6-seed Syracuse men’s lacrosse (13-5, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) came up short 15-7 at the hands of 2-seed Notre Dame (13-2, 2-2 ACC) Saturday afternoon. The Orange exit the NCAA Tournament in the semifinals for a second straight season.
The Fighting Irish started the contest fast. ND scored four consecutive goals to open the first quarter and held a 4-0 lead after 12 minutes of play. But that's when SU’s offense finally began to ramp up. The ’Cuse responded with three goals in the final two minutes of the opening frame to cut the deficit to one.
But Notre Dame had a response of its own. The Fighting Irish netted three goals in the second quarter, and despite SU attackman Finn Thomson putting one past ND goalie Thomas Ricciardelli to complete his hat trick, Syracuse trailed Notre Dame 7-4 with 30 minutes left to play.
ND’s offense continued to shine into the second half. Two Fighting Irish goals made it 9-4 midway through the third frame, Notre Dame’s largest lead of the contest up to that point.
But, with its back against the wall, SU slowly crawled back. The Orange ended what was nearly a 17-minute scoring drought when Thomson found the back of the cage again for his fourth score on the afternoon. Then, Syracuse’s Luke Rhoa and Payton Anderson scored nearly 60 seconds apart to make it a two-goal game.
It's @CuseMLAX attackman Finn Thomson's world, and we're just living in it.@adamhipsky had the call for the senior's rebound score.
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) May 23, 2026
📻@waer883, https://t.co/BG0Q3sGq3P pic.twitter.com/aQPvGkphe5
However, that’s where the wheels fell off for the ’Cuse. SU freshman Louis D’Agostino committed a two-minute penalty in the dying moments of the third. The Fighting Irish capitalized and made it 12-7 by the time the man-up opportunity concluded. Notre Dame kept its foot on the gas and took down Syracuse 15-7 to advance to the national championship game.
"They should be proud of what they've been able to do,” Syracuse Head Coach Gary Gait said. “They've done something that no other team here has been able to do: back-to-back final fours... I'm proud of them. They're good, fine young men."
Syracuse’s star-studded senior class, led by SU’s all-time points leader Joey Spallina, now departs the 315. Despite his collegiate career ending without a national championship, Spallina had high praise when reflecting on his time with the ’Cuse.
"I love this place,” Spallina said. “I would do anything for this place. This place is unbelievable."
“Sadly I lied.”@CuseMLAX attackman Joey Spallina on not bringing SU a national title in his four years: pic.twitter.com/CezRAhVVJS
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) May 23, 2026
The Orange’s senior class brought SU to back-to-back championship weekends for the first time since 2008-09. To Syracuse senior Finn Thomson, his advice for the classes that follow is simple.
"Carry the culture,” Thomson said. “When we got this place it was in rough shape. We've built this place up... We didn't get the job done but we left it a better place than when we found it."