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When Will Mark transferred to SU, he thought he’d enter the 2023 season as its surefire starting goalie. But when he first watched Jimmy McCool play live, a pit formed in his stomach. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” Mark said.

The Orange were practicing inside of Ensley Athletic Center in summer 2023. Players were running an in-tight finishing drill, with the offense matched up point-blank against SU’s goalies. Mark got demolished. He said he probably stopped one, maybe two, of the 10 shots he faced.

Feeling dejected, Mark went to the sideline while McCool, then a redshirt freshman, took his spot. McCool instantly made a string of breathtaking in-tight saves, Mark said. The fourth-year goalie could only sit and gush at McCool’s “insane” hand speed. He thought McCool made one of lacrosse’s toughest saves repeatedly look like child’s play.

“I’m f*cked,” Mark told himself in the moment.

McCool never won the starting job over Mark. Yet, Syracuse head coach Gary Gait never thought the two were far off from each other. It’s a testament to the immense talent of McCool, an Inside Lacrosse five-star recruit from Boston. The No. 20 overall class of 2022 prospect spent the last two seasons as Mark’s understudy, watching him shine as one of the nation’s best goalies. But now, McCool commands the net, a role he says wouldn’t be his without Mark.

“I took every practice as the National Championship,” McCool said. “I was trying to show the coaches that if they ever needed me, if Will got hurt or anything, that I was going to be ready to go. And then when my opportunity did come, I knew I’d be ready.”

Joe Zhao | Design Editor

Days before Gait told McCool he’d start on Feb. 1 against Jacksonville, Mark called his former goalie mate. Mark, who became a master of the mental game while at SU, advised McCool that it’s easy to define oneself off failures, but playing goalie is a minefield of adversity. Mark reminded him that nothing’s ever going to be perfect — even though goalie, as McCool said, is an extremely isolating position.

Mark feels that if McCool can control the mental side of the cage, he’ll be “at his peak.” Through three career starts, McCool is proving Mark right.

Syracuse is 3-0 behind McCool’s .674 save percentage. He’s held opponents to single-digit goals in every game thus far, which have resulted in blowout wins for the Orange. Before SU’s 18-7 win over Towson on Feb. 10, McCool led the country with a .741 save rate.

The coaches who work closest with him, Syracuse goalkeepers coach Nick Acquaviva and defensive coordinator John Odierna, sang McCool’s praises. They said his pure shot-blocking ability is impressive. His activity on clears is commendable. And his tranquility in the cage is apparent; Odierna joked he needs to perform pulse checks on McCool.

At his best, McCool is the complete package.

“In practice, he was as good as Will,” Gait said of McCool. “I watched Jimmy last year make it really tough for our own guys to score goals. So, I felt pretty good about (McCool starting). Now we will see if he can stay mentally focused and keep it going.”

Mark knew of McCool long before he helped guide his early SU career. McCool’s stellar time at the New Hampton School, a private boarding school in New Hampshire, earned him a commitment to SU in 2020 as a high-school underclassman.

When McCool arrived on campus, Mark said he’d painted a picture in his mind of what the incoming freshman would be like. He expects elite athletes’ personalities to follow their play. With McCool’s highly-touted status, Mark imagined a stone-cold serious, swagger-filled goalie with a bit of an ego. But McCool was nowhere near the type.

“Jimmy was just the complete opposite of what I thought he was going to be in the best way possible,” Mark said. “One of the most genuine and authentic teammates I’ve had. He has the ability to change anyone’s mood from sad to happy with his humor and with his attitude.”

The two instantly connected. McCool bounced ideas off Mark throughout practices and asked him questions. Mark was always a willing listener. Off the field, the two’s conversations were filled with sarcasm; Mark said they usually had too much fun messing around with teammates.

They were paired together in the same hotel room on every road trip, which they said brought them closest together. McCool got a behind-the-scenes look at how a top-flight goalie prepares for games through film study and a consistent pregame routine.

“I always looked forward to road trips, because I was staying with Jimmy,” Mark said.

McCool was also always the first person to talk with Mark after each game. The two would talk about how Mark felt, what opponents did well to beat him and what types of saves were working for him. Mark said that McCool held significant expertise and valued the youngster’s input when analyzing an opponent.

McCool’s parents, Tricia and Steve McCool, feel Mark was, and still is, the ideal role model for their son. They said Mark eased him into SU’s high-pressure environment and gave McCool the tools to let his talent speak for itself.

