In the first round of the NCAA tournament, four-seed Syracuse men’s lacrosse (12-5, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) defeated Towson (13-4, 7-0 Coastal Athletic Association) 20-15 in a tale of two halves inside the JMA Wireless Dome. The Orange secured their first tournament win since 2017.
In its return to NCAA Tournament action, No. 4 @CuseMLAX used a 9-1 third quarter run to top @Towson_MLAX.
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) May 13, 2024
WAER's @AndrewSelover and @IanNicholasTV had the call for SU's first Tournament win since 2017. pic.twitter.com/78KxSC87Sp
SU only trailed 8-7 at the half despite goalie Will Mark struggling. The graduate student didn’t tally his first save until the second quarter. Mark acknowledged after the game that it “sometimes takes a little bit to get into a flow.”
After the break, the ‘Cuse’s netminder stopped three consecutive shots, which allowed the Orange attack to get rolling.
SU Head Coach Gary Gait stated that this “was a total team win.” Not only was it a total team win, but it was a total team turnaround. The halftime speech in the locker room did wonders. Syracuse scored nine unanswered goals, all by different players, and ended the third frame up 17-10.
“You get into a flow and you get quarters like that,” SU attackman Joey Spallina said postgame. The sophomore had two of his eight points in the third quarter.
The Orange don’t have a single player in the top 50 of goals per game in the NCAA, even though as a team they rank fifth in total goals. For SU, the ball didn’t stick, which led to success. Syracuse had 6 different players record an assist.
The Orange’s unselfishness was made possible thanks to the make-it-take-it lacrosse brought by faceoff specialist John Mullen, who went 18-for-23 at the faceoff X.
The freshman stepped up big for SU because starter Mason Kohn only won a third of his faceoffs. Mullen secured career highs in both attempts and wins. It’s not everyday that a FOGO scores, but Mullen added to the third quarter fun with his third goal of the season.
The momentum continues to snowball the Orange's way in the third quarter.@AndrewSelover had the call for SU's second FOGO goal of the evening - this one from a less likely scorer.
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) May 13, 2024
🎙️https://t.co/BG0Q3sGq3P, @waer883 pic.twitter.com/Uc7AerfZI6
SU outscored Towson 12-6 in the second half to give head coach Gary Gait his first NCAA tournament win at the helm. After a statement win against Towson, the Orange can forget all about their 18-13 loss to Duke in the semifinals of the ACC tournament. SU aims to ride this momentum into the quarterfinals.
Ironically, SU heads to Towson’s campus to matchup with five-seed Denver at Johnny Unitas Stadium next Sunday, May 19th. Gametime will be at noon. WAER’s coverage starts with McClurg Remodeling countdown to Faceoff at 11:30.