Men’s Lacrosse – Game 2, at Syracuse, JMA Wireless Dome, Friday at 6:00 PM
Season Records: #1 Maryland (1-0), #2 Syracuse (2-0)
Series Record: Maryland, 16-6
Last Meeting: 2025, 14-8 Terps in NCAA Tournament Semifinal
Media: ACC Network
Live Stats: HERE
Quick Preview
Lacrosse blue bloods take the field inside the historic Dome at Syracuse for a nationally televised Friday Happy Hour game between the top two ranked teams in the nation. Syracuse has lost eight consecutive games against the Terrapins, including in the NCAA Tournament Semifinals last season. The Orange have feasted on their typically cup cake-y early opponents but take a huge step up in class against the top-ranked Terps. The Orange play with flair and flash, while the buttoned up Terps play with a discipline and grit that few teams can match. This season, however, the Terps could have the best offense in the nation.
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Statistical Comparison
Using Lacrosse Reference, the teams have the following statistical profile (rankings in parentheses):
Syracuse
Adj Off Eff: 44.8% (3), Adj Def Eff: 10.6% (4), Adj Faceoff: 63.2% (12), Adj Goalie: 76.6% (4)
Maryland
Adj Off Eff: 42.6% (5), Adj Def Eff: 28.9% (23), Adj Faceoff: 59.6% (16), Adj Goalie: 52% (23)
Lacrosse Reference’s simulation gives the Terps a 56.2% probability of winning.
The Opponent
Four years ago, Syracuse coach Gary Gait signed the consensus top-ranked high school recruiting class in the nation. Each season since, that now senior class has steadily improved from an 8-7 team in 2023 that missed the NCAA Tournament, to an NCAA Tournament Quarterfinalist in 2024, and to an NCAA Tournament Semifinalist in 2025.
The national lacrosse media, which declared “Syracuse is Back” last season, once again trumpets the Orange as a team to take the next step in the progression and win the national title.
All that stands in their way are the Maryland Terrapins.
Don’t think the Terps have not been on the mind of Tewaaraton-favorite and Inside Lacrosse top-ranked player in the nation for this year, Joey Spallina (7g, 7a). Spallina, donning the legendary 22 jersey made famous by his now coach, puts up gaudy numbers, particularly against inferior opponents.
He comparatively struggles when matched up against elite defenders.
Part of Spallina’s challenge is that the Orange have lacked a complementary dodging threat at attack with him. Finn Thomson (4g, 1a) occupies the crease and is often on the receiving end of Spallina’s passes. To address the lack of dodging down low, sophomore Payton “Bear” Anderson (2g, 1a) moves between midfield and the left-handed attack spot. His nickname accurately describes his size.
Senior Michael Leo (4g, 2a) gives the Orange their most explosive athlete. For years, Orange faithful have pleaded to move Leo back to attack, a position where he thrived as an elite high school recruit. Leo could rotate with Bear Anderson at the lefty attack spot.
DMV-native Luke Rhoa (2g, 2a) gives the Orange midfield serious two-handed pop. Rhoa can get down alleys, sweep over the top, or blast time-and-room shots from up top. Tyler McCarthy (1a) fills in the two-way midfielder spot that Sam English manned for the last two seasons.
The second midfield line has provided good scoring punch so far. DMV-native and son of a Terrapin great Bogue Hahn (2g) has shown great dodging abilities. Matt McIntee (1g) has a great burst down the alleys. Diminutive DMV-native Wyatt Hottle (4g, 1a) is the fastest player on the Orange roster. He also plays as the only short-stick on Syracuse’s man-down unit.
Syracuse’s close defense has a mix of size and athleticism. Billy Dwan (1g, 5gb, 1ct) brings the muscle typically as an off-ball defender. DMV-native Riley Figueiras (4gb, 2ct) serves as Syracuse’s top on-ball defender. While not the biggest of defenders, Figueiras has great feet and excellent technique. New to the starting close defense is another Maryland native in Jordan Beck (1gb, 1ct). Beck mostly plays off-ball but is a massive physical presence.
The Syracuse defensive midfield has struggled during Gait’s tenure on the sidelines. LSM Chuck Kuczynski (1a, 2gb, 2ct) plays the primary LSM role. With good size and athleticism but a penchant for penalties, Kuczynski can be disruptive. Dylan Sageder serves as the second LSM.
The Orange short-stick unit looks improved but still vulnerable. Ohio State-transfer Dante Bowen (2gb, 1ct) provides much needed size and athleticism to the unit. Jake Spallina (4gb, 2ct) has decent size and experience. Ryder Ochoa (1gb, 1ct), a DMV high school product, has good size, and freshman Jayden Kittelberger (1ct) has ideal athleticism.
Syracuse has two All-American specialists. Jimmy McCool (4.6ga, 73 percent) has great athleticism and fills out the goal. Hulking FOGO John Mullen (1g, 1a, 11gb, 69 percent) can dominate games with possession or spark runs with goals.
Inside the Match-Up
The Orange offense begins and ends with Spallina. While not the biggest or fastest, Spallina uses his body and strength to get to favorable locations to shoot or pass. Spallina has spent the previous three summer playing box lacrosse in Canada, and you can see the effects on his game. While two-handed, he now rarely puts the stick in his left hand when attacking. Instead, he will throw behind-the-back shots and passes. When dodging left now, he will still look to shovel over-the-shoulder shots or passes with his right hand.
His box-ready game has made him elite at using wing picks to go over the top to shoot on the run or get underneath his defender while crashing the crease. Spallina has elite shooting skills, whether on the run or set foot, step down shots.
Spallina struggles against defenders that can extend out to the corners, which denies him the runway he needs to body up defenders. Defenders who also have lower body strength frustrate Spallina, as he cannot back down these kinds of defenders.
This explains why Will Schaller has dominated his three match ups with Spallina, including holding him scoreless in 2024. If not for a Spallina assist with under a minute remaining in the Final Four game last spring, Schaller would have blanked Spallina again.
Syracuse will run two distinct offensive sets. One begins with midfielders running across the middle of the offensive zone or down alleys off picks. Because of the pressure Leo and Rhoa put on midfield defenses, this action typically gets defenses rotating. Once that begins, Syracuse flashes their elite stick skills as they quickly move the ball around a defense. Often, these multi-pass sequences end with a shooter wide open from 10-yards away.
The other set looks more like a box offense. Spallina will begin with the ball on the low or mid wing as a midfielder sets a pick for him. Once he gets leverage, Spallina will either shoot or find an open teammate for easy dunks on the goal.
Peter Laake will be tasked with muscling up Alexander or matching Leo’s explosiveness. Both have strong left-handed tendencies. Michael Anderson will take whoever Laake doesn’t.
In previous games, Maryland defensive coordinator Jesse Bernhart has opted to use Schaller to erase Spallina and cut off his distribution to teammates. This turns the game into Syracuse one-on-one dodging from the midfield. Because Leo, Alexander, and Rhoa all require the kind of attention that an LSM would provide, Bernhart has bumped another long pole to the midfield and used a short-stick defender on the Orange’s crease player.
With Spallina cut off and two long poles stifling midfield dodging threats, Syracuse’s offense has devolved into a midfielder matched up on a short stick dodging or the Syracuse second midfield line providing scoring help.
This entire defensive scheme has helped the Terps’ offense overcome its own sluggishness. The Terps’ offenses the past three seasons, while efficient, have not put up a ton of scoring.
That might change this season.
Against Loyola, the Terps demonstrated their usual efficiency but also played fast. The Terps’ attack unit presents the kinds of challenges that the Syracuse defense has struggled with in the past. The Terps have three dodgers, which forces all three Syracuse close defenders to play on-ball. Eric Spanos’ size will likely force Syracuse to deploy Dwan against him, which then will force Syracuse to choose who Figueiras will mark: Leo Johnson or Braden Erksa. Whoever he guards will mean that Beck will have to cover a speedy dodger in space. Perhaps Beck will not play as much due to these match ups, but who does Syracuse play instead?
If those issues aren’t enough for Syracuse to solve, Maryland’s midfield mercilessly picked apart Syracuse’s midfield defense in each of the last five meetings. Specifically, the Terps targeted the Orange’s short-stick defenders. The Terps relentlessly dodged those shorties from behind the goal on inverts or high up on the wings. Bigger Terp midfielders like Elijah Stobaugh and Chris Lyons can run over smaller Orange shorties, while fleet footed midfielders like Zack Whittier and Aiden Aitken can run past those shorties. Then converted attackmen Johnny Gardiner and Matt Higgins can juke past less athletic Orange shorties.
Jack Schultz, who sat out the Loyola game with an unspecified injury, might return this week. This gives the Terps another midfielder to pick on short-stick defenders.
The Terps seem to have Johnny McCool’s number in Syracuse’s goal. He will surely want to show better than he has in previous outings against the Terps. Conversely, Terp goalie Brian Ruppel will have to stay alert every time Syracuse has the ball. He will see behind-the-back shots. He will see shots off screens. He will see backhanded shots. He will also see hard and accurate outside shots.
The game ultimately might come down to who controls possession the most. Syracuse’s Mullen looks and plays like a football linebacker. The Terps will counter his size and athleticism with Henry Dodge. While playing for Vermont last season, Dodge won 67 percent of the faceoffs he took against Syracuse. Jonah Carrier will also provide a change up look that Mullen will have to figure out.
Syracuse has a history of discipline issues when playing the Terps. Offsides, penalties, and late hits have been features not bugs of the Orange’s performances against Maryland. Giving the Terps additional possessions, sitting in the penalty box, or firing up the Terps from late hits are not advisable. Syracuse under Gaits seems incapable of not committing these mental mistakes.
The Prediction
Syracuse will treat this game as their Super Bowl. The Terps have become just as much of a mental block as much as a roadblock in Syracuse’s quest to return to the top of the sport. Make no mistake. The Terrapins under coach John Tillman are the standard in college lacrosse. To be the man, you have to beat the man. Can the Orange play within themselves? Or will they get caught up in their past experiences against the Terps? Expect more than 10,000 fans to provide the Orange a boost, which will affect how the referees call the game. There will be runs for each team, and the game will likely come down to which team lands the last shot.
IMS prediction: Terps 15 – 14.
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