No. 10 Syracuse men’s lacrosse (4-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) is looking to build back-to-back wins against No. 11 Johns Hopkins (4-1, 0-0 Big Ten) Saturday. The Orange are coming off a defeat and a victory this past weekend in the ACC/IVY Challenge. The first an 11-7 loss at the hands of #7 Princeton Friday, and then a bounce-back 9-8 win against #19 Penn in overtime on Sunday.
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
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) March 1, 2026
On the other side of things, Johns Hopkins is coming off a thrilling 14-13 win over #14 Virginia. The Blue Jays trailed 11-4 with around 9:22 left to go in the third quarter. Then, with 5:30 on the clock in the fourth trailing by four, Hopkins rattled off a six-goal run to take a 14-13 lead and eventually win the game. The seven-goal comeback was just the second in JHU history which ironically came against the Cavs in 2018.
After falling to then-14th ranked Harvard two weekends ago when SU was atop the nation, things have been up and down. The Orange trailed by six to Princeton and couldn’t come back, but did just that against Penn when down four. That has Gary Gait realizing the importance of the matchup.
“Those two teams were teams we ended their season before, and they brought that attitude and we didn't match the intensity. It kind of brought us into Penn where we were in a little bit of a funk. Our guys stuck together, and found a way to get it done. We got to build off that.”
A large part of the peaks and valleys over the weekend were due to face-off man John Mullen. The junior went just 12-29 on the weekend, winning six in each game. It was an uncharacteristic weekend for the face-off man who only lost 50% or less from the X five times last year. Interestingly enough though, Mullen won five of his six face-offs in the second half, including the one in overtime which gave SU the game winner on the ensuing offensive possession. Because of that, Orange head coach Gary Gait wasn’t worried when talking about Mullen’s struggles during his weekly press conference Thursday.
“Lacrosse is a mental game, along with a physical….he’s more mentally dealing with getting his head right so he’s on the whistle and not thinking about it.”
Mullen won 48-80 (60%) of face-offs before last weekend, with SU going 3-1 in that stretch. Last year, the face-off man won 13-23 (56.5%) against Hopkins.
Mullen was not the only man to go MIA over the weekend though. Attackman Joey Spallina also had a lackluster weekend, posting just four points, all coming against Penn. The senior grabbed just a singular goal over the weekend, and now has just three in his last three games. For reference, Spallina started the year with 11 scores in his first three. Saturday’s matchup could be the perfect chance for the star to bounce back, as the attackman has lit up the scoresheet in three matchups against the Blue Jays.
Spallina has also never had back-to-back games without a point. If history repeats itself though, that won’t be a worry. Syracuse has taken down JHU in the past two matchups thanks to Spallina’s five points in each.
In the cage, goalie Jimmy McCool had a huge weekend in the cage. After allowing 13 to Harvard, the senior had a season-high 17 saves against Princeton keeping SU in the game despite the loss. Then on Sunday, the netminder recorded his fourth game of the year allowing ten or less. Safe to say McCool is getting hot at the right time ahead of Saturday’s matchup.
Johns Hopkins is not going to make things easy on the SU netminder though. The Blue Jays are led on attack by junior Hunter Chauvette. The attackman has been nasty this season for JHU, with a team-leading 16 goals. Six of those came in Saturday’s win against UVA. Chauvatte also did it in just 10 shots, finding the back of the cage at a 60% clip. Matt Collison and Jimmy Ayers back up Chauvette with 10-goals a piece on the young season.
While the Hopkins attack is finding its footing, the defense and goalie situation has been a little more interesting. The Blue Jays have let up a total of 30 goals in the past two games, after surrendering just 20 in the first three. Freshman Dash Lamitie has been getting the majority of playing time in the cage for Hopkins, starting the first three games. However, things changed after JHU’s 17-9 defeat on the road to North Carolina. Lamitie let up 15 goals, the most of his young career. That led head coach Peter Milliman to turn on Lamitie after allowing four goals in the first nine minutes to UVA. The move proved to be a good one, with senior Oran Gelinas playing the final 50 allowing just nine.
Overall, this is a Johns Hopkins team that is searching to get back to national relevancy just like Syracuse. This is a Blue Jays team that is coming off a 6-8 season after making the NCAA quarterfinals the previous two years. Johns Hopkins last brought home the national title in 2007, and Gait knows that.
“We’re both scrapping to get back to our glory days, it's an incredibly important game for both of us. We’ll be well prepared, and hopefully we execute at a higher level this week”
Listen to the historic rivalry matchup on WAER Saturday. Syracuse is searching for its third straight win over Johns Hopkins at 1 p.m., with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Face-off at 12:30.