No. 5 Syracuse men’s lacrosse hosts Colgate for Senior Day with history on the line

No. 5 Syracuse men’s lacrosse (10-3, 2-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference) faces an in-state foe in Colgate (5-6, 4-3 in Patriot League) for its final regular season home game of 2026. The Orange celebrate 10 seniors and two graduate students on Senior Day, a group that has produced 180 points this season.

SU was in a rut before these seniors even committed. Five-time National Champion and 23-year head coach John Desko retired after a losing record in the ACC and a 10-goal loss to Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2021. The former Orange midfielder ended his coaching career with a .742 overall win percentage and a .691 conference win percentage that spans over the ACC and the Big East Conference. Syracuse hired All-American and former SU women’s lacrosse head coach Gary Gait in 2021.

The three-time National Champion needed a strong start. Syracuse.com writer Donna Ditota stressed the need for a roster overhaul that began in September of 2022.

“There’s a lot that needs fixing. High school recruiting and transfer portal activity will be crucial to bumping the Orange back to its glory days of final four dominance.”

This senior leadership group lived up to the promise of SU’s nation-leading 2022 recruiting class that featured five 5-stars, six 4-stars, and six 3-star recruits according to Inside Lacrosse. The ‘Cuse returned to Memorial Day Weekend last season for the first time since 2013 and won the Acc Tournament for the first time since 2016. Syracuse now sits 5th in the media poll and is poised for a third straight NCAA Tournament bid thanks to its graduating class.

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“The senior class has done a lot for us to kind of get the program back to where we want it to be. It's the 2022 class. They’ve played in a lot of games and kind of made strides each and every year.” Orange associate head coach Pat March said in media availability on Thursday. “Their first year missing the NCAA tournament, their second year making it to the quarterfinals, and their junior year making it to the semi-finals. So, we're excited to celebrate those guys this weekend.”

The highest-touted member of that 2022 class, top overall recruit Joey Spallina, can finish his chase of Syracuse’s all-time points record, a 22-year spot currently held by Mikey Powell, in front of the home fans. Spallina notched five points in last weekend’s 14-9 home win over then-9th ranked Virginia to inch just two away from becoming SU’s all-time leader.

The Mount Sinai native has tallied multiple points in every home game this season, with a combined 11 in the Orange’s last two home matchups. Spallina is the conductor–either as a passer, dodger, or scorer–of a Syracuse offense that leads the ACC in goals. After facing five straight ranked teams, SU plays an unranked Colgate squad that allows the second most goals in the Patriot League.

“I don't think anybody in the country is going to let Joey sit back behind the goal and feed anymore. We've seen that and that's why he has so many points that he has and so we kind of depend on how we're being played.” Coach March said. “We may prepare for something, probably three or four different things. We may get one or two different things in a game.”

The Raiders have played their best defense as of late, holding Lehigh to just seven goals in last weekend’s win. But Spallina nabbed five points in Syracuse’s other Patriot League game against Boston University.

Gametime from the Orange’s Senior Day is set for 5, WAER has you covered starting at 4:30 with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Faceoff.