Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Orange dominate in historic 14-9 win over Notre Dame

In front of over 11,000 fans, SU blew the two-time reigning national champions away with heart and grit

The #7 Syracuse Orange men’s lacrosse team (9-2 (2-0)) defeated the #5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-3 (1-1)) 14-9 on Saturday afternoon in the JMA Wireless Dome.

After going down 3-0 in the early minutes, SU went on a 9-0 run and held the elite Irish offense scoreless for 40 minutes in front of a raucous 11,268-strong home crowd.

The Orange came into the match off the back of a breathless, end-to-end game against UVA in which they squeaked out a 12-10 victory.

Contrastingly, the two-time reigning National Champions smashed Duke in South Bend in a 14-7 blowout.

In the highest-profile matchup of the weekend, both sides aimed to establish themselves as top-five teams and favorites to win the ACC this year. The Orange had extra reason to fight for the win on the day, having not beaten the Irish since 2018.

After winning the faceoff to start the game, the Orange’s first possession came up short, and it was Notre Dame who came right down and scored the opener.

Next, it was ND’s star man, Chris Kavanagh, who then set up for Devon McLane to make it 2-0. McLane then scored again to make it 3-0 inside the first four minutes.

In a common theme of recent weeks, the Orange struggled to get the offense going early as they frequently settled for long-distance shots and turned the ball over multiple times.

After a great showing last week, it was freshman Payton Anderson who again showed off his athleticism with a physical dodge and clever finish to get SU back in the game.

The Orange then came right back down to make it 3-2 with an excellent finish by Sam English.

After the initial burst from Notre Dame, the Orange defense really settled into the game, playing with tremendous intensity and physicality. There were at least five instances in the half where the Orange defense sent ND players to the ground with their physical dominance.

The quarter ended 3-2 in favor of the Irish, but SU could have made the game even closer if not for poor shots and two failed clears in the opening period.

Out of the quarter, Syracuse tied the game up through Spallina on a man-up opportunity. Shortly after, SU took the lead for the first time as their fluid offense got Spallina open again to grab his second.

The dogged efforts of John Mullen in the middle saw SU win their fifth straight faceoff, with the possession ending in another Sam English goal. Michael Leo, Wyatt Hottle, and Spallina each got on the scoresheet in the following minutes to cap off an 8-0 run for Syracuse.

The focus and pressure of the SU defense was the difference in the second quarter as they shut up ND on offense, holding them scoreless through the last 26 minutes of the half.

Jimmy McCool made four big saves when tested, but Notre Dame only got 12 shots off in the half compared to SU’s 27.

Cuse also dominated the faceoff game, going 9-12, and won the turnover battle 6-9, capping what was likely their best half of the season so far.

The third quarter started with the same intensity and scrap as the first half, with both sides fighting back and forth on defense with turnovers and fouls aplenty.

The dogfight saw no goals through the first 11 minutes of the half as the Orange struggled with turnovers as it seemed Notre Dame was starting to get back into the matchup.

Despite being outshot and out-possessed, it was Owen Hiltz to break the deadlock and put SU up 9-3.

The Irish got two back with a minute left in the quarter, snapping their 40-minute scoring drought and ending SU’s 9-0 run, but the difference between the teams was still four going into the final period.

Notre Dame then came out firing out of the break to reduce the gap to three.

In a moment that previous Syracuse teams may have cracked, the Orange stepped up at this critical point. SU took it back down and Michael Leo was the one to answer to make it 10-6.

The teams traded blows over the following minutes, but the Orange started to pull away as Spallina, Hottle, Trey Deere, and Hiltz all scored to stretch the difference back out.

Notre Dame got a few of their own back, but SU was able to chip away at the clock over the final minutes and walked out 14-9 victors in this massive matchup. The huge outpouring of support from the fans had helped guide the team to the finish line, beating their ACC rivals for the first time in seven years.

SU’s defense was the standout on the day as they held the Irish scoreless for nearly 40 minutes through the heart of the game. This effort was led by Michael Grace and Jimmy McCool in net, who saved 10 of the 19 shots he faced.

Overall, the Orange outshot their opponents 43-33, won the ground ball battle 31-24, and John Mullen dominated at faceoff 16-9.

On offense, Joey Spallina silenced the criticism surrounding his big-game performances with four goals and an assist. Leo, Hiltz, Hottle, and English each chipped in with two of their own.

Following this big-name duel, the Orange will head to Long Island in another huge matchup against New York rivals and the number one team in the country, Cornell. The game will take place at Mitchel Field in Uniondale at 4 pm on Saturday, April 12.