After three straight dominating victories to start the season, number six Syracuse men’s lacrosse (3-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) seemed to be possibly heading towards a number one spot in the polls. But after a rough 11-7 loss against number two Maryland, SU hopes to bounce back against another tough opponent: 15th ranked Harvard.
“Anytime we step on here for Syracuse we wanna compete, we wanna get the Ws,” said SU head coach Gary Gait.
No. 2 @CuseMLAX falls 11-7 to No. 6 @TerpsMLax. @SokolskyJish and @SamuelReisTV had the call for SU's first loss of the season, and its seventh straight to UMD. pic.twitter.com/ePuAn6SjrY
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) February 15, 2025
Harvard has been off to an interesting start to its 2025 season. The Crimson opened their season last Saturday with a 12-10 victory at number 20 Providence. However, after returning for its home opener in a quick turnaround on Tuesday against an unranked Colgate team, Harvard lost 19-15. Despite an early 7-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Crimson were outscored 7-2 in the second frame. Harvard has struggled on defense, allowing nearly 100 shots in its first two games.
Despite the loss, Harvard attackman Jack Speidell tallied a career-high five goals. The sophomore leads the Crimson with eight tallies so far this season, already two more than he scored in his freshman year.
On the other end, Syracuse has brought an electric offensive attack to start the season. SU’s 16 goals per game ranks top 15 in the nation. A big reason for that has been the effort of junior Joey Spallina, who has already scored 12 goals in four games. When the Orange pair Spallina alongside Owen Hiltz and Luke Rhoa, it’s a tough team to stop. Hiltz and Rhoa have scored a combined 18 goals, and Hiltz alone has eight assists on the season.
“We gotta put the work in and we gotta step up,” coach Gait said when asked about what his team needs to do going forward against more fierce competition like Harvard. “We got to put ourselves in a position to make some plays under pressure.”
This matchup is favorable to an Orange team that is an undefeated 18-0 all-time against the Crimson. However, the last time Syracuse and Harvard faced off was back in 2006.
Game time from the JMA Wireless Dome is set for 1 p.m. Tune in starting at 12:30 p.m. with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Faceoff on 88.3 FM and waer.org.