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Amid the firepower of Saturday’s showdown between then-No. 7 Syracuse and then-No. 5 Notre Dame, one matchup stole the spotlight before the first whistle: Joey Spallina versus Shawn Lyght. It was a matchup between one of the sport’s most electric scorers and its most unshakable defenders.

Lyght got the upper hand last year, holding Spallina to a single point in SU’s 14-12 loss in South Bend. The then-freshman anchored Notre Dame’s back line and landed a spot on the NCAA All-Tournament Team as the Irish captured their second straight national championship.

Entering this season, the NCAA listed Spallina among five players on a shortlist for the Tewaaraton Award. Lyght was also named as one of two honorable mentions and the only defender on the list. It was a marquee duel tucked inside a marquee game. And Spallina got the better of Lyght and Notre Dame. With Lyght as his primary defender, Spallina poured in a team-high four goals and added one assist.

“I saw some things on film I thought I could take advantage of,” Spallina said postgame. “I spend a lot of time studying whoever’s going to guard me, and Shawn’s a great player. But there were certain tendencies I noticed, and I think we capitalized on them today.”

Here’s a breakdown of Spallina’s success against Lyght and the Fighting Irish in No. 4 Syracuse’s (9-2, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) 14-9 win over No. 9 Notre Dame (5-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast):

2nd quarter, 15:00 — Spallina opens his account

Spallina has operated from X frequently during his prolific career. On Saturday, he often found himself above the goal. Spallina said postgame it had been part of SU offensive coordinator Pat March’s game plan.

The strategy featured Payton Anderson, who was making his second straight start, filling Spallina’s traditional spot at X. This led to X being completely vacated, as seen on Spallina’s first goal of the game, which tied the score at 3-3 in the first minute of the second quarter on a man-up opportunity.

Off the restart, Spallina moved to the center of the field, into the crux of Notre Dame’s defense. His movement off the ball drew the attention of Ben Ramsey, the Fighting Irish’s star short-stick midfielder. Trey Deere and Michael Leo exchanged the ball, trying to break down Notre Dame’s well-drilled backline — a bank of three in front of goal with a set of two midfielders positioned higher up.

As ND followed SU’s rapid ball movement, Spallina slipped free on the left side of the goal-line extended. When the man-up clock neared 10 seconds remaining, Owen Hiltz diverged from Syracuse’s pattern of short passes with a feed to Spallina just left of the goal. The quick pass caught the Fighting Irish off guard. Long-stick midfielder Will Donovan reacted late, and Spallina bounced his shot past goalie Thomas Ricciardelli from an acute angle on the left wing.

Not once on that play did Spallina venture to X. And he didn’t touch the ball until his shot hit the net.

2nd quarter, 12:09 — Spallina loses Lyght to give SU the lead

The highly anticipated matchup of Spallina versus Lyght came to a boil three minutes after Spallina scored his first goal. The junior received the ball near the left sideline, face-to-face with Lyght. Spallina drove at the defender, trying to get him on his back foot. Lyght battled through a Tyler McCarthy screen and continued to track Spallina.

Spallina sprayed a pass out to Michael Grace on the right wing and then recycled his run. Grace found Anderson at X, and he passed to McCarthy on the left side of the field. As McCarthy ventured inside, shaking away from Ramsey, he pulled Lyght for a double-team.

Lyght’s attempt allowed Spallina to find open space just left of the net. When McCarthy released the ball to the attack, Spallina made no mistake from point-blank range. Again, Spallina’s burst of speed gained separation from ND, as defender Nate Schwitzenberg was late to react, allowing Spallina to find the bottom corner of the net.

Spallina got to the same spot a minute later, peeling away from Lyght. Instead of driving at Lyght with the ball and trying to beat him on the move, Spallina tended to move off the ball to gain separation and then take advantage of the space he was afforded to cash in.

2nd quarter, 1:32 — Spallina quick release

The ball never stuck with Spallina against Notre Dame. Normally deliberate at X, he likes to dissect defenses with methodical precision. But against the Irish, he flipped the script — attacking with urgency, leaving Notre Dame no time to adjust.

Once the Orange were rolling, scoring seven unanswered goals while holding Notre Dame scoreless for 25 minutes to build a 7-3 lead, they tried tacking on more before halftime. To start SU’s attack, Sam English dishes to Leo, who embarks downhill into the attacking area. Leo tried to spin away from his defender, Christian Alacqua, but he couldn’t shake him and ran into a double team.

Leo then found Spallina positioned on the left side at X. Even as Spallina went on the run with the ball, it didn’t stick for long. He quickly found Hiltz on the move, and Hiltz returned the rock to Spallina on the left wing. Spallina passed to Leo at the top of the attacking area, and he zipped it over to Luke Rhoa. Spallina, who was unmarked far away from the goal, made a run across the field and found a pocket of space to the right of the goal.

Syracuse’s No. 22 raised his stick calling for the ball, and Rhoa obliged, dropping a pass to Spallina. Before the Fighting Irish’s Schwitzenberg could recover to guard Spallina, he’d already turned and rocketed a shot into the top right corner.

4th quarter, 12:44 — Spallina’s fake and finish stabilizes Syracuse

Once ND broke out of its 40-minute drought, it went on a 4-1 run to cut the score to 10-7 with 12:41 left in the fourth quarter. Suddenly, what looked like a runaway Syracuse victory got a little nervy.

The Orange slowed the tempo on their next offensive possession after winning the faceoff. Hiltz shuffled to his left toward the midfield line. Then, he passed to English in the center of the field. English found Rhoa, who dodged toward the goal.

At this time, Spallina was positioned right outside the crease in front of Notre Dame’s goal marked by Lyght. As Rhoa drove rightward and scooped a pass to Leo, Spallina moved to the left side of the goal-line extended and then farther away from goal on the left wing. This helped him gain some separation from Lyght, though the defender still shadowed him. He received the ball in that position and recirculated back to Leo in the middle.

Leo passed to Rhoa on the right wing, and the midfielder again took off towards the target. Rhoa drew Chris Reinhardt’s attention as he followed the midfielder to X. Spallina took up the space Rhoa vacated when he ran through the right attacking zone.

Rhoa dropped a pass back to Spallina, though Ramsey quickly covered him. It didn’t matter. Spallina faked a shot with his right hand, sending Ramsey airborne, before spinning to his left. With an open look, Spallina rifled a shot into the bottom left corner for his fourth goal of the day.

Spallina added one assist to go with his four goals Saturday. It was a familiar feed for a cutting Deere from X, which moved the score to 13-7 with 6:48 remaining in the fourth quarter. But Spallina’s goalscoring, especially against the highly-touted Lyght, and constant operating in front of the net showed he has many ways to beat an opponent. For Orange fans, it’s a thrilling sight. For everyone else, it’s a growing problem.

Published on April 7, 2025 at 9:26 pm
Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu | @nalumkal