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Michael Powell had his jersey retired amidst the most back-and-forth game of Syracuse’s season thus far. The Orange held a 6-5 lead at halftime courtesy of a late behind-the-back goal from Finn Thomson, entering the final period with the score slotted at 8-8.

Michael Leo scored off a no-look pass from Thomson to give the Orange the lead but Matt Collison notched his first and only goal to tie it up again. Jack Fine struggled at the faceoff X throughout the entire period, giving the Blue Jays the opportunity to take the lead, which they did. Then, Cole Kirst turned the ball over on the Orange’s final possession, leading Patrick Deans to score on a pole goal in transition to seal the Blue Jays win.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (3-4, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) 11-9 loss to No. 10 John Hopkins (5-3, 0-0 Centennial Conference):

No. 22’s galore

With another No. 22 going into the JMA Wireless Dome rafters, Joey Spallina brought his A-game. Like Powell, he showed that being Syracuse’s top attack means being more of a facilitator than a goal-scorer.

Spallina settled at the X four minutes in, sprinting to the left side of the cage with a defender on him. He flipped the ball over his defender to a cutting Owen Hiltz. The pass was high but perfectly placed, letting Hiltz slot the goal into the bottom of the net. Hiltz returned the favor to Spallina 10 minutes later.

At the start of the second quarter, Spallina mimicked his earlier play, going to the same exact spot behind the cage. He dished it to Hiltz, who emerged open after a pick from Jackson Birtwistle, to give the Orange a 4-3 lead.

In the final seconds of the first half, Spallina couldn’t get back to his normal spot at the X. Instead, he was pushed 10 yards behind the cage, unable to get off his defender. But Thomson rocketed down the right side, left unmarked right next to the cage. Spallina lofted it over his defender again, perfectly setting up a behind-the-back score for Thomson.

Pietramala’s revenge game

Dave Pietramala is synonymous with Johns Hopkins, becoming one of the only collegiate men’s lacrosse players to win a title as a player and a coach. He mastered the Blue Jays defensive philosophy, which believed that the six defenders and goalie were completely responsible for Johns Hopkins’ success or failure, and preached it when he became head coach.

Pietramala has struggled to translate this mindset into Syracuse’s defense but it played against Johns Hopkins with a newfound intensity. Whenever the Blue Jays came knocking at the doorstep, the Orange peppered their attacks with two or three defenders. Will Mark was flawless again in goal as well, finishing with 11 saves in the matchup.

After Leo missed from 15 yards out, the Blue Jays bolted in transition six minutes into the game. Ian Krampf caught the ball at point-blank range but he was immediately barraged by three defenders. Max Rosa forced the ball onto the turf, which Caden Kol picked up to lead the clearance. Peshko was surrounded by two SU defenders right in front of the crease a few minutes later.

The Orange struggled to guard the middle of the field though, giving up easy opportunities for the Blue Jays to shoot from the middle. With a short-stick matchup, Russell Melendenz easily cut back to his left and ripped a shot from 12 yards out into the back of the net to give John Hopkins a 5-4 lead.

Melendenz continued to get open in the second half as the Orange’s defense keyed in on Collison. He made another quick move to free up an upperhand, lefty shot which he converted on the run. After the Orange’s defense collapsed on Collison three minutes into the third quarter, Melendenz stationed at the middle from 10 yards out. Collison dropped it off to him and Melendenz scored before Nick Caccamo could close out on him.

Fine replaces Richiusa

No faceoff specialist in the country would have wanted to be in Johnny Richiusa’s position recently. In three weeks, he faced Maryland’s Luke Wierman and Duke’s Jake Naso, both top-15 in faceoff percentage nationally. Finally, Richiusa doesn’t have a tall task ahead of him, facing Johns Hopkins’ Logan Callahan, who he trains with over the offseason.

Richiusa started strong in the first quarter, beating Tyler Dunn to the initial clamp before scooping up a ground ball to get the Orange their first possession. Later, Dunn thought he won the initial clamp and took off looking for the ball. But it never left its initial spot at the X and Richiusa picked it up instead.

The success was short lived though as the Blue Jays’ faceoff committee won four straight faceoffs in the second quarter. Jack Fine replaced Richiusa for the final faceoff of the first half, which he easily won, staying in the for the rest of the game.

With two minutes left in the third quarter, Fine won the initial clamp but had the ball checked out of his stick, which led to a scrum for possession. Jack Hawley eventually got hold of the ball, taking off before passing to Jacob Angelus, who easily dumped it past Mark to tie the game at 8-8.

Man-up, man-down success

Syracuse’s man-up offense is the best nationally but its man-down defense has not received as much recognition. The Blue Jays earned a man-up opportunity less than three minutes in, allowing Brendan Grimes to get a wide-open shot on the right side. Mark lunged out the cage, using his stick to deflect the ball into the air and into his stick.

The Orange earned their man-up opportunity after Griffin Cook was cross-checked in the neck by Jakson Raposo. Hiltz received the ball from 15 yards out on the right side and quickly located Spallina wide open near the cage. Spallina caught the ball, faked high and whipped it low into the back of the net just 14 seconds after the penalty.

SU got another man-up opportunity midway through the third quarter, stringing together a few passes which ended in Spallina’s stick on the left side. He missed an underhand lefty shot, sending a behind-the-back pass to Birtwistle later on in the possession, which was also unsuccessful.

With three minutes left in the third quarter, they couldn’t make the most of a two-man-up opportunity. Leo finally cashed in on a man-up opportunity four minutes into the final period, receiving a no-look pass from Thomson on the right side.

Published on March 11, 2023 at 8:17 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu