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While the No. 22 jersey still hung on the wall, Joey Spallina achieved as much as possible on Long Island. He was Long Island Player of the Year twice and holds the region’s career points record with 501 points and won the 2021 Long Island Championship at Mount Sinai High School.

With the No. 22 now on his back, Spallina returned back to the island. His skills hadn’t wavered.

Spallina finished with a team-high seven points in Syracuse’s (4-4, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) 16-8 win over Hofstra (2-5, 0-0 Colonial Athletic Association). The mark tied the career-high he set in the Orange’s last win over Holy Cross which came almost a month ago. His 10 shots were the second-most he’s attempted all season.

But Spallina was held to three points on three shots against Duke. He turned the ball over twice against Maryland with one goal on five shots.

H’s been a mainstay at the X, though he’s an old-school attack who has an innate ability to work from that part of the field, according to head coach Gary Gait. He’s continuously kickstarted the offense from the X, allowing the Orange to rotate through a variety of cutters in front of the crease.

Against John Hopkins, Spallina’s skills translated to goals for other freshmen. He was pushed 10 yards behind the cages against John Hopkins, the entire defense keeping their heads turned in his direction.

With no one focused on Finn Thomson, Spallina lofted the ball to him on the right side of the crease. Thomson flipped his stick behind his back to clinch a 6-5 halftime lead against the Blue Jays.

“They have chances to make plays and they’re making them,” Gait said postgame about the freshmen.

The Pride had no answer for Spallina’s presence at the X as well. They too lost focus on what was happening in front of the cage, letting Thomson roam free in the second half.

Spallina was stationed at the spot with five minutes left in the third quarter, waiting for Syracuse to make movement inside. After a few attacks cycled through, Thomson barreled in untouched, tapping it in to give the Orange a 12-6 lead.

But Hofstra had done a good job of stopping Syracuse’s offense at the start of the night. SU was scoreless for the first 10 minutes with a litany of shots from Owen Hiltz and one from Spallina missing the mark. Jackson Birtwistle opened the scoring for the Orange before Hiltz found the back of the net off a dish from Thomson.

In the final three minutes of the first quarter, Spallina revisited his normal spot. Cole Kirst pulled his defender with him to the crease, which freed up space for Birtwistle to cut inside. He caught the ball from Spallina and fired the ball into the top right corner, tying the game at 3-3.

The Pride answered back for their fourth goal — they wouldn’t score again until six minutes into the third quarter — before Hiltz picked up a ground ball to keep possession alive for SU with 15 seconds left. He located Spallina, who launched the ball from the X to Michael Leo in the middle. Leo stepped down into his attempt, which he ripped into the back of the net.

Spallina’s passing ability was one which he showed even as an eighth grader at Mount Sinai, recording 45 assists and 39 goals while earning all-country and rookie of the year honors. But most of his work went toward his shooting, which he displayed at the start of the second half.

Three minutes into the third quarter, Spallina ventured north of his home base and settled in front of the cage. No Hofstra defender tagged along, leaving him wide open on the left side of the crease. Thomson repaid the favor to Spallina, laying out a timely sidearm pass for an easy tap-in score.

Spallina ran down the middle with the ball six minutes later, but he was pushed to the turf from behind by Blake Cooling. With the Orange a man-up, Hiltz took over Spallina’s position at the X and waited for cutters to filter through.

Spallina crept toward the right side of the crease while Hofstra’s defense and goalie Mac Gates focused on the other end. Again, he lofted the ball into the back of the net left wide open to give Syracuse an 11-5 lead.

Despite having a comfortable lead, the Orange continued to push the pace in the final period. After Will Mark saved a shot from Justin Sykes, they moved fast in transition, stringing together an array of passes that eventually fell into Kirst’s stick. With the Pride’s defense still falling back into place, Kirst immediately passed to Spallina, who ripped it into the back of the net.

Following a penalty on Trevor Natalie, the Orange were awarded a man-up opportunity in the final four minutes. The nation’s best man-up offense maintained the same strategy of moving the ball around, waiting for something to clear up near the crease.

Fittingly, at James M. Shuart Stadium, 50 miles east of his hometown, Spallina was open. SU strung together three passes, which landed in Spallina’s stick, leaving him unmarked on the left side of the crease. He leaned a little bit to his right, brought his stick inches off the turf and scored underhanded.

Published on March 14, 2023 at 10:51 pm

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