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Shrugged shoulders signified Gary Gait didn’t care one morsel about Joey Spallina and Owen Hiltz being close to 200 career points entering Syracuse’s contest with Colgate. Records mean nothing to him. The former three-time NCAA Champion only lost one game from 1988-90 during his legendary playing career at SU. It’s a standard he’s tried to reach as its head coach for the last four years. He hasn’t gotten close yet. So, don’t bore him with counting stats.

“The only thing that matters is championships and wins, and I guarantee you that (Spallina and Hiltz) would say the same thing, that it’s really not a big deal,” Gait said Thursday. “It’s nice to hit it and know people recognize you for it. But they would much rather walk away at the end of the year, not as the leading point-scorer in history or anything like that, but as a national champion.”

Gait barely flinched when Spallina and Hiltz simultaneously hit the 200 mark four minutes and 39 seconds into SU’s bout against Colgate. He was probably relieved the Orange could shift their focus to what matters. And boy, did they ever.

By game’s end, Spallina had unleashed a career-high 11 points — the most single-game points in SU program history since Casey Powell tallied 13 against Virginia in 1997.

No. 10 Syracuse (7-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) simmered for a 5-1 start en route to downing No. 18 Colgate (5-4, 2-1 Patriot League) 16-12 Saturday in the JMA Wireless Dome. Spallina’s historic gem and a hat trick from Hiltz revved up SU’s offensive machine, while a merciless performance by goalie Jimmy McCool, who made 18 saves, stymied the Raiders’ potent attack.

The top-20 victory was Syracuse’s fourth straight win, keeping its rhythm alive as it approaches a daunting Atlantic Coast Conference slate. There was some lackadaisical play late, yet SU nonetheless finished the win. Talent-wise, it’s obvious the Orange are a national title contender. Time will tell if they’ll be remembered for their victories in May or their records set in March.

“Lacrosse is a hard game because you play to develop… and that’s why you see so many upsets,” Gait said postgame. “I’m just proud of this team for being consistent and taking care of business when they’re supposed to.”

Fighting fire with fire was a foregone conclusion for Syracuse. Both sides entered Saturday with top-10 scoring offenses, averaging over 15 goals per game. Head coach Matt Karweck’s Raiders’ squad ranked four spots ahead of SU as the third-highest scoring team in Division I.

But dissecting Colgate was simple for Gait. It’s all about the 10-man ride.

The most aggressive tactic in lacrosse, the 10-man ride — which the Raiders often deploy — is the ultimate sell-out: 10 defenders, including attackers and the goalie, attempting to stall a clear. Gait said the Orange have prepared all season for breaking the 10-man ride. And he knew it was something Colgate would likely turn to.

Since SU’s roster is filled with maestros of ball movement, Gait beamed on the sideline when Colgate enacted the strategy. Why? Because it came in desperation mode.

The Orange led 7-2 midway through the second quarter while facing a man-down situation. McCool had just stopped a close-range attempt from Colgate attack Rory Connor before SU defenseman Jordan Beck possessed the ball on the right flank to begin a clear.

With Colgate goalie Matt LaCombe already out of position and a litany of players lined up at midfield, prepping for the ride, Beck looped a pass over 50 yards downfield to Spallina. He was alone with his primary defender, LaCombe.

Spallina made the netminder look silly. He stopped, popped and flipped the ball over LaCombe’s head as it trickled into the net from long range, giving SU an 8-2 lead.

Syracuse had a long spring break, not playing from March 10–17, which Gait revealed the Orange used to work on playing against a 10-man ride. They worked on it ahead of destroying Manhattan 18-2 Tuesday. Against a comparable foe in Colgate, their work went into action.

Gait said the Raiders pressure teams into making them try lengthy passes and cross-field shots to break their 10-man ride. And SU made them pay with rapid passing and zero hesitation when releasing a long-range shot on an empty net.

Karweck is ultra-aggressive. The 10-man ride didn’t stop Syracuse or even come close. Still, he felt it was a necessary risk. He had to do something to try and thwart a Spallina-led attack, even if it was the most perilous route.

“You’ve got to be able to put in a 50-to-60-yard shot and that’s really hard to do. And they made a couple of those,” Karweck said. “So, that’s not super exciting.”

For the Raiders, it’s more than fair they exerted their energy toward stalling Syracuse’s clears. Colgate couldn’t stop SU on set pieces or through its transition game. It was apparent from the get-go when faceoff specialist John Mullen beat Kyle Rummel on the initial clamp and quickly fed Hiltz on the right wing for a goal five seconds in.

The Orange exploded for a 5-2 first-quarter lead, spurred by Spallina’s distribution, precise shooting and Mullen controlling possessions. Spallina then began the second quarter with a pair of assists, highlighted by a setup for a Sam English behind-the-back finish.

The Raiders’ own 10-man ride continued to maul them. Billy Dwan III, a masterful scorer from close defense, ran upfield himself on a clear nearly three minutes into the third quarter, slicing through Colgate’s midfield before catapulting a shot beyond the midline that rippled the netting of the empty cage.

Following Dwan’s highlight score to make it 10-4 Syracuse, Karweck paced on the sideline with a puzzled expression on his face.

A dash of pressure was thrown upon Syracuse after the Raiders outscored the Orange 6-5 in the third quarter. Colgate then dropped three unanswered goals to start the fourth and trailed just 13-11. SU’s cushion disappeared.

Gait’s squad ended the day as they started it, though, breaking the 10-man ride with regularity and letting Spallina quell the Orange’s second-half hiccups.

Spallina tallied his fourth goal of the contest on a crafty wraparound finish from X late in the third. Then, in the fourth quarter, to end a 3-0 Raiders’ run, Spallina dished Trey Deere on a backdoor feed to put the Orange up 14-11 with 7:53 left.

Saturday was a crucial performance for Spallina. Amid the most tiresome stretch of the Orange’s season, they need Spallina at his best. But his five-goal, six-assist masterclass versus Colgate was emblematic of the way SU executed most of the afternoon.

“I don’t necessarily think there’s pressure on anybody,” Spallina said. “There’s pressure on us to win the game, I think that’s it. Today, I played well. There might be three or four new guys next week that have career games. If we win the game, that’s all I really care about.”

Published on March 22, 2025 at 2:36 pm
Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews