No. 7 Syracuse men’s lacrosse gets back in the win column with a 19-13 win over High Point

Earlier this season when Syracuse fell in overtime to Maryland, the Orange bounced back with an 11-point victory over Utah. After losing in overtime again to Army last Wednesday, No. 7 Syracuse men’s lacrosse (5-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) responded with a 19-13 win over High Point (4-2, 0-0 Atlantic Ten Conference).

Typically they say basketball is a game of runs, but this lacrosse game was filled with them. The Orange started the game scoring seven straight highlighted by Joey Spallina’s first quarter hat trick.

The sophomore had a tough game against Army, going scoreless for just the second time in his collegiate career. Against High Point, Spallina notched a career high 7 goals.

“ I don't think one game is going to define you,” Spallina said about his performance. “I think you can look at a plethora of things that are going on in the lacrosse world. I just don’t think one game is going to make your season.”

The Panthers didn’t get on the board until the very end of the first quarter. Jack VanOverbeke spun clockwise and dodged to his left, slotting the ball in the bottom right past SU goalie Will Mark.

The goal from VanOverbeke sparked an 8-2 run for High Point that lasted until halfway through the third. A large piece of the Panthers run was the ability to pick up ground balls. Despite the game finishing 38-37, High Point scooped up 19 ground balls during its run, four of which directly resulted in scores.

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With 8:46 left in the third frame, SU attackman Owen Hiltz decided to cancel the Panthers fun. The junior notched three straight goals for his third hat trick of the season.

“I thought Owen played well today,” head coach Gary Gait said. “He moved the ball really well but I thought he dodged really hard and had a solid game for us.”

Hiltz’s hat trick sparked another 7-0 run for Syracuse that occurred in just five minutes. The Orange took a commanding 16-8 lead that they would never look back from.

One of Syracuse's successes all season has been faceoffs. The Orange went from a 42% team a year ago to 63%, which is 4th best in the nation. Tufts transfer Mason Kohn has taken most of the faceoff attempts but went just 9-18 against High Point. Freshman John Mullen was there in defense though winning 11-18 attempts which gave SU a 20-16 advantage.

Syracuse improves its record to 5-2 on the season but hits the road for the first time this year on Saturday. SU travels to North Carolina to take on one of its biggest rivals, No. 2 Johns Hopkins (5-1, 0-0 Big Ten Conference). The Orange have an all-time record of 28-32-1 against the Blue Jays. Syracuse hasn't defeated Johns Hopkins since 2020. First faceoff is set for 6:30. WAER’s coverage begins at 6 with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to faceoff.