Syracuse Dominates Holy Cross For First 3-0 Start Since 2020

The Orange men's lacrosse team is off to a strong start in 2023.

After a short rest, Syracuse continued their defensive dominance against Holy Cross, defeating the Crusaders 15-6. The Orange have still not lost to Holy Cross, winning three of three games all time against the Massachusetts school. With the win, Syracuse improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 2020 season that was subsequently cancelled due to Covid-19. 

The offense was again very spread out and moved the ball efficiently. Joey Spallina had another five-goal performance to lead the Syracuse offense, along with Finn Thomson scoring four to have his first multi-goal game of the 2023 season. Other scores came from Michael Leo, Jackson Birtwistle, and Alex Simmons with three assists.

“Coach gave us one word to work on today, and that was being selfless,” Thomson said. “We buried the ball better than we have in the past couple games.”

The defensive unit really shined for the Orange today, securing the third straight game holding the opposition to single digit scoring. Will Mark recorded 9 saves in the victory, his lowest save total this season.

“Just visualizing shots and clears is a big aspect,” said Mark on facing fewer shots this game than others. “Being a tall guy, staying stretched and staying loose worked for me.”

No team facing the orange has yet scored more than seven goals, mostly due to the high amount of caused turnovers and saves per shot. Syracuse caused 10 of the Crusader’s total 23 turnovers, and Will Mark only needed to record 9 saves on 3 goals allowed. Defensive stalwarts Nick Caccamo and Saam Olexo combined for 5 of the 10 caused turnovers, along with Johnny Richiusa securing a team-leading 4 ground balls.

Holy Cross goalkeeper Dawson Friers saved an impressive 19 shots in the loss, a tough effort against an offense that outshot the Crusaders 51-33. Thomas McIntire led the scoring for Holy Cross with a hat trick on nine shots, the only Crusader with multiple scores.

Holy Cross falls to 0-3 and will visit Mercer on Saturday to finish a four-game road trip to open the season. Syracuse improves to 3-0 and will face their biggest test this season on Saturday, a trip to College Park to face the defending national champion Maryland Terrapins.

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