One red-hot quarter was all it took for 6th seeded Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse (12-5, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) to earn a 13-12 win over Harvard (10-4, 4-2 Ivy League) and a ticket into the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals. The Crimson jumped out early scoring three goals in the first five minutes of play. The first quarter closed with SU down 3-1 and the Harvard offense would only extend their lead into the second quarter. The Crimson fired four goals past Syracuse goalkeeper Jimmy McCool to grow their lead to six points. Still, the Orange remained optimistic.
“You look at your sideline in a game that isn’t going your way at the start and all the boys are smiling… it makes you want to make that next play so much more” said McCool.
Syracuse jogged into the locker room down 8-2 at the half, a familiar position. SU trailed at halftime in four of its five final games of the regular season, three of which were losses. This time around, Syracuse slammed on the gas.
The Orange scored five goals in under 100 seconds to outscore the Crimson 7-3 in the fourth quarter and push the contest to overtime. SU attackman Owen Hiltz scored the game-winning goal to complete Syracuse’s season-extending six-goal comeback.
Despite a lackluster first three quarters, No. 6 @CuseMLAX stormed back and defeated @HarvardMLax 13-12 in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.@GiffMD and @SokolskyJish had the call from the JMA Wireless Dome. pic.twitter.com/dtC1N5snQO
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) May 11, 2025
SU head coach Gary Gait was overjoyed with the win and thought it was “a heck of a game.”
Despite the nail-biter nature of this contest, one stat was heavily lopsided: faceoffs. Syracuse thrived from the X winning 25 of the 28 meetings at midfield. Gait was quick to praise the man responsible: FOGO John Mullen.
“From the last time we played Harvard, his focus was keeping the ball every time we won a faceoff. He did that again today; he was exceptional.”
In both meetings with the Crimson, Mullen has owned centerfield winning the faceoff battle a combined 88.1% of the time. The sophomore has been a constant source of offense for the ‘Cuse this year boasting a faceoff win percentage of .636, the sixth-highest in the nation.
In terms of capitalizing on Mullen’s wins it was midfielder Luke Rhoa who got familiar with the back of the net. The junior led the SU offense with 4 goals, tying his season high.
“For him to go and bury those goals were huge, just to even keep us in the game. When we needed one he got one,” Gait said.
Rhoa’s first two scores were the only Orange points on the board headed into halftime. The junior’s second pair marked the first and last goals of a 5-0 SU run in the fourth quarter.
"Our guys believed in each other, trusted each other, and found a way to win,” said Gait. “As a coach, it makes you so proud to have guys that dont give up."
SU’s six-goal comeback win marks its largest of the season. Syracuse will stay resilient in its next NCAA Tournament stop: the Quarterfinals against 3 seeded Princeton on Saturday. Opening draw is at 2:30 p.m. Tune into McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Faceoff live at 2:00 for all the coverage.