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With a flare of Canadian positivity, Syracuse head coach Gary Gait lauded Jacksonville before the 2025 season opener. He called the Dolphins a highly-athletic offensive group, highlighting their history of upsetting power programs early in seasons and praised goaltender Ryan Della Rocco, 2024’s Atlantic Sun Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

“(Jacksonville’s) goalie is very good, but I think we’re pretty good, too,” Gait said Thursday. “We’re dialed in and I think we’re ready to execute and play our best come Saturday.”

They were certainly dialed in — just as one would expect the nation’s No. 2 team to be out of the gate. The Orange decimated the Dolphins 24-5 in the JMA Wireless Dome, defeating the program helmed by former SU goalie John Galloway. Syracuse unleashed 10 unanswered goals to begin the contest and never turned back. Michael Leo and Joey Spallina each tallied a game-high five points, spurring the Orange’s winning effort.

Here are some observations from No. 2 Syracuse’s (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) season-opening victory over Jacksonville (0-1, 0-0 Atlantic Sun), tied for the Orange’s second-largest blowout of the 21st century.

McCool eases into 1st-career start

Gait murmured through questions about who his starting goaltender would be leading into the season opener. He expressed confidence in his guys — namely upperclassmen Jimmy McCool, Michael Ippoliti and Luke Rolley — though he wouldn’t name a starter. Was it secrecy? Was he truly unsure? It’s too early to tell. But on day one, Gait opted to start McCool.

His job couldn’t have been much easier. McCool barely faced any pressure as Syracuse’s long poles terrorized JU’s attack. The redshirt sophomore mostly just got to stand and watch a juggernaut SU offense repeatedly crush the Dolphins’ back end. Though even when sparingly needed, McCool put together a solid outing.

A couple minutes into the game, Jacksonville faceoff man Drew Rippeon defeated John Mullen and the Dolphins quickly materialized a chance in front of the cage. JU midfielder Ethan Lamond had a point-blank chance, but defender Billy Dwan got a small piece of the ball following his shot. McCool still needed to make a play and he did, ricocheting the shot with his outstretched stick.

McCool made two saves in the first half, allowing a pair of late second-quarter goals from the Dolphins. He settled in once the third period hit, though, making three straight stops as JU desperately tried to claw back in. McCool ended his starting debut with a .750 save percentage and six saves, holding Jacksonville well under double digits.

Elite ball movement

The first lesson to any good offense is displaying good ball movement. SU is appearing to take that up a notch in 2025. The Dolphins looked dazed and confused all afternoon by the Orange’s crisp ball movement, whether their offense was set or running in transition.

Thirteen of Syracuse’s 24 goals were scored off assists. They often came from Spallina, Finn Thomson or Owen Hiltz at X or through impressive feeds in transition. A notable first-half connection was Spallina to sophomore attack Trey Deere, who hauled in a cross-field pass on the move from Spallina and buried a sidearm release.

Look no further than the middle of the third quarter for SU’s best showcase of strong ball movement. With the Orange up 14-2, Thomson held the ball atop their offensive set. Tightly guarded, Thomson ripped a perfect behind-the-head pass downhill for Deere who, in an instant, dished left for a wide-open Spallina.

The attack sliced his arms right-to-left and hit the top-left corner of the cage with his shot, putting Syracuse up 15-2. While downhill dodgers like Leo and Luke Rhoa helped steal the show offensively, SU’s ball movement from attacks got progressively better in its win over JU.

Faceoff fun

The NCAA released rule changes following the 2024 season that impacted faceoffs. Starting this year, if a player commits a faceoff violation, they have to sit out the next faceoff. The new rule wouldn’t have been too much of an issue for SU last season, considering its elite “Face Off Get Off” tandem of Mason Kohn and Mullen. This year, it’s Mullen’s show. But depth is a necessity.

Still, the Orange didn’t need it Saturday. Mullen took the brunt of faceoffs, winning 14-of-22 while primarily matched up against Rippeon. It wasn’t the cleanest day for Mullen. He had no faceoff violations in the first half but won 8-of-14 battles. Johnny Richiusa, SU’s former starter in 2023, took a first-half faceoff but lost to Rippeon.

The Dolphins had plenty of chances to get back in the game with a middling first-half performance for the Orange at the faceoff X. It didn’t matter, though. McCool remained a brick wall when called upon and Jacksonville’s attack couldn’t find any consistency.

By the time Mullen made his first notable play, it was essentially garbage time already. He beat Rippeon on a faceoff following a JU goal from Daylin-John Hill to shrink Syracuse’s lead to 10-2. Mullen streaked downhill and hit a cutting Spallina on the left side. Spallina took a few steps and buried the ensuing shot past Della Rocco, giving Mullen his first point of the year.

Mullen put together an improved second half, winning 6-of-8 faceoffs, and Richiusa received some more playing time, ending his day 3-of-6 at the X.

Long-pole lockdown

Syracuse’s class of 2022 recruiting haul is highlighted by its attackmen, and for good reason. But its junior long poles have the potential to be just as dominant. Led by Riley Figueiras, the Orange’s back end silenced the Dolphins’ offense all day long. Passing windows were nonexistent for Jacksonville, and SU wouldn’t let its top attack, Jackson Intrieri, find any open space.

After last season featured Dwan as the main stopper for stud attacks, Saturday was Figueiras’ turn to be the man. That was apparent from the start, when Figueiras slapped the ball out of Intrieri’s stick on a wraparound attempt a few minutes into the first quarter. Any dodge from X that Intrieri tried was met with blanket coverage from Figueiras, completely throwing the Dolphins’ offense out of whack.

Late in the first quarter, Jacksonville responded to two consecutive Syracuse goals with faceoff wins by Rippeon. The Dolphins generated a set offense both times downfield, yet they couldn’t even register a shot on either possession. Dwan, Figueiras and RIT transfer Michael Grace pummeled every opposing assignment they faced, using their physicality to steer JU’s attacks off-balance. JU ended the first quarter with two straight shot-clock violations.

The second half was much of the same story for the Figueiras and Dwan-led defense: get a stop, rinse, repeat.

Hello, Payton

Five-star class of 2024 attack/midfield recruit Payton Anderson made his SU debut Saturday. Inside Lacrosse’s No. 18-ranked commit in the class received a few stints of playing time in the first half and third quarter before getting lots of garbage time in the fourth. He didn’t do much, but he made his mark.

With 5:05 left in the third quarter, Anderson curled around from X as the Orange led 17-2. Where guys like Spallina typically use their nimble frames to deke and inch their way inside a defender, Anderson’s combination of speed and physicality allowed him to take his man outside without much of a problem.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Anderson freed up space in front of the net and whipped a shot past Della Rocco for the first goal of his NCAA career. It was a small burst from the freshman, though a welcome sign that SU’s depth stacks among the best in the country.

Published on February 1, 2025 at 2:28 pm

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