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Manhattan head coach Doug Sage is all too familiar with John Odierna’s ability to cultivate a stout defensive gameplan. In 2011, Sage recruited Odierna while he was an assistant coach at Gettysburg University, where Odierna became an All-American defender. Over a decade later, Sage was Odierna’s offensive coordinator when he became the head coach at Manhattan.

One thing was always certain with Odierna’s defenses: they’re well-marshaled and connected, forcing opponents to make every possession count. Trying to counter that is difficult. It makes it even harder when an opposing coach had recruited a large majority of your roster. Sage knew that heading into Syracuse’s second-ever meeting with Manhattan.

That still didn’t stop Odierna’s defense from posting an elite outing. No. 10 Syracuse (6-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) put on a defensive clinic, defeating Manhattan (4-4, 2-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic) 18-2 for its third-straight victory. Tuesday’s showing was the fewest goals SU’s allowed since Feb. 24, 2013, against Army. The Orange kept the Jaspers’ scoring chances to a minimum, holding them scoreless for the final 36 minutes. Manhattan recorded just nine shots on goal, marking the first time SU held an opponent to fewer than 10 shots on target since March 12, 2016, against St. Johns.

“It was a combination of a great scout, great plan in place and great execution from the entire defense,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said of his defense’s performance.

Manhattan’s offense doesn’t strike fear into an opponent. It entered Tuesday’s contest averaging 9.71 goals per game — the 54th-best mark in the country — and only scored at least 10 goals three times. Though Syracuse didn’t just contain the Jaspers. It completely shut them down. The performance was reminiscent of SU’s 16-3 win over Manhattan last season, where its defense also shined.

SU long poles Billy Dwan III, Michael Grace and Riley Figueiras held Manhattan’s top three goal scorers to zero points. The performance continued pushing the unit in the right direction. After giving up a season-high 15 goals to Harvard on Feb. 20, Syracuse has surrendered fewer than 10 goals per game since.

“When you have really athletic individuals playing together, it’s hard to create an edge and some openings on the back side,” Sage said.

Gait pointed to Manhattan’s slow offensive pace as a key reason for Syracuse’s success. The Jaspers tried to be deliberate due to Syracuse’s explosive offense and potency at the faceoff X with John Mullen, but they played right into Syracuse’s hands. It’s a tactic inferior teams often employ when coming to the Dome, which rarely works.

In the first quarter, Manhattan had some success, holding a surprising 1-0 lead after 15 minutes. That mostly came down to Connor Hapward’s eight first-quarter stops. On the other end, Syracuse was much more efficient, with Manhattan recording over twice as many turnovers (seven) as shots (three).

Syracuse usually doesn’t apply much pressure on the perimeter. Its defense relies on late switches and slides to make plays, which it did throughout. Carter Rice was the first to force a turnover for Syracuse, jumping into a passing lane and forcing a giveaway.

A few minutes later, while Syracuse’s offense remained dormant, Liam Peabody gained half a step on Nick Caccamo as he made his way to the crease. Prior to Peabody getting a shot off, Caccamo wedged his stick under Peabody’s to jar the ball loose. Dwan also delivered a punishing blow to ensure Peabody didn’t have a scoring chance.

Syracuse’s connectedness was on full display in the blowout. Even the couple of times it did concede, it came off broken plays. The first came when Drew Hiner dodged down the right alley, firing a shot off the pipe, which bounced right back to him in front of Sam English and Figueiras. Hiner was presented with a wide-open lane to the net and converted.

Manhattan’s other tally came over halfway through the second quarter. Matthew Pantorno tried forcing a pass into Thomas White on the crease before Luke Rhoa got in the passing lane, forcing a ground ball. As Rhoa tried to scoop the ball up, he flung it high into the air. No Syracuse player knew where the ball was until it popped right to Jack Miller on the weak side, who had a wide-open shot on SU goalie Jimmy McCool to cut Manhattan’s lead to 3-2 with six minutes left in the first half.

That was it for Manhattan. After that, the Orange didn’t let the Jaspers get a sniff. There was a single possession in the third quarter where McCool was forced to make three saves. But at that point, Syracuse led 11-2. The pressure was absent after a nine-goal second quarter, which created all the separation SU needed.

“I’m proud of the guys for being patient on defense and really not making many mistakes,” Gait said.

That was the key for the Orange. There were no mental lapses. Even when Syracuse put its backups in when the game was already decided in the fourth quarter, Gait said there was no drop-off from the backups.

Facing Manhattan, it could’ve been easy for SU to take plays off. That’s not Odierna’s style. He obsesses over every last-minute detail.

It’s been evident since Syracuse hired him in 2023. He was charged with transforming a lethargic unit that was led by now-UNC coordinator Dave Pietramala. Syracuse isn’t a program known for hard-nosed defenses. The majority of its iconic players are attacks like the Gaits and the Powells.

But Odierna’s pragmatic approach has brought an edge to Syracuse, and right now, his unit is playing its best lacrosse of the season.

“The defense is just getting better, getting more consistent and they’re making plays,” Gait said. “We’re just going to keep working, trying to build as we go along, day by day.”

Published on March 19, 2025 at 12:38 am
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