had eight goals in four games with the Smash, has 24 in six games with Pittsburgh. Gary Gait leads the league in scoring (34 goals, 42 assists for 76 points). Neil Doddridge, who scored 14 points in 12 games for the 1998 Smash, has 40 (19-21) in 11 games for the CrosseFire, more than any Smash player except Del Halladay (25-18-43).

"We've got to stop Gary and Paul," Smash coach Pat Donahue said, "and then you have to worry about the guys they pass to when you pay too much attention to them. When they're together they're a force."

Gary Gait scored nine seconds into the game in the teams' first meeting and finished with six goals and three assists. Paul Gait had three goals and five assists. The CrosseFire led 18-4 after three quarters in Syracuse's most embarrassing loss of the season. It kicked off a three-game set in which the Smash has been outscored 61-25. That's a far cry from the team that dropped four consecutive games earlier in the season by a total of five goals.

"A lot of these guys have enough pride that the loss to Pittsburgh hurt," Donahue said. "It made them mad. They want to redeem themselves."

The scores since that loss, though (17-6 to Albany and 23-10 to Rochester), seem to indicate the team is resigned to its fate.

"I'd hate to think that's the case," Dolgon said, "especially considering their backgrounds. They're professionals. They should be playing for pride."

Former Syracuse University star Jim Morrissey said pride can only take a team so far, though, against a desperate team that is locked in a tight playoff race.

"It's good for about a quarter," he said after the 17-6 loss to Albany, "and then the other factors come into play."

Factors such as the team's lack of a legitimate scoring threat now that Paul Gait and Mark Millon have been dealt for cash and draft picks, its mental breakdowns at key points in some games and its inability to buy a break in others. Asking the team to overcome that against a team with the Gaits is asking a lot. Dolgon is undeterred.

"We could be a real spoiler," he said. "It's a must-win game for Pittsburgh, while we can make our season, in our minds, in one game."

It's a make it or break it game for the CrosseFire's season. It's a make it or break it game for the Smash's future.

Something has to give.