Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Orange unleash onslaught in season-opening 24-5 win over Jacksonville

‘Cuse came out on fire and never relented as they torched JU to open the season the right way.

The Syracuse Orange got their season of heightened expectations started in the best way possible on Saturday afternoon in the JMA Dome.

Gary Gait’s boys jumped all over this game from the outset, scoring the first 10 goals en route to a 24-5 smashing of the Jacksonville Dolphins in a rather rude welcome home for head coach John Galloway.

From just about every vantage point, this was a dominating effort to start the season from ‘Cuse. They outshot JU, 58-29. They won the ground ball battle, 42-23. They won face-offs, 20-13. They forced 21 Jacksonville turnovers, while only losing it nine times themselves. Eight different players scored at least two goals, and nine scored at least two points.

They jumped out to a 10-0 lead by the middle of the second quarter, and it was more than 25 minutes into the game before the Dolphins got on the board. And the Orange hadn’t even reached their best stretch yet, as an 11-2 halftime advantage gave way to their second 10-0 run of the game in the third quarter (actually 11-0 but started in the second) that put them up 21-2 after three. It was all backups in a 3-3 fourth quarter to see the game out.

Luke Rhoa opened the scoring just under two minutes into the game with the earliest possible candidate for goal of the year. Dodging right now main street, Rhoa got pushed down to his left. As his knee hit the ground and he lunged down to his side, he switched to his left hand and threw the ball in one-handed for a spectacular play that was a sign of things to come on the day for the offense.

Goals from Owen Hiltz and Michael Leo followed a few minutes later as they looked to attack off the dodge in the early going. Sophomore Wyatt Hottle proved his worth with a left-handed rip across cage to make it 4-0 before Rhoa and Hiltz found the net a second time each to make it 6-0 after one. Trey Deere got his first of the year to open the second off a feed from Joey Spallina as the summer indoor league teammates got their connection going.

Michael Leo followed with three straight goals to push that lead out to 10-0, the middle of which was a spectacular garbage-style, loose ball pick up in which he ended up shooting through a crowd of roughly five bodies to find the back of the net. After back-to-back Jacksonville tallies, Spallina got his first goal of the season off a feed from Johnny Mullen six seconds after the face-off, making it 11-2 at the half.

The 10-goal third quarter was the true onslaught for the Orange, as they took their already-commanding nine-goal lead and turned it into a monsoon effect and a 19-goal lead after three. The third quarter saw Jackson Birtwistle, Sammy English, Finn Thomson and Payton Anderson all get their first goals of the season. For the freshman Anderson, it was, of course, the first of his career.

English’s first goal of the year in the third kind of typified the day for both teams, as a successful Jacksonville trail check flew right into Sammy’s stick, which he promptly deposited for the goal.

In the fourth quarter, former FOGO Gavin Gibbs scored the first goal of his career, as did freshman Owen O’Farrell. Freshman long-pole Vincent Bolognino got the first point of his career with an assist to Gibbs in transition. Tyler McCarthy recorded two assists as a member of the second-midfield, the first of his career.

It was a spectacular day all-around for the offense, as they almost reached the quarter-century mark while shooting 41 percent (24-of-58) for the game. They dished out 13 assists, as well, and only turned it over nine times in the first game of the year.

They scored in just about every way. Their movement was constant and confounding, their passing was clean and crisp, their dodging was pointed and effective, and they shot well while taking care of the ball. They inverted smartly and took advantage of short-stick matchups. They were simply too much, way too much, for the Jacksonville defense.

It was a similar story on the other end of the field, as the ‘Cuse defense had themselves a day in overwhelming and shutting down the Dolphins’ offense. All day long, Orange defenders won their individual matchups and cut off shooting angles, holding Jacksonville to a paltry 29 shots and a downright barren 13 shots on goal.

At the same time, they forced 21 turnovers. Eight different players were credited with a caused turnover, led by Riley Figueiras with two. They made life relatively comfortable for Jimmy McCool in his first career start, making six saves.

Johnny Mullen had somewhat of a choppy start to the day on draws, but he went 14-of-22 (.636) with 11 ground balls and the team went 20-of-33 (.606) for an ultimately solid day on restarts.

It was an incredibly well-balanced day for the offense, with nine players scoring between five and two points. Even more than that, it was well distributed across the landscape. The attack led the day with 12 points, followed closely by the first midfield with 10 points and the second midfield with eight points. The third midfield got in on the action, too, with three points.

Michael Leo (4G, 1A) led the charge with four goals, and he and Joey Spallina (3G, 2A) tied for the lead with five points each. Owen Hiltz (2G, 2A) and Trey Deere (2G, 2A) each added four points. Luke Rhoa (3G) had a hat trick and Finn Thomson (2G, 1A) chipped in three points. Jackson Birtwistle (2G), Sammy English (2G) and Tyler McCarthy (2A) rounded out the multiple-point scorers. 16 players scored a point in total.

The Orange will look to keep their torrid pace going next Friday, February 7 when they host the Vermont Catamounts for some Friday night action at 6 PM on ACC Network Extra.