Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Owen Hiltz is on pace to have his best-ever season with Syracuse. Through 12 games, Hiltz leads SU with 31 goals and ranks second with 20 assists. He’s seven goals and nine assists shy of setting career-highs in both categories.

In Syracuse’s 18-2 blowout win over Manhattan on March 18, Hiltz went scoreless for just the fifth time in his career. Since then, the redshirt senior has been on a tear. It started with back-to-back hat tricks in wins over then-No. 18 Colgate and Virginia. In Charlottesville, Hiltz scored SU’s final two goals, guiding a 12-10 win. Facing No. 5 Notre Dame, Hiltz finished with four points (two goals, two assists).

Hiltz’s latest outing was the pick of the bunch. He finished with four goals and two assists. Despite SU losing for the first time in nearly two months, Hiltz gave its offense a spark, which fell flat at certain points. Hiltz’s outing was the ninth time he’s recorded at least four points this season.

Here’s a breakdown of Hiltz’s performance in Syracuse’s (9-3, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) 17-12 loss to No. 1 Cornell.

1st Quarter, 6:50 — Hiltz opens his account

Syracuse was held scoreless for the opening seven-and-a-half minutes against Cornell before Luke Rhoa got it on the board. Hiltz’s first of the day came 41 seconds later. Wyatt Hottle initiated the offense from the wing and quickly dished to Payton Anderson. Guarded by Brendan Staub, Anderson looked to attack the goal line extended after he got a screen from Hottle. Instead, he pulled back out to initiate from X.

Anderson shuffled backwards to reset himself. Since being inserted into the starting lineup, Anderson has shown he can win one-on-one matchups against long poles. This time, he opted not to and fed Hottle again. Hottle went right at short stick midfielder Michael Bozzi and curled around the net. As he angled around the crease, Hottle picked his head up and looked to make a play.

During Hottle’s movement, Joey Spallina cut right through the middle of Cornell’s defense and snuck by his primary defender. Hiltz shifted from the right wing to the middle of the field from the back, though Hottle chose the easy feed to Spallina. The attack seemed to have an easy finish, yet Matt Dooley timed his check perfectly to jar the ball loose.

It deflected perfectly to Hiltz. Nobody was near him because of Hottle’s threat of coming around the cage and Spallina’s cut. Hiltz had all the time in the world to unleash a 12-yard step down past Wyatt Knust to tie the game 2-2.

2nd Quarter, 5:45 — Hiltz gets his tight-angle shot to go

At this point, Syracuse was floundering. It was amid a 15-minute scoring drought and Cornell commanded an 8-2 lead. That’s when Hiltz took matters into his own hands. Rhoa started this set and dodged down the left alley. He hesitated and looked for an angle, but saw help coming from short stick midfielder Luke Gilmartin. Rhoa turned back parallel with the goal line and reset up top to Sam English.

English, usually one of Syracuse’s most active downhill dodgers, wasted no time and swung the ball to Hiltz on the opposite side. Matched up with Dooley, Hiltz started as if he was going left before he quickly changed direction with a swim dodge. The maneuver was perfectly timed with Michael Leo’s pick, which forced Gilmartin and Dooley to switch.

Hiltz getting a short stick on him was a clear mismatch, which Dooley realized instantly. The long pole whacked Hiltz when he turned back towards Leo, but Hiltz backed away, limiting the effect of the check. The attack faked a pass to Leo, which freed up just enough space for him to get a shot off.

To slightly improve his shooting angle, Hiltz took one step to his left and wrapped his stick around Gilmartin. Hiltz’s quick hands prevented Gilmartin from checking the ball away, and Knust barely reacted to the shot as it nestled in the top right corner.

2nd Quarter, 5:04 — Hiltz does it all by himself for another quick score

John Mullen won the ensuing faceoff following Hiltz’s second goal, which allowed Syracuse to get in another offensive set. The Orange fed the hot hand and placed the ball in Hiltz’s stick, isolated on the right wing. Typically, Hiltz’s goals come off catch-and-shoot opportunities. His pinpoint accuracy is a focal point of SU’s offense. During this passage of play, Syracuse allowed Hiltz to break down his defender in a one-on-one situation.

Rhoa came over to set a screen for Hiltz to get to his left. Instead, Hiltz sidestepped to his right and ran five yards upfield. All of a sudden, Hiltz turned back and looked like he was about to use Rhoa’s screen and go left after he changed direction that way. Dooley wanted to follow him, so he went under Rhoa’s pick.

Hiltz backed away without hesitation and quickly twirled around, which shook him loose from Dooley, and enacted another switch. The Big Red’s Christopher Davis — a short stick midfielder — was forced onto him. Hiltz again pirouetted at the goal line extended and used a face dodge to get on Davis’ inside shoulder.

Davis tried muscling Hiltz into the crease, but the lefty was parallel to him. It allowed Hiltz to keep enough balance and throw a quick fake shot as he approached the crease. No help arrived for Davis, as Hiltz went airborne to sneak one by Knust for his second goal in a row.

3rd Quarter, 0:19 — Hiltz makes Cornell pay off a turnover

Before this stretch, Syracuse trailed by six goals for the second time. Toward the end of the third quarter, the Orange caught fire and trailed by only three. They also had a two-man-up opportunity. Initially, this play began as Rhoa smashed the ball against the post after Hiltz fed him. The rebound went all the way to midfield in front of Cornell’s sideline and attack Michael Long had the backup.

Long wanted to get the play started quickly, but was slowed down by the refs. Once play restarted, Trey Deere checked him from behind to get Syracuse the ball back. Rhoa settled things down and passed to Hiltz, kickstarting another half-field set. Hiltz tossed a pass back to Rhoa on the left wing to get the defense moving. Rhoa went right back to Hiltz at the point. Because Cornell was down two men, Dooley had to scamper out to Hiltz.

With no hesitation, he swung the ball to Leo on his right. Leo wound up for a shot and Dooley tried to close him down. He reached out to stop Leo alongside Long, who was caught on defense due to his previous turnover. Though after one step, Leo didn’t release a shot. Since he drew two defenders, Hiltz was wide open at the point.

Hiltz caught the ball from 16 yards out. The closest defender — Jayson Singer — was ten yards away, which gave Hiltz ample time and space to unleash another Howitzer from 13 yards. The finish punctuated a 4-0 Syracuse run to get it within two heading into the fourth quarter.

Published on April 15, 2025 at 11:13 pm
Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22