6th-seeded Syracuse men’s lacrosse faces toughest postseason challenge yet with semifinal tilt against 2nd-seeded Notre Dame

With two tournament wins under its belt, sixth-seeded Syracuse men’s lacrosse (13-5, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) returns to championship weekend to play two-seed Notre Dame (12-2, 3-1 ACC). The Orange and the Fighting Irish faced off in the final week of the regular season. Notre Dame took the ‘Cuse to town with a 16-11 win on the back of a 9-3 second-half run.

SU has already beaten a team it couldn’t beat in the regular season this postseason. Last weekend, Syracuse beat North Carolina 13-11 on Long Island in the quarterfinals. The Orange had previously lost to the Tar Heels by five goals in the regular season and by two in the ACC tournament semi-finals.

The familiarity of the matchup brings a few caveats for both teams. Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan explained what both teams get out of having already seen each other.

“You know how you look in certain matchups…you have to be careful, you can’t count on anything in the first game developing the same way. [But] it gives us some familiarity with them athletically. We’re not guessing with certain matchups.”

Syracuse wants to avoid a repeat of last time out against Notre Dame by any means necessary. Things looked great for the first half, with SU holding a one-goal lead after 30 minutes. From there, it all fell apart. Notre Dame finished the game on a 9-3 second-half scoring tilt. The ‘Cuse’s offense never found a groove again, and as ND continued to score, SU couldn’t get a foothold back into the game and maintain possession.

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For the first half of the Orange’s regular-season game against the Irish, Joey Spallina looked like his usual self. The senior grabbed a hat trick and added an assist on top. When he went into the halftime locker room, though, it never felt like he came back out. Spallina was blanked in the points department in the second half during SU’s scoring drought. Orange head coach Gary Gait felt that shift.

“We weren’t getting those open looks we had in the first half. We weren’t finding the people inside. They were definitely just marking a little tighter.”

The thorn in the Orange’s side defensively from the Irish has not gone away since they last met. Defenseman Shawn Lyght is fresh off making first-team All-American and being named a Tewaaraton Award finalist. He’s the first defenseman to be named a finalist for the award since 2016. The junior anchors a Notre Dame defense that has allowed fewer than nine goals per game on the year, which is the best mark in the nation. If anyone can slow down Syracuse’s explosive offense, and specifically fellow Tewaaraton finalist Joey Spallina, it’s Shawn Lyght and Notre Dame.

Another important player looking to continue making his name as a playoff riser is faceoff specialist John Mullen. In the NCAA tournament this year, the junior has won just shy of 60 percent of his faceoffs. Extrapolated to a full season, that mark would be 15th in the NCAA this year. The Massachusetts native also has three goals across two games in the tournament, which equals his entire regular season mark.

Last time out against Notre Dame, Mullen went 13 of 28 at the faceoff X. The faceoff specialist has gone under 50 percent in three of Syracuse’s five losses. Head Coach Gary Gait identified what’s helped his faceoff man put the regular season behind him.

“He had a bit of a rough patch in the middle of the season…he really worked hard on…mental training, visualization, meditation, to get yourself in a position where you can go out and play and not have to think about it…Everything’s kind of working for him. It’s success [building] success.”

Syracuse stands just one game away from going back to the championship for the first time since 2013. The semi-final is on Saturday, and we’ll get you ready with McClurg Remodelling Countdown to Faceoff at 2:00 on 88.3 FM, or here on waer.org, with the game expected to start at 2:30. You can also follow along on X at @WAERSports.