“He was a true mentor to him. I can’t say if it was any other goalie if Jimmy would have been as mentally and physically prepared if it wasn’t for Will,” Tricia said of Mark. “I think that may have been Jimmy’s first experience with a goalie like that, who really brought out the best in him.”

By 2024, his first year on the active roster, McCool was the second-string goalie. Mark felt McCool lurking in his shadow and said he had to prove his worth daily. But there was no bad blood between the two. Instead, Mark saw his role as a supporter and not someone who had to boss his teammate around; McCool didn’t need to be taught how to make a save, Mark said.

Mark often modeled his training regimen around McCool’s and vice versa. When Mark realized McCool liked to take shots after practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, he joined. When McCool learned of Mark’s habit of arriving at the team facility before anyone else, he tagged along. It wasn’t to try and one-up each other. It was simply iron sharpening iron.

“As a goalie myself, when you don’t have someone behind you pushing every day, it’s easy to take a day off,” Acquaviva said. “I think (Jimmy) was able to jump in with Will right away because of how their relationship was so close.”

Developing the right stance was one of the largest pieces of advice Mark gave McCool. Mark felt the two possessed similar play styles, complementing McCool’s rapid hand speed and 6-foot-2, 213-pound frame that takes up the whole net. But he noticed McCool’s stance wasn’t consistent, often becoming unbalanced as an attack worked the ball around.

Mark worked with McCool on becoming a more patient goalie. He said McCool must be in a body position to perform any save at any second. He thinks McCool progressively grew less anxious in the cage, and his “special” combo of size and speed allowed him to start stepping up from his box to aggressively play the ball.

When Odierna first saw McCool at SU, he reminded him of his former Manhattan goalie Brendan Krebs — a bigger lefty who’s relaxed between the pipes — and knew he’d fit into his defensive philosophy. Odierna most wanted McCool to emulate Mark’s heightened communication.

Jimmy McCool saved 29 shots while allowing 14 goals through Syracuse’s first three games. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer

Mark orchestrated Syracuse’s defense last season. The responsibility now lies with McCool, who Odierna said gives his defenders constant feedback and understands how to direct the back end’s formations.

Odierna and Acquaviva said the transition from Mark to McCool was seamless. It helps, they said, when you have a shot-blocking specialist like McCool. They praised McCool’s greatest skill: his ability to swiftly change position and settle into his optimal saving spot. It wasn’t revealed what type of saves McCool prefers the most, but his coaches are abundantly confident in the goalie’s shot-stopping range.

“We feel good about a certain area,” Acquaviva said. “When you’re not feeling very comfortable with your goalie, then we feel like you can’t give up any shots.”

Acquaviva’s words were a reality for Syracuse last May in the first round of the 2024 ACC Tournament. No. 2 seed SU faced a heavyweight battle against No. 3 seed Duke. But it was never close. The Blue Devils’ ferocious attack bludgeoned Mark in the Orange’s loss.

Duke led Syracuse 8-2 after the first 12 minutes and 20 seconds. Mark faced nine shots and stopped just one of them. Gait benched Mark before the second quarter began.

While Mark experienced his so-called lowest moment as a lacrosse player, McCool took the field. Acquaviva said Mark could’ve resorted to slamming his stick on the ground and pouting on the bench. But, for all the time McCool spent on the sideline watching Mark, he knew he needed to help.

Mark’s mind went from “get me out of here” to giving McCool reads on the Blue Devils’ offense and tips for what on-the-fly adjustments he had to make.

“It never felt like he was mad at me for any reason, which is good, because I know it’s definitely an uncomfortable situation for him,” McCool said of Mark.

McCool’s first appearance in the national spotlight became one of his worst performances, he said. McCool totaled a .375 save rate. His positioning was off. His eyes lagged behind Duke’s ball movement. Nothing clicked.

McCool and Mark talked about it back in their hotel room. Mark said he easily could’ve sat in silence. After Mark vented his frustrations to McCool, he urged the younger goalie to move past his own disappointing performance.

In their worst moments, the two leaned on each other to move on from it. McCool said working through that night’s difficulties alongside Mark made him a better player in the long run.

“I can learn from it and say, ‘I have that experience against a big-time team like that,’” McCool said of the Duke game. “And I just have to go out and prove that I’m better than I was in that situation. I have a lot more to show than that one game I played in there.”

Three games into 2025, that night in May is ancient history for McCool. He’s currently among the NCAA’s top statistical goalies, which Mark could’ve predicted at first glance.

Published on February 13, 2025 at 1:29 am

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