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Considering how badly Syracuse beat Vermont Friday, the fact the analytics database Lacrosse Reference only gave the Orange a 65.9% chance of victory should elicit some shock. SU and UVM weren’t close in any facet of the game.

Much like the Orange’s 20-7 drubbing of the Catamounts to opened last season, they jumped out to a 10-1 halftime lead before coasting to victory. SU attack Joey Spallina led another offensive outburst. Syracuse’s long poles were physical. Its defensive midfielders were tenacious while UVM moved the ball. And goalie Jimmy McCool barely got scratched.

Overall, Friday was the Orange’s second straight near-perfect contest to start the 2025 campaign. Here are some observations from No. 2 Syracuse’s (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) 13-5 victory over Vermont (0-1, 0-0 America East) in the JMA Wireless Dome:

Good lord, Joey

It’s unfair for a guy as high-caliber as Spallina to play squads from the AEC. Syracuse’s star junior attack was unstoppable from the get-go. He posted two assists and two goals by the 7:07 mark of the first quarter. He ended Friday’s win with a team-high 10 points split by five goals and five assists.

Spallina spent his evening mostly at X, facilitating SU’s offense as he does best. The Catamounts’ long poles, particularly long-stick midfielder Ryker Demarest, struggled to fend off Spallina. He was always one step ahead, taking advantage of open cutters and using his speed to materialize his offense.

Spallina found Finn Thomson for the game’s first goal after creating an open-net chance; Spallina collided behind the net with Vermont goalie Jake Dandrea, who went down with an apparent leg injury. Dandrea didn’t return. Thomson nailed the easy finish.

SU’s star attack ended the first quarter with four points, highlighted by a sweet feed to Trey Deere at the left crease, before picking up right where he left off in quarter two. He tallied another pair of assists — one to Deere, one to freshman Payton Anderson — and got more aggressive with the ball.

At the 5:21 mark of the second quarter, Spallina darted from X and received a screen from Thomson, who made Demarest a non-threat behind the net. Spallina settled at the left flank, reared back and fired a cross-body shot that zoomed past Ryan Daly. That score made it 10-1 SU, all but ending the game.

Man down! Man down!

The Orange’s man-down defense was nothing short of lockdown Friday. While Syracuse scored off Vermont’s lone first-half penalty, SU stalled the Catamounts’ man-up unit despite getting called for six penalties in the opening 30 minutes.

Spurred by the likes of LSM Michael Grace and midfielder Jake Spallina, among others, UVM could barely gasp for air against Syracuse’s menacing man-down unit.

On each of the latter four penalties called on SU in the first half, Vermont combined for one shot on goal. The Orange rotated their penalty-kill set to perfection, constantly staying in front of the ball while suffocating Catamounts’ attack Luke Reiter at X.

Long pole Billy Dwan was called for a holding penalty 17 seconds into the contest. That possession ended before UVM could get a shot on net. Midfielder Charlie Pope received a decent look from the short left side, but McCool stepped in front of it, and Pope flew his shot wide right.

Syracuse was whistled for three penalties on one play late in the first quarter. The Orange faced two minutes of man-down time, extending into the early second quarter. But they stopped the Catamounts in their tracks. Vermont never got a shot off, with its last-ditch effort ending in a turnover by midfielder Tristan Whitaker.

Overall, the Orange’s man-down unit killed off 5-of-6 player advantage chances from the Catamounts, who broke through with an early fourth-quarter man-up goal.

Orange show off their bag of tricks

Syracuse reached deep into its stash of highlight-reel moves Friday night. Even from the start, the Orange toyed with the Catamounts.

SU was on the man-up midway through the first quarter when offensive coordinator Pat March called for an interesting set. The Orange’s attack and midfield got into a circle around the net, passing around the yard in a clockwise motion. The ball was in Spallina’s hands just behind GLE when Owen Hiltz cut inside the circle. Vermont’s defense didn’t react. Spallina easily fed Hiltz for the score, which increased Syracuse’s lead to 4-0.

The next goal was the highlight of the night. Thomson received a pass from Hiltz in the middle of SU’s offensive zone and began running to the left, tracking away from the net. Without any forward momentum, Thomson reached his stick down low and flicked the ball in between his legs while on the move. Somehow, Thomson’s shot trickled past Daly.

At the 10-minute mark of the second quarter, Spallina, with his feet set, dished a behind-the-back feed to Anderson, who charged downhill before cradling the ball. A smooth finish from the 6-foot-3 freshman put Syracuse up 9-1.

Hiltz displayed an interesting finish early in the third quarter, capping SU’s top plays of the night. After a Thomson shot was stalled by Daly, the ball bounced around in front of the net. First to the loose ball was Hiltz, who slapped it with the back of his stick for a creative rebound goal.

Flag on the play

If Syracuse used Friday’s blowout to test its luck with what penalties it could get away with, it would have succeeded. Sort of. Early in the game, SU found where the line was drawn.

The Orange had five penalties in the first quarter alone. Yes, their aforementioned man-down defense played feral against the Catamounts. But Syracuse was careless nonetheless.

That was best exemplified by the end of the first quarter. The Orange were called for three penalties on one play, including a 30-second offsides on Michael Leo, a one-minute cross-check and a 30-second misconduct violation on Spallina. Spallina jawed at a ref after the whistle blew.

SU ended the first half with six penalties, which isn’t a recipe for success. If the Orange weren’t playing an average AEC team, that lack of discipline could’ve hurt. It did affect Syracuse a little in the fourth quarter, as a cross-check penalty on Ryder Ochoa led to UVM’s Whitaker cashing in on the ensuing man-up chance.

The Orange finished Friday’s game with eight penalties, while the Catamounts had two.

Shooting blanks

McCool barely had to move against the Catamounts in the first half. They were painfully inaccurate.

Vermont took 10 shots in the first 30 minutes, and only four went on target. It ended Friday’s game with a 60.7% shot-on-goal percentage. McCool finished with 11 saves on 16 opportunities, though most were easy stops. Goalies don’t need to make excuses when their opponents give them little to offer.

The Catamounts’ attacks looked non-competitive against SU’s long poles’ tight defense for most of the contest. While they converted on a few chances late, they still pounded 11 shots into McCool’s direct line and totally missed on a litany of open chances.

Halfway into the second quarter, Reiter broke free in front of the net. Even with a pocket of twine ready for his taking over McCool’s left shoulder, Reiter misfired his shot as it sailed wide right.

Late in the third quarter, Vermont midfielder Zach Davis whittled his way through Syracuse’s defense and had a point-blank opportunity on McCool. But he fell to the ground, and his shot was deflected.

Published on February 7, 2025 at 8:20 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews