Syracuse men’s lacrosse falls to No. 7 in IL Top-20 Poll
Following its 17-12 loss to No. 1