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Joey Spallina continued to stare in Owen Hiltz’s direction after catching a pass from him. He turned his stick, reached over his right shoulder and zipped the ball. Spallina’s behind-the-back, no-look attempt skipped into the bottom left corner. 

Spallina pumped both his fists, celebrated with his teammates and watched Johnny Richiusa step into the faceoff circle. Richiusa was immediately called for a penalty, and nine seconds into a man-up opportunity, Kyle Long received the ball from Jack Koras. Long’s simple right upper-hand shot had the same result as Spallina’s highlight goal, silencing SU’s momentum once again. 

SU’s opening three games were a mirage. It dominated weak nonconference opponents over the past two weeks after scraping through a talented Vermont side in its season-opener. Eventually, that luck ran out against the defending champions. No. 18 Syracuse (3-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) put together run after run against No. 9 Maryland (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten), but it couldn’t find enough answers throughout the 15-12 loss. 

Syracuse visited College Park, Maryland, at the most opportune time. The Terrapins had just lost their first game since 2020, a 12-7 loss to Loyola (Maryland), scoring the least number of goals in a single game since 2019. They were left without a starting goalie, Logan McNaney, by the end of last weekend as well. 

But Maryland didn’t fold again. It took exactly 39 seconds for Daniel Kelly to find the back of the net. A minute later, Will Mark deflected a shot right to Koras, who tapped it in from point-blank range. A minute after that, Daniel Maltz ripped an underhand shot into the bottom right corner. The Orange trailed 3-0 before setting up on offense once. 

The Terrapins’ strong start was also due to Luke Wierman’s domination over Richiusa. Wierman has posted a 71.8% success rate through two games this year while Richiusa has been inconsistent with a 50% success rate. Maryland won the opening three faceoffs, taking six shots over that time. Maryland won 24-of-31 faceoffs in the afternoon. 

But Mark kept Syracuse in the game, making eight saves on 17 shots from the Terrapins in the first quarter. The defense in front of him struggled to stay in front of the ball with Maryland’s continuous ball movement, forcing Mark to make continuous saves on wide open shots. He attacked each long shot though, repeatedly lunging to the edge of the crease to make each save. 

The Orange’s defense started to help Mark out more at the start of the second quarter, forcing two turnovers early in the period. The second, caused by Saam Olexo, led to a goal on the other end. Hiltz missed to open the possession, but he picked the ball off the turf after Alex Simmons tried to pass to him. He snagged the ball at the top of its bounce, immediately whipping a left underhand shot past former Binghamton goalie Teddy Dolan. 

Richiusa won the ensuing faceoff. Lehigh transfer Cole Kirst tried to get to the cage on his own but found no luck. He retreated, and Luke Rhoa took possession of it on the right side. From 15 yards out, Rhoa took a couple steps and launched the ball over his defender’s shoulder. It went right over Dolan’s stick into the back of the net, tying the game at 3-3.

Rhoa’s goal ended a 3-0 run from SU but the Terrapins responded with one of their own (and an extra score for insurance). Owen Murphy started the streak with the Orange a man-down. Owen Murphy got his defender, Syracuse’s Billy Dwan, to fall back after flipping the ball to the right side. He stayed in his position, immediately got the ball back and scored as Dwan tried to get back in front of him. 

With six minutes left in the half, Kyle Long sprinted down the left side but couldn’t get around Carter Rice. He ran back to X, taking Rice with him, before going back to his original spot with his back turned to the cage. He finally flipped his hips and fired the ball into the back of the net from five yards out. 

Richiusa turned the ball over after winning in the faceoff circle and Koras scored his second goal of the game 20 seconds later, sending the ball between Mark’s legs. Owen Murphy also found the back of the net again, spinning back to dodge SU’s Jake Murphy before finishing the 4-0 run. 

Jake Murphy answered back in the final two minutes of the half, left unguarded from 15 yards out on the right side. He cradled the ball, took a few steps and comfortably whipped it into the back of the net. Jake Murphy capped off a 2-0 run for Syracuse, which again Maryland matched at ease in the final minute of the second quarter. 

Wierman won against Richiusa again to start the second half, but the Orange immediately put pressure on the Terrapins on the ride. They forced Ajax Zappitello to throw the ball onto the turf, which Caden Kol easily picked up to send the ball the other way. 

Michael Leo got the ball on the right side, charging toward the cage as a second defender came to help on him. He had enough space to launch a sidearm shot, which he did, locating the top right corner of the net. 

Owen Murphy went down the left side two minutes later, but Kirst slapped the ball out of his stick and kicked it to himself. Spallina shot but Dolan denied him, and Kirst took control of the ball as the offense reset. On the left side with his left hand, Kirst rocketed the ball from 10 yards out into the right side of the net to cut Maryland’s lead down to 9-7.

The Terrapins went onto another 3-0 run. Kelly scored twice during that span. He was left wide open near the crease for both goals. He found success from opposite sides, easily lofting the ball into the back of the net while the Orange’s defense could only try to check him from behind. 

The Terrapins repeatedly face-guarded Jackson Birtwistle throughout the game, but he finally broke through in the third quarter. Dante Trader Jr. threw his body in Birtwistle as he curled from behind the net onto the left side. 

Birtwistle brought his stick down right before taking the hit, rolling the ball into the bottom right corner of the net. Spallina then scored on his trick shot, but Long’s ensuing goal started Maryland’s third 3-0 run to secure its win.

Published on February 18, 2023 at 3:24 pm

Contact Anish: [email protected] | @anish_vasu