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Syracuse coasted in its opening two games. The Orange destroyed Jacksonville 24-5 in their season-opener, their largest margin of victory since 2022. They jumped out to a 10-0 first-half lead, spurred by four Michael Leo goals, then reapplied their foot to the gas pedal to outscore the Dolphins 10-0 in the third quarter.

Next, SU dispatched Vermont 13-5. It again held a comfortable lead, pulling ahead 12-1 in the third quarter. That time, it was Joey Spallina who spearheaded the offense, registering a tied-for-career-high 10 points on five goals and five assists.

No. 16 Towson provided the first test for Syracuse when it visited the JMA Wireless Dome Monday. The contest was a rematch of the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year when the Tigers led at halftime before the Orange pulled away for a 20-15 win. This time, SU jumped ahead and maintained a first-half lead before outscoring the Tigers 7-0 in the fourth quarter to secure its first ranked win of the season.

Here are some observations from No. 2 Syracuse’s (3-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) home win over No. 16 Towson (0-2, 0-0 Coastal Athletic Association) Monday:

Mullen rebounds

Both Syracuse and Towson’s faceoff specialists were coming off underwhelming performances. SU’s John Mullen went 8-for-16 at the X versus Vermont Friday, while the Tigers’ Matt Constantinides, who was named to the All-CAA First-Team in 2024 after winning 57% of faceoffs, went a woeful 5-for-15 in Towson’s 11-10 season-opening loss to Johns Hopkins.

Early on Monday, it was all Mullen. He won the first six faceoffs of the game. On the second faceoff of the contest, the sophomore made it look easy, latching onto a ball after it trickled through the legs of Constantinides, launching Syracuse’s attack. By the third, Constantinides won the draw but was whistled for a violation, handing possession to the Orange.

Mullen won the faceoff against Constantinides’ deputy, Kai Lopez, before claiming possession against Constantinides when he returned to the game. Finally, Mullen lost the seventh draw of the game when he was whistled for a violation following Towson’s second goal that made it 4-2 late in the first quarter.

Mullen cooled off a bit after his torrid start but maintained control at the X, going 10-for-14 by halftime. He finished with a 17-for-25 line on faceoffs.

Rockets from the Orange

Syracuse had a little extra on its shots against Towson. Early, Luke Rhoa repeatedly drove into the attacking zone before unleashing a stentorian effort on Luke Downs’ net. The junior cashed in SU’s fourth goal of the game on that exact play: building up steam and roping a blistering effort to make it 4-1. Before that, Finn Thomson made it 2-0 on a turnaround effort that flew into the back of the net without Downs having time to respond.

Syracuse kept getting downhill and uncorking bullets once it neared the attacking zone. Rhoa had four first-quarter shots, using that aforementioned recipe. He fired in another goal to begin the second quarter, driving from midfield to the left wing and then ripping his shot into the top corner with his weaker left hand.

The Orange’s speed wasn’t just on their shots — it applied to their entire attack. Out of a timeout following Towson’s fourth goal of the game, Mullen won the faceoff, raced upfield to find Spallina, who fed it to Owen Hiltz. Hiltz launched his shot into the back of the net to culminate the eight-second sequence with another Syracuse goal. Hiltz had his own rapid shot find the cage minutes later for SU’s ninth finish of the game.

Rhoa completed his hat trick in the fourth quarter on another rapid shot that found the top-right shelf. Syracuse’s goals were near-unstoppable with their placement, painting every corner of the net.

Syracuse’s suffocating defense

SU didn’t give the Tigers many shots. But Towson, to its credit, capitalized on the few chances it was afforded. In the first quarter, Towson only registered four shots, but three resulted in goals. Other than that, SU forced the Tigers into five turnovers and didn’t allow them many good looks at Jimmy McCool’s cage.

Syracuse played relatively clean as well, committing just three penalties in the first half and only allowing one man-up Towson goal. Its conversion rate remained astronomically high throughout the first half, as the Tigers turned seven shots on target into five goals.

Frequently, Syracuse closed any shooting angles and was tight on the Tigers’ fearsome attack that boasted 2024 Inside Lacrosse First Team All-American Mikey Weisshaar and freshman Ronan Fitzpatrick, who scored five goals in Towson’s season-opening loss.

On clears, Syracuse was clean, going 7-for-8 in the opening half. Towson outshot the Orange 16-7 in the third quarter but SU rallied the storm to only give up two goals and hold a four-point cushion heading into the fourth quarter. In the fourth, Nate LeVine produced a highlight-reel save as the ball nearly trickled out of bounds, which led to SU’s 14th goal of the game.

Against a strong Towson offense, the Orange’s defense was sturdy, with a terrific 20-for-21 clear rate and no goals allowed in the fourth quarter.

Sharing the wealth

It’s almost as if Syracuse’s attack is an expensive Swiss Army Knife with every gadget imaginable. It was all Leo versus Jacksonville in the season opener. Then, against Vermont, it was Spallina’s turn to headline the offense.

Monday against Towson, Syracuse shared the goal scoring with no one rising above the rest. But that was enough to secure its first ranked win of the season. Thomson only needed four shots to complete his hat trick, while Hiltz and Rhoa also each recorded three goals. Leo chipped in from midfield with three goals, too.

Sam English got in on the action, navigating his way through the Tigers’ defense and finishing from close range to regain SU’s five-goal cushion to begin the final quarter.

Spallina took more of a backseat in scoring, with two goals and four assists, though he netted the Orange’s 13th goal in the fourth quarter. Spallina set up Tyler McCarthy for his first goal of the season once the game was decided midway through the fourth quarter.

The Orange’s third win of the season stemmed from a shared offensive effort. No one player stood out. The whole unit did.

Published on February 10, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu | @nalumkal