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Joey Spallina crashed the net into traffic. Before he could get a shot off from right in front of the crease, he was cross checked by Hofstra, drawing another man-up opportunity for Syracuse. Though they already held a 10-5 lead in the third quarter, the Orange could use the chance to capitalize on the Pride’s mistake and extend its lead midway through the third quarter. Owen Hiltz collected a pass from the left side of X shortly after the break and readied himself for an opening.

It came when Hofstra left Spallina, who’d already scored two goals, wide open on the right side of the crease. Hiltz quickly flipped the ball up to Spallina, too fast for senior goalie Mac Gates to adjust and cover the left side of his net. Spallina simply threw in the wide open goal, the first successful man-up opportunity for the Orange, extending their lead to six goals.

Following a difficult stretch, highlighted by poor play at the faceoff X and on ground balls, the Orange had a chance to return to .500 and for the young team to right the wrongs of the last four games as they traveled to Hofstra. Syracuse erased an early 3-0 deficit with a 10-1 run over the next two quarters to cement a lead it hasn’t enjoyed since the win over Holy Cross. Led by Spallina, Syracuse (4-4, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) utilized eight different goal scorers in the 16-8 win over Hofstra (2-5).

When Syracuse has been granted opportunities by opponents — turnovers, penalties, faceoff losses — it hasn’t turned the page and built a lead. It’s sputtered out for a reason, be it inexperience, inaccuracy or the inability to capitalize. It spun its wheels and let teams stay within striking distance until they’re able to overcome the Orange and pull off a comeback win, rutting itself into a four-game losing streak. Frustration, staved off by the understanding from head coach Gary Gait that the team is full of young players, began to mount after an 11-9 loss to Johns Hopkins. 

The million dollar question, he said, was how they were going to be able to one day close out these games, hold a lead and come away with ranked wins, especially against one of the hardest schedules in the country. Later in the season, he felt they were going to be able to come out with more wins than “what ifs.” Though it wasn’t a ranked opponent or one that had similar scoring threats to the ranked teams the Orange have lost to, Hofstra became the first team they closed out and stave off.

Syracuse’s defense needed a get-right game, one that demonstrated its ability to stop teams from going on runs like Johns Hopkins did in the final six minutes of its win over the Orange. Maryland put up three straight goals in the last quarter to down Syracuse, and the Blue Jays did that in six minutes, overcoming a one-goal deficit to complete the comeback win. Duke couldn’t be held off by the Orange in overtime. 

The Pride, in less than six minutes, jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, helped along by 10 shots on goal and 2-of-3 faceoffs won. They entered the evening averaging just 11 goals per game, a visible break in the Orange’s schedule from the offensive powerhouses that they’d faced over the last four games. The third goal came after Hofstra’s offense lulled Syracuse to sleep deep into the shot clock. Much like Johns Hopkins, the Pride took their time, adjusting to the Orange’s slides and double teams at the top of the offensive formation. 

Then, John Madsen, the Pride’s leading goal scorer, collected a pass from the X from about 15 yards away from net. With the shot clock expiring, he flung in a high shot past Will Mark’s right shoulder to give the Pride a 3-0 lead. It looked as though the Orange were going to have to struggle through another game full of goals and deficits to overcome. But after that, the Orange began to capitalize on man-up opportunities.

The Orange rattled off seven of the next eight goals in the game, first utilizing a man-up opportunity to free up Jackson Birtwistle at the top of the formation for a wide open shot off a pass from Owen Hiltz. Then, Hiltz was left wide open again on the left wing, and after a dodge-cross opened up Finn Thomson for the pass, he flipped it over to Hiltz, who rifled in an underhanded shot to cut the lead to 3-2. A final goal from Birtwistle tied the game at three apiece. Spallina waited for Cole Kirst to draw Birtwistle’s man in toward the crease, leaving the attack wide open on the right wing for an easy shot.

Gait spoke before the Orange’s loss to Johns Hopkins about wanting to change up their faceoff strategy and turn 50-50 balls into ground balls. Tied at four apiece with just three seconds remaining after an SU goal tied it at 4-4, Johnny Richiusa won the faceoff by kicking the ball out to Saam Olexo, who immediately passed it back to Richiusa on the left side of the faceoff circle. 

But Richiusa kicked it right back to Olexo, who was wide open at the center of the field. Olexo, with one second left on the clock, whipped in a one-hop shot toward the net, and Gates, who entered with just a 49.6% save percentage, couldn’t adjust. He watched it fly into net as time expired, giving the Orange a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Syracuse’s offense needed another game that showed its young stars that finishing shots and closing out opportunities granted by mistakes from the other team would lead to a win. It hasn’t been doing many of the things Gait said it needed to do in order to close out the last four games, rather playing more toward its inexperience than above its skill set. But right out of the halftime break, they rattled off two straight goals, cracking open a 9-4 lead just two minutes into the third quarter. 

Thomson quickly popped off a sidearm pass across the middle toward Spallina, who was standing — lightly guarded — to the left side of the crease. Spallina easily turned the pass around and into the back of the net for his first goal of the evening. Then, after Hofstra once again failed to clear the ball, Griffin Cook picked up a ground ball and sprinted to the left side of the Syracuse offensive formation. He stutter-stepped around his man at the top and, moving to his left, whipped over a goal from 15 yards out. 

While the Orange collected goals from eight different scorers, they held Hofstra scoreless for 20 minutes until a Chase Patterson faceoff win led 10 seconds later to Colton Rudd’s goal from the left side. They built a comfortable lead, one that allowed them to be more creative in front of the net and welcome mistakes on defense — the mistakes that once led to blown leads, now relegated to silent, garbage-time goals from Hofstra.

Published on March 14, 2023 at 9:18 pm

Contact Anthony: [email protected] | @anthonyalandt