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Syracuse men’s lacrosse remained at No. 11 in the latest Inside Lacrosse Top 20 Poll, released Monday. Despite its 15-5 road win over Utah, SU didn’t climb back into the top 10.
The Orange broke a two-game losing streak in Salt Lake City, bouncing back from defeats to then-No. 15 Harvard and then-No. 6 Maryland. It was a must-win game for SU, which has little room for error, considering its jam-packed schedule for the rest of the season.
Syracuse avoided a third-straight defeat in emphatic fashion. It jumped out to an 11-1 lead at halftime, boosted by a shutdown defensive performance, forcing 19 total turnovers. The Orange never let Utah’s fast-paced offense get going while reigning Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year Ryan Stines was held scoreless.
“I thought they played great,” SU head coach Gary Gait said of his defense. “The D was awesome, especially in that first half to give up one goal only. Exceptional.”
On the other end, Syracuse spread the ball around, with 11 different goal scorers. Finn Thomson, Owen Hiltz and Joey Spallina each totaled three points, but nobody had more. In all of SU’s games this season, it has jumped on opponents early. Saturday followed that formula. The Orange scored seven first-quarter goals and sat comfortably after adding four more in the second.
SU did slow down in the second half, going scoreless in the third quarter. But it was never threatened, with its lead only getting cut to eight. With Utah implementing a 10-man ride in the final minutes, Michael Grace and Billy Dwan each scored goals from their own half to cap the win.
“I think we were just trying to hold each other accountable. I don’t know if there’s anything that really changed,” Gait said. “They just focused on cutting out the noise from the media and everybody else and just focusing on ourselves. So I think that really helped.”
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