6-seed Syracuse men’s lacrosse faces 3-seed North Carolina in NCAA quarterfinals

6-seed Syracuse men’s lacrosse (12-5, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) plays a familiar opponent in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament: 3-seed North Carolina (13-4, 2-2 ACC). UNC has beaten SU twice this year, a 14-9 win during the regular season and a 12-10 win in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

In both games, faceoff specialist John Mullen has struggled at times. He went 7-for-21 in the first contest, which is his second-fewest wins this season, and 10-for-20 in the conference semifinals. Mullen has also struggled with violations, so sophomore Drew Angelo has stepped in during some possessions.

However, during Syracuse’s 16-15 win over Yale (9-6, 4-2 Ivy League) in the NCAA Tournament first round, Mullen was 21-of-33 on faceoffs. He matched his career-high with 18 ground balls along with a goal.

“That's what we were hoping that he would get things together and be at the top of his game come playoff time,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said.

The junior is up against strong competition in UNC’s specialist, Brady Wambach, who is third in the nation with a 66% face-off winning percentage. He set the single-season faceoff wins record and single-season ground ball record for the Tar Heels.

The pair highlight two potent offenses, each featuring a Tewaaraton Finalist. SU attackman Joey Spallina had zero points in the first matchup, but responded with four points, all assists, in the second matchup. He ranks second in the country in assists with 42, as well as ranking third in the country with 79 points.

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UNC attackman Owen Duffy is the other Tewaaraton Finalist. Duffy leads the Tar Heels with 39 assists, 27 more than the next player, and has the most points with 69. The junior missed North Carolina’s first-round 24-6 win against UAlbany through a lower-body injury. His status for the rest of the tournament is day-to-day.

Despite Duffy’s absence, attackman Dominic Pietramala stepped up for UNC last Sunday. He set the UNC single-game goals record and NCAA Tournament single-game goals record with 10 against the Great Danes.

While SU and UNC can rely on their offenses to win, their goalies also help guide them to victory. Orange netminder Jimmy McCool followed a similar theme to his teammates: putting in a better performance in the second game. McCool was taken out in the third quarter of the first contest after giving up 12 goals and stopping seven shots, then made nine saves in the second meeting.

Against Yale, the senior denied the Bulldogs with two crucial stops in the last 16 seconds en route to making 17 in total. The captain recorded his 14th game with double digit saves. Out of the three games McCool wasn’t in double figures with saves, two of them were against UNC.

“I never lost the trust in myself, in myself and in my teammates to make the next play,” Jimmy McCool said. “I think we responded really well in the second half and ultimately we just needed to make the last stop and that's what we did.”

McCool hasn’t been the only goalie to be taken out. UNC starter Josh Marcus was pulled against Virginia and UAlbany. The freshman played just eight minutes against the Great Danes in the NCAA Tournament, giving up one goal with three saves, compared to giving up 10 goals with four saves in 26 minutes against the Cavaliers in the ACC Championship.

Senior Kent Goode stepped in both times for a total of 75 minutes compared to 36 across his previous four appearances. Goode gave up five goals along with six stops against UVA, then gave up four goals along with eight stops against UAlbany.

No matter who UNC head coach Joe Breschi gives the nod to, it’ll be another test for Syracuse. Yet, Spallina believes his team has faced all kinds of challenges this season and feels prepared for Saturday’s clash.

“I think we've just kind of been playing in every kind of game and in every big kind of moment,” Spallina said. “So, I think we're just ready to go.”

Find out who advances to the semifinals on WAER on Saturday. The third meeting between the two squads this season is set for 2:30 p.m., with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Faceoff at 2 p.m.