257 days. That’s how long Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse (0-0, 0-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference) has had the sour taste of defeat in its mouth after falling to Denver in the NCAA Quarterfinals last year. However, that’s nothing compared to SU’s last national championship. Try 5,730 days (or over 15 years) since that 2009 overtime win over Cornell for the title. That just so happened to be the second straight natty for the Orange. The starting goalie for both of those squads? Well, he just so happens to be John Galloway, the head coach of Jacksonville (0-0, 0-0 in Atlantic Sun Conference), SU’s first opponent of the new year.
Although its the first-ever meeting between both programs and the season opener for the Orange, the one storyline many are looking forward to is the return of legendary ‘Cuse goalie John Galloway. The Dolphins coach isn’t sugarcoating his feelings on the return.
“For me it's about our team and focusing on that, But it'd be naive to not acknowledge that it's been a long time since I've been in the dome” said Galloway. “My emotions will certainly be high”.
Let’s take a look at how things have been going for Galloway and his squad lately. After not having a double-digit win season in program history, JU has now had three straight. Last season was one of the best yet. Jacksonville went 8-1 in conference play, its only loss coming against Utah in the ASUN championship. But there’s one thing that Galloway’s wanted to do throughout his nine year tenure with the Dolphins, and that was to take on the Orange.
“I wanted the opportunity to do it right away” Galloway said. “With a life cycle of our program I thought we needed to expose ourselves to the top, the best. It finally aligned that Gary was able to have a date open And our conference going from 10 teams to six opened up some space for us as well”.
The ‘Cuse legend might want to be careful what he wishes for. Inside Lacrosse ranked Syracuse as the #2 team in the country and named seven Orange players to their preseason All-American Teams. Attackman Joey Spallina was named to the first-team, midfielder Sam English and defenseman Billy Dwan III made the second-team, and midfielder Michael Leo found himself on the third-team.
.@Inside_Lacrosse Nike Lacrosse Preseason AA
— Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse (@CuseMLAX) January 30, 2025
#77 Owen Hiltz | Honorable Mention | Attack
#23 Finn Thomson | Honorable Mention | Midfield
#11 Riley Figueiras | Honorable Mention | Defense#HHH x #LikeNoOther pic.twitter.com/B0TzoTQiJe
As someone who is well aware of the pressure put on young talented players, Syracuse Head Coach Gary Gait believes he’s prepared his guys for this very moment.
“The media’s putting a lot of pressure on us with these top 2 or 3 rankings” Gait said. “But we’re ready for it”.
Coach Gait and his squad get the chance to rain on John Galloway’s homecoming tomorrow at noon. WAER’s coverage begins with our pregame show McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Faceoff at 11:30.