Despite slow start, Syracuse men's lacrosse blows out Manhattan
On Tuesday night, No. 10 Syracuse faced Manhattan for the first game of a two-game week. The matchup marked only the second-ever meeting between the two programs. After a nine-day layoff, the Orange showed some early rust, but once they settled in, they dominated. Syracuse cruised to an 18-2 victory.
The first quarter was anything but smooth for the Orange, as Manhattan goalie Connor Hapward put on an early show. Hapward recorded eight saves in the opening quarter and finished the first half with 14. Manhattan capitalized on Syracuse's sluggish start, holding a 1-0 lead after the first quarter.
It was just the third scoreless quarter of the season for Syracuse and marked the fewest points the team had scored in a first quarter all year. The previous low was two against Maryland. It was far from the start Syracuse had envisioned.
"We were getting to great spots. We were doing what we wanted to do, we just weren't scoring. Their goalie was great but there's probably a couple shots that we want back and will change," said Joey Spallina.
Despite being held scoreless in the first, Syracuse peppered the goal with 14 shots. The second quarter saw a shift in momentum as the Orange fired off 20 more shots and erupted for nine goals. Syracuse took a 3-1 lead before Manhattan responded with its final goal of the night. The Orange then unleashed six straight goals, including four in a three-minute span, extending the advantage to 7-2.
Trey Deere, making his first start of the season at attack due to an injury, led the second-quarter surge with a hat trick. Michael Leo and Sam English each added goals in the final minute of the half, pushing the lead to 9-2.
"Just to get the guys started, it was important to get that first goal. After that everything started falling," said Deere.
Syracuse carried its dominance into the second half. Greg Elijah Brown, scoring only his second career goal for the Orange, opened the third quarter. Minutes later, Leo secured his second consecutive hat trick, further extending the lead.
Joey Spallina added another goal, increasing the margin to 10. The goal moved Spallina within two points of 200 for his career, positioning him as the second-fastest player in program history to reach the milestone. He will have an opportunity to hit that mark later this week against No. 18 Colgate.
With the game well in hand, head coach Gary Gait turned to his younger players in the fourth quarter. Wyatt Hottle scored his first points of the day and netted his third goal in three games after scoring twice on the road at Utah. Payton Anderson followed with the 15th goal of the game while drawing a penalty. The goal stood, and the penalty was waived. Just 15 seconds later, Anderson struck again.
"It was nice to get every play available into the game. That's important when you get in situations like this. I was most impressed with the fact that there wasn't a drop off today. The guys that came in executed pretty well, put the ball in the back of the net, got stops, our goalies got saves," said Coach Gait.
Deere continued his impressive night with his fourth goal, finding space in front of the crease. Owen O'Farrell capped off the scoring with a right-handed underhand shot to the low corner, securing his second goal of the season. His only other goal came in the season opener against Jacksonville.
Johnny Mullen also had another standout performance going 14-15 from X.
"I go into any game with a killer mentality, just destroy anybody in front of me," said Mullen.
After shaking off the rust, Syracuse locked in defensively, shutting out Manhattan after the six-minute mark in the second quarter. The Orange's early shot volume—14 attempts in the first quarter—indicated they were prepared; they just needed to break through. Now, with a dominant performance behind them, Syracuse will need all hands on deck for a showdown with No. 18 Colgate on Saturday.
