Syracuse men’s lacrosse: #7 Orange suffer historic 15-14 loss to #15 Harvard after choking five-goal lead

Despite a near-perfect performance from John Mullen at faceoff, the Orange offense crumbled under the pressure again.

The #7 Syracuse Orange men’s lacrosse team (3-2) returned to home soil but not to winning ways after suffering a 15-14 to the #15 Harvard Crimson (2-1) in the Dome on Saturday afternoon.

Despite flying out of the gates to a 5-0 lead, the Orange offense collapsed in the second half. As the contest wore on and the score got closer, the Orange lost their composure in the critical moments, which proved the difference in the program’s first-ever loss to Harvard.

Harvard Head Coach Gerry Byrne described the win as “a great moment for all of our program.”

SU entered the matchup off the back of their first away game and their first loss of the season against now #2 Maryland, who leapfrogged the Orange in the IL rankings.

Harvard came into the game after its first loss of the year against SU neighbors, Colgate, in Boston. The matchup between the schools represents the first time the Orange have faced off against the Crimson since 2006.

With lofty aspirations for both programs, the matchup had palpable tension as both sides looked to get the season back on track. The Orange team came out from the first moment looking like they had something to prove after a difficult loss.

A faceoff win from John Mullen and brilliant use of substitutions and hustle gave the Orange a short-term numerical advantage. They quickly capitalized when Michael Leo used his searing speed to break down the defense before feeding Owen Hiltz for the first of the afternoon.

Just a minute after, Hiltz rocketed a shot into the top corner to make things 2-0. It was less than 30 seconds later that another faceoff win and a quick thread of brilliant passes allowed Finn Thomson to dunk it home to make the gap three.

The Crimson were forced to slow things down, calling a timeout after only two minutes. They hadn’t even seen possession of the ball at this stage. With their run, the Orange had already got the 5,000-strong crowd going, and the bench was fired up.

The Crimson saw their first period with the ball out of the timeout, but the Orange defense forced a shot-clock violation and landed two more blows through Sam English to make it a commanding 5-0 lead.

Harvard fought back in the next few minutes with a 3-0 run of their own as they started getting the gears turning on offense. Graham Stevens also got hot in the Harvard net with a few critical saves to keep the game within reach.

SU grabbed one more goal before the end of the period off of a successful ride, ending the quarter 6-3 ahead. The Orange’s hot start had set the tempo and given them the platform for success, but Harvard’s run proved that the remainder of the game would require focus and intensity.

The slugfest continued into the second quarter. Despite some great rides and periods, neither defense could find a way to slow down its opponents consistently.

The teams traded blows through offensive moments of brilliance, and the Crimson ended up winning the period 5-4, meaning the Orange led 10-8 at the half.

Mullen’s dominance was the main factor in keeping SU in the lead. In the first half, he went 16-19 from faceoffs, giving the Orange the vast majority of possessions. Despite this advantage, SU was wasteful with their shots, a problem that also blighted their performance at Maryland.

Hiltz and Thomson each secured a first-half hat-trick, but too many instances saw the ball hit Graham Stevens right in the chest as he made ten saves through the half. The Harvard attack was much more efficient in their efforts.

Syracuse Head Coach Gary Gait highlighted these issues after the game, saying “we were just making mistakes. We weren’t crisp or sharp enough. We threw a few passes a way, we dropped balls […] it just looked slow.”

Gait added that Harvard was shooting well and performing clinically. The Syracuse shots “were hitting the goalie right in the chest.” These problems Gait highlighted worsened into the final two quarters.

The second half started with a scoreless period, as both teams found more success in disrupting each other’s offensive sets. Harvard netted first through Logan Ip, and the momentum swing could be clearly felt as they went back down on their next possession and tied the game up.

The teams traded blows, and Jimmy McCool was pulled from the Orange net after a poor showing, forcing backup Michael Ippoliti to step in. Harvard was quick to capitalize as they tied the game back up with their first shot against the sophomore.

The Crimson tied it up at 12-12 just before the end of the quarter, marking this game as SU’s worst in terms of goals conceded this season. On a 12-7 run, the minority of Harvard fans could be heard well over the SU crowd as much of the energy had been sucked out of the Dome.

The Crimson then scored first to take the 13-12 lead to start the quarter, and it felt as if you could hear a pin drop in the cavernous stadium. The Crimson scored again with 11:40 remaining, further compiling SU’s misery.

The Orange got a few chances to get back in the game, but offense stagnated again at the critical moments. With just a minute remaining, the Orange offense made a critical mistake as the final buzzer rang with the score reading 15-14 in favor of the visitors.

Mullen was the Orange’s outstanding player on the day, going 28-31 from faceoff (90%), which is a frankly ridiculous number.

Gait praised Mullen as one of the lone bright spots after the game, saying “I thought he was outstanding, a real bright spot. He was dominant at the X, and we didn’t take advantage.”

Harvard’s Graham Stevens was the standout of the day, with 13 saves from 27 shots on target faced (48%). Teddy Malone also added four goals for the Crimson.

The Orange outshot their opponents 50-40, dominated faceoffs 28 to 4, and won the ground-ball battle 40-24, but it didn’t prove enough to secure the win.

Following this deflating loss, the Orange will head out to Salt Lake City for a matchup with Utah. This contest will mark one of the farthest trips the program has ever made for a game. The game will get underway at 2 pm EST on March 1 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.