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Hofstra took a 3-0 lead in six minutes, dominating at the faceoff X and making Syracuse’s defense look like one which hadn’t just gone head-to-head with some of the best offenses in the country. That was until Jackson Birtwistle opened up the Orange’s scoring with five minutes left in the first quarter.

SU went on a 9-1 run after Birtwistle’s goal, comfortably winning for the first time since defeating Holy Cross on Feb. 12. Joey Spallina led all Syracuse players with seven points, followed closely by Owen Hiltz’s three goals and three assists.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (4-4, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) 16-8 win over (2-4, 0-0 Colonial Athletic Association):

Tic tac toe

The main issue for Syracuse this season with a young, inexperienced offense has been the quality of its attempts. But against Hofstra it finally had the opportunity to set up its plays and actually get uncontested looks, leading to a 5-1 run to end the first quarter.

With a man-up opportunity, the Orange strung together a multitude of passes from 15 yards out. Hiltz took possession on the right side, lofting it to a wide open Birtwistle in the middle of the field. He whipped it, sidearm, into the back of the net for Syracuse’s first goal of the night. Finn Thomson dished it to Hiltz on SU’s ensuing possession, and Hiltz scored from where he made the earlier pass to Birtwistle.

In the second half, the Orange continued to put together long possessions by working the ball around the field. After Hiltz’s shot was blocked with nine minutes left in the third quarter, he regained possession and passed to Leo behind the cage. Leo passed to Birtwistle, who couldn’t find any opening on the left side and passed back to Michael Leo. Leo quickly tossed it back to Hiltz, who easily scored with an underhanded rip from the right side of the goal.

Hofstra coughing hazard

The Orange are the third-worst team nationally in turnovers, giving up the ball an average of 12.67 times a game this season. Against Duke and John Hokpins, late turnovers took the game away from them. Luckily, the Pride were responsible for coughing up the ball on Tuesday.

The Pride turned the ball over 10 times in the first half, six times in the opening period. After Spallina misfired midway through the first quarter, he quickly chased down Corey Kale and slapped the ball out of his stick. That was one of five failed clearances by Hofstra in the first half.

At the start of the second half, Hofstra continued to let go of possession. Gerard Kane lost control of the ball after getting into Syracuse’s zone, allowing Caden Kol to spark Syracuse’s offense.

Following a successful clear, Griffin Cook sprinted with the ball horizontally from the left side, rocketing it from 15 yards out once he reached the middle. Hofstra goalie Mac Gates fell to the turf but the ball sailed right above his stick to give SU a 9-4 lead.

From the X

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

In the final three minutes of the first quarter, Cole Kirst pulled his defender with him to the crease while Spallina held the ball at X. That freed up space for Birtwistle, who 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 at his usual spot, who launched the ball to Leo in the middle of the field. Leo stepped down into his attempt, which he ripped into the back of the net.

Hofstra had no answers for the Orange’s strategy from the X throughout the rest of the night, giving up more easy chances for SU. Spallina 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 barrelled in untouched, tapping it in to give the Orange a 12-6 lead.

Two is greater than one

The Pride have the 14th-best faceoff percentage nationally, winning 58.4% of faceoffs. SU fixed some of its faceoff blunders by moving Jack Fine ahead of Johnny Richiusa but Richiusa started again versus Hofstra. He lost the opening two faceoffs, leading to two straight goals for the Pride.

Fine made an appearance following the Pride’s third faceoff win, winning the first matchup off a faceoff violation before dropping the next two. His first actual win came with seconds left in the first quarter. Fine won the initial clamp and immediately flipped the ball to Saam Olexo, who beat the buzzer with a midfield strike that flew past Gates.

Fine and Richiusa split their attempts for the rest of the night, though neither could do much against Chase Patterson. Patterson came up with an easy win midway through the third quarter, kickstarting Hofstra’s offense. Colton Rudd scored nine seconds later, ending a near 22-minute scoreless drought.

Patterson won 19-of-28 faceoffs on the night. Hofstra’s offense just couldn’t do anything ahead of him.

Published on March 14, 2023 at 9:46 pm

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