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COLLEGE PARK, Md. — At halftime Saturday, Syracuse sat in an admirable position. The Orange led 5-4 in a back-and-forth tactical game. After being held largely quiet, star attack Joey Spallina scored two goals in the final two-and-a-half minutes of the half.

On defense, SU held Maryland to 12 shots and only nine on target. Goalie Jimmy McCool registered five saves to start his first major game as the Orange’s starter. SU also had played a clean game, not committing any penalties.

However, that all changed after halftime. No. 6 Maryland (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten) outscored No. 2 Syracuse (3-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) 4-1 in the third quarter, including four straight goals, to build an 8-6 lead it wouldn’t relinquish. The Terrapins also exposed Syracuse’s defense and McCool, including scoring two man-up goals following two SU penalties.

“This is a Final Four caliber program here, so you’re playing against a different level,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said of Maryland postgame. “And they didn’t make many mistakes.”

Maryland’s Eliot Dubick leveled the score on a man-up opportunity before Daniel Kelly retook its lead. Then, Eric Spanos netted two goals in one minute to extend the Terrapins’ cushion to three. In the final seconds of the quarter, SU’s Owen Hiltz pulled one back. But by then, the damage was done.

Postgame, Maryland head coach John Tillman praised how Syracuse closed the first half but also stressed since the score was narrow. The game was still up for grabs in the final 30 minutes. Tillman said he told his team not to stress and play freely. Though after two quarters, UMD had eight turnovers. In the second half, it halved its giveaways to four.

“I felt like we got the ball a bunch more in the third quarter, and then I think we just got a lot more comfort,” Tillman said.

The Terrapins’ third-quarter takeover wasn’t one of total domination. Instead, it stemmed from taking its chances. Gait stressed postgame the faceoff battle was tight (4-3 in favor of Maryland), as were the turnovers (3-2 Maryland). UMD had 12 shots to SU’s 10 and eight shots on goal to its four in the quarter, but Maryland converted its chances — both on shots and man-up opportunities — when they came.

Out of the break, Maryland’s Sean Creter won the faceoff and long-stick midfielder Jack McDonald picked up the ground ball and took it all the way to the net. But McCool denied him on the left side.

Syracuse’s ensuing possession ended with a save, as UMD goaltender Logan McNaney launched a transition attack. On the break, SU’s Michael Leo tripped George Stamos and was called for a one-minute penalty.

“When we’re able to go out there, we kind of just keep it steady Eddie,” Spanos said postgame of the man-up opportunities. “We just play our brand, we work the ball around, we just let the best shot come from a player that’s in a good position.”

The Terrapins stuck to Spanos’ plan on their first man-up advantage of the game. For the 30 seconds of the penalty, they patiently swung around the goal. Then, Jack Dowd fired a shot, but McCool parried it. However, Dubick picked up the ground ball in front of the cage and put it past SU’s goalie, tying the game at 5-5 just over two minutes into the half.

Maryland again dictated its offense patiently en route to taking the lead midway through the second quarter. As the shot clock waned below 10 seconds, Spanos drove down the right alley, then dumped it inside to Kelly. The attack stuck his shot in the bottom corner to make it 6-5 at the 5:38 mark of the quarter.

“(The Orange) don’t give you a lot, so you gotta be patient, and you gotta hit some shots, because it’s hard to get the ball inside out,” Tillman said.

Syracuse forced a shot clock violation on UMD’s next possession, couldn’t produce anything on offense and then committed its second penalty of the quarter once Maryland regained the ball. Sophomore short-stick defensive midfielder Ryder Ochoa was caught offside and forced SU to play down for 30 seconds.

Again, Maryland made the Orange pay. It worked the ball around until the penalty was expiring, but Spanos ripped a shot into the upper 90, handing the Terrapins their first multi-goal lead of the game.

“(The Terrapins) had a rebound man-up goal. Those are the tough ones,” Gait said. “They had another rebound goal. Like I said, they made plays. They were opportunistic plays, but they made them. We didn’t get those types of plays out of our guys today.”

Fifty-nine seconds after scoring the man-up goal, Spanos found the back of the net again to extend Maryland’s lead to 8-5. He worked from X, driving from the left wing and dove to get a low-shot past SU defender Michael Grace and tuck it around McCool in the bottom corner.

Hiltz raced behind the right goal line extended and cut in front of the net to beat McNaney and trim Syracuse’s deficit to three with 17 seconds left in the quarter. But by then, the Terrapins had given themselves a lead they’d hold onto.

Though the stats made it seem like little separated the two lacrosse powerhouses, it was UMD’s third-quarter execution that truly did.

“They did a better job of scoring a goal when they needed it, getting a ground ball when they needed it,” Gait said. “Everything was even, but their players made the plays.”

Published on February 15, 2025 at 7:17 pm

Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu | @nalumkal