Syracuse men’s lacrosse (4-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) came into Sunday’s game with No. 19 Penn (2-3, 0-0 Ivy League)in what felt like panic mode. Two straight losses to No. 4 Harvard and No. 7 Princeton meant that the ‘Cuse was in danger of losing three straight games to Ivy League opponents for the first time in at least 50 years. Fortunately, the Orange took care of business against the Quakers 9-8, but the game wasn’t without some bumps along the way.
After being down by as many as four in the second half, @CuseMLAX completed the comeback and topped @PennMensLax 9-8 in overtime. @Drew_Albaugh and @mhoffnyc were on the mic for the thriller at Franklin Field. pic.twitter.com/sCZWmvaJvP
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The first half started slow, just like it did against the Tigers a couple days before. Attack Finn Thomson struck first for SU, but the rest of the first quarter was fairly back and forth. The Orange were down by a goal, until with 12 seconds left in the quarter, attackman Joey Spallina found senior Michael Leo to knot things up at three. The assist was Spallina’s first point since the Harvard game.
The second quarter started with Syracuse going up courtesy of freshman Ted Rawson’s third goal of the season. Unfortunately, from then on out, it was all Penn. The Quakers scored twice before the end of the half, and then out of the break scored three more times. At the end of the 5-0 run, SU was down 8-4. The eighth three-game losing streak of the Gary Gait era looked nearly inevitable, and the head coach had this to say about his team’s first three quarters.
“It was tough for that first 45 minutes. Billy Dwan’s goal was a big momentum shifter”
The defenseman found net with under 10 minutes to go in the second half. The ‘Cuse applied more pressure, but a turnover with 11 seconds left marked the end of the chance to win it in regulation.
FOGO guy John Mullen won the overtime opening faceoff, and after just a minute and a half, attackman Michael Leo grabbed his second goal to end things for the ‘Cuse.
Despite its 9-8 win over No. 19 @PennMensLax, No. 6 @CuseMLAX's offense wasn't completely clicking today. @DanPapillo thinks the victory helped the Orange avoid an uncomfortable conversation.
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The Orange wouldn’t have been in this one without their man in net, and head coach Gary Gait lauded senior Jimmy McCool’s performance after the game.
“Both goalies played excellent, saves create energy for the team”
McCool had 10 saves on the day, which brought him to a total of 27 for the weekend. At the end of the postgame presser, he let out an “I am so tired” and a deep breath.
Gary Gait had one last musing about how the game went for SU.
“It wasn’t our best game for sure, but it was a fun one and a game I’m happy we were a part of”
Next up for Syracuse is the biggest rivalry in all of college lacrosse. SU takes on No. 13 Johns Hopkins next Saturday in Baltimore. The Blue Jays are fresh off a win over No. 12 Virginia. We’ll have all the coverage of that tilt here on WAER starting at 12:30 with McClurg Remodelling Countdown to Faceoff, before the game at 1.
