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Year four of the Gary Gait era seemed a tad bleak through five games. Two straight mid-February defeats for Syracuse — one to Maryland and a shocking upset loss to Harvard — put the Orange’s NCAA Tournament chances on the brink early.

But they emphatically responded to commence March. After dropping outside Inside Lacrosse’s top-10 rankings, SU pummelled Utah 15-5 in Salt Lake City before surging late to down rival Johns Hopkins 13-10. The consecutive wins thrust the Orange back inside the top 10.

Syracuse has received plenty of strong individual play to help it get out to a 5-2 start. It has a player within the top-five nationally in points and the country’s leader in faceoff victories. Halfway through SU’s season, we’ve highlighted our selections for the Orange’s best performers thus far and picked who has more to prove going forward.

Here are our midseason awards for No. 9 Syracuse men’s lacrosse (5-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast):

Most Valuable Player

Cooper Andrews: Sam English

While Joey Spallina deserves his flowers, Sam English is Syracuse’s unsung hero. His stats aren’t eye-popping: seven goals, four assists and four caused turnovers. Yet, there’s not a single player on SU who has more impact on the field than English. He’s a first-line midfielder. He’s a menace on the wings — totaling 16 ground-ball pickups. He’s tenacious on the man-down unit. And clears often run through him. Find me someone else who’s as involved as English. There’s a reason he’s now a Tewaaraton nominee.

Zak Wolf: Owen Hiltz

Spallina may be SU’s most proficient attack, but Owen Hiltz’s goal-scoring has proved more valuable so far. He’s scored 19 goals in seven games, meaning he’s nearly averaging a hat trick per game. Hiltz could have even more goals, but hit the post multiple times against Johns Hopkins. Hiltz isn’t just a pure goal scorer. His wild cross-field skip passes are risky, though they power Syracuse’s offense. On the flip side, when Hiltz is left open, he makes teams pay.

Nicholas Alumkal: John Mullen

Mullen has been nothing short of exceptional in his sophomore season and first as Syracuse’s starting faceoff man. The numbers speak for themselves: the most faceoff wins (104) in Division I and fifth-highest winning percentage (.650). He did all he could against Harvard — winning 28-of-31 faceoffs — but the Orange still fell. He’s held his own against top-tier opposition and will face more tests ahead. Two years ago, SU had the ninth-worst faceoff percentage in D-I, costing it an NCAA Tournament bid. Now, propelled by Mullen, it ranks seventh.

Top Newcomer

Cooper Andrews: Payton Anderson

He hasn’t played much, but Payton Anderson has made a noticeable imprint as a freshman. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound attacker/midfielder elicited excitement preseason with his five-star prospect status. Because of Anderson’s size and speed, I even compared him to former Duke standout Brennan O’Neill. He’s not close to a world-beater yet, scoring three goals in four appearances. Still, Anderson has dazzled a few times this season, like his lefty wraparound finish in his debut against Jacksonville and his airborne goal versus Utah.

Zak Wolf: Jimmy McCool

I’m going to bend the rules a bit here. Technically, McCool isn’t a newcomer as a redshirt sophomore. Though his lone outing came when Will Mark was benched in last year’s ACC semifinals against Duke. In his first season as a starter, McCool’s been solid. He hit a low point, getting benched against Harvard, allowing 10 goals to just five saves. Since then, McCool’s rattled off 23 stops on 69 shots faced. His solid play in net recently has steadied SU.

Nicholas Alumkal: Michael Grace

After hitting the portal hard last season, Grace was SU’s highest-profile transfer in a quieter offseason. A graduate student with two Division III national titles at RIT, he was seen as a direct replacement for Saam Olexo. Preseason, Jake Coon, Grace’s former coach at RIT, said he was unsure how big a role Grace would play at SU. But Grace was immediately inserted into the starting lineup, contributing 17 ground balls — second on the team behind Mullen. His 6-foot-5 frame and fluid movement make him disruptive on defense.

Best Breakout Performance

Cooper Andrews: John Mullen

My fellow scribe Nicholas is awfully bold for calling Mullen the MVP. But, I get it. Mullen’s been absurd. Unlike some faceoff men who wilt away as the game goes on, Mullen gets stronger and faster with each rep. Even in SU’s victory over Johns Hopkins, when Mullen started 0-for-4 from the X, he finished 13-of-23 against top faceoff specialist Logan Callahan and won 6-of-7 faceoffs in the third quarter alone, spurring the Orange’s win.

Zak Wolf: Riley Figueiras

Syracuse’s defense has improved this season, and Riley Figueiras has played a big part. Figueiras had an important role last year, leading SU with 28 caused turnovers, but his improvement this season is noticeable. He’s on pace to lead Syracuse again with 13 caused turnovers while picking up 13 ground balls. Billy Dwan gets the praise for his lockdown defense and highlight-reel pole goals, but Figueiras remains in that same category and deserves praise for his role, too.

Nicholas Alumkal: Luke Rhoa

Rhoa didn’t start a game in his first two seasons at Syracuse but has become a vital part of the Orange’s midfield this campaign. He’s started six of their seven games and excelled as a downhill dodger — a major preseason question mark. He’s already contributed 13 goals, more than half his 20-goal tally last season. Rhoa’s standout performance was a four-goal display versus Towson, where he showcased his shooting precision and power with both hands. He was an underrated feature of Gait’s loaded 2022 recruiting class and is now showing his ability.

Most Left to Prove

Cooper Andrews: Gary Gait

Let’s call it like it is: this is the best roster Gait’s had as Syracuse’s men’s lacrosse head coach. As opposed to his Hall of Fame playing career, Gait’s coaching legacy revolves around his programs’ inability to win championships. He went to eight Final Fours coaching SU’s women’s team from 2008 to 2021. He won zero NCAA titles. With 2025’s loaded group, the pressure is on Gait to steer the Orange to a National Championship and conquer his past coaching demons.

Zak Wolf: Joey Spallina

I don’t mean to be unfair here, but there’s a different expectation for anyone who wears No. 22 at Syracuse. Spallina is effective at what he does — ranking eighth in the country with 5.29 points per game — acting as the quarterback of SU’s offense. Though at certain points, elite close defenders can completely take Spallina out of the game. There’s no question, Spallina is the most talented player on SU’s roster, but sometimes he needs to be an alpha. SU’s success for the remainder of the regular season and a possible postseason run hinges on Spallina.

Nicholas Alumkal: Trey Deere

With Gait saying Finn Thomson will be “out for a while,” the Orange need others to step up. Deere, who started for Thomson on Sunday, is a key candidate. The attack saw limited play as a freshman but now has a chance for more minutes. He’s demonstrated a strong connection with Spallina from playing box lacrosse over the summer, and has done the dirty work, including picking up five ground balls versus the Blue Jays Sunday. But the question is: can he become a consistent scoring threat?

Published on March 13, 2025 at 12:03 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22