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TOWSON, Md. — It all came crashing down in the third quarter.

Hopes of Syracuse men’s lacrosse returning to the Final Four for the first time since 2013 were dashed upon a scintillating 4-0 Denver run to begin the second half. The Orange trailed just 4-3 at halftime, leaving much to be desired from their attack.

Yet as the Pioneers figured out their defense and the attack continued to struggle, SU found itself down by as much as five in its second-most lopsided deficit of the season. Denver steered the Orange away from playing their brand of lacrosse — one they couldn’t harness until it was too late — and swiftly ended their resurgent campaign.

Here are some observations from No. 4 seed Syracuse’s (12-6, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) 10-8 season-ending loss to No. 5 seed Denver (13-3, 5-0 Big East) in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals:

Bueller? Bueller?

Syracuse’s attack has willed itself to the upper echelon of college lacrosse once again. The dazzling trio of Joey Spallina, Owen Hiltz and Christian Mulé, while being bolstered by offensive-minded midfielders like Finn Thomson and Michael Leo has made the Orange a force to be reckoned with on offense.

That wasn’t close to the case Sunday afternoon in Johnny Unitas Stadium.

Spallina, Hiltz and Mulé were nowhere to be found. The three starting attacks didn’t register a single shot on goal in the first half. Denver played a clamping man-to-man defense, leaving SU with little room to operate in the attacking zone and unable to spread the ball like it typically does. Spallina wasn’t facilitating from X, and cutters weren’t freeing up either.

The lone bright spots were Leo and Sam English, who combined for seven points, with the former unleashing for a hat trick. But it was the missed — and lack of — opportunities from SU’s starting attacking group that doomed it in the end.

Spallina and Mulé were held pointless. Hiltz had just two. A shot from Spallina with just over 2:00 remaining that clanged off the crossbar, one that could have made it a one-goal game, encapsulated the struggles for Syracuse’s stars.

Will Mark stays solid

It was imperative for Mark to get off to a strong start Sunday. His previous two games couldn’t have begun much worse.

First, an early benching in the ACC Tournament semifinals versus Duke. Then, an 0-for-6 first-quarter on save opportunities against Towson in the NCAA Tournament first round. While he eventually gained a rhythm versus the Tigers, both instances put Syracuse behind the pale early — something it couldn’t afford to repeat in its matchup with Denver.

This time, Mark was sharper out of the gate. He wasn’t reacting late like he had been in his last two outings and slid well adjusting to the Pioneers’ ball movement. But he could only muster two first-quarter saves facing five shots on target.

Denver’s Mic Kelly fired the first shot on target, finding space in the middle of a zone defense look from SU. Mark made contact with the ball, nudging it with his stick, yet it trickled past him and he couldn’t corral the shot as the Pioneers led 1-0.

Mark stalled a pair of easy bouncing shots that Denver took for his lone two saves of the opening quarter. He gained extra relief as well, due to Syracuse locking down its one-on-one matchups and forcing errant shot attempts for the most part. A couple of lapses resulted in Mark facing peril, but he did not stop either one, registering a 40% first-quarter save rate.

In the second quarter, Mark settled in. A string of three saves in a row, which included a scorching rip from Stephen Avery that he grasped in his stick and a kick save on Cody Malawsky, showed Mark had rid himself of past early struggles.

The fifth-year goalie finished the first half with a 63.6% save percentage and seven stops to keep Denver at bay early, though there wasn’t much Mark could do to stop the Pioneers’ second-half onslaught.

Heavyweight faceoff battle

Syracuse’s faceoff unit has undergone a full-scale makeover from 2023 to 2024. Last year’s Johnny Richiusa-Jack Fine tandem was replaced with the Mason Kohn-John Mullen duo, and the results have been convincing.

Both Kohn and Mullen entered Sunday flirting around a 60% faceoff win rate, with Kohn taking the majority of attempts. Even though Mullen stood out in the first round against Towson, garnering 18-of-23 faceoffs, Gait signaled heading into the quarterfinals that he’d return SU to its typical faceoff rotation as Kohn and Mullen were pitted versus Denver’s Alec Stathakis.

Stathakis, a graduate student, posed a major threat against Syracuse’s duo. He entered the contest with the fourth-most faceoff victories in the country (218) and the eighth-best winning percentage (60.6%). Kohn and Mullen answered the call, holding their ground and combining for Syracuse to beat Denver at the faceoff X 6-3 in the first half.

But, the Orange didn’t consistently take advantage.

At one point in the first half, the Orange won six straight faceoffs over Stathakis. But it resulted in very little. On the first three, SU instantly turned the ball over in the attacking zone, with the lowlight being a pass Mullen floated over Spallina’s head after beating Stathakis on the initial clamp.

Syracuse’s offensive inactivity came back to bite it in the second half. Kohn and Mullen lost each of the first three third-quarter faceoffs. They all resulted in Denver goals.

Overall, Syracuse lost the faceoff battle 12-10 against Stathakis. Mullen registered seven faceoff victories compared to Kohn’s three.

SU’s defensive adjustments

The Orange broke out into a zone defense to start the game, a look they typically have avoided throughout the 2024 season.

Under new defensive coordinator John Odierna, they’ve mostly sported a man-to-man set anchored by long poles Billy Dwan and Riley Figueiras. But Syracuse had floundered on the back end as of late, allowing 15 or more goals in four of its previous five games. Odierna’s adjustment paid dividends.

Throughout the first quarter, SU’s defenders and short stick midfielders rotated well in the zone and forced a litany of off-balance shots by the Pioneers. Denver’s offense revolves around ball movement to enact a diverse pool of scorers, though Syracuse’s defensive look thwarted that.

A goal from the Pioneers’ Joshua Carlson to end the first quarter, where he bolted past Jake Stevens and ran down the alley to slot a shot past Mark, proved to be the end to SU’s zone defense look. It switched into man-to-man in the second quarter.

Odierna’s zone adjustment helped his group ease into the flow of the game. Once they switched into a man-to-man set, the Orange gave up just one goal in the second quarter. It kept the team in the game for the first half, though Denver’s offense exploded for six goals in the third quarter to quell SU’s defensive momentum.

Published on May 19, 2024 at 2:42 pm

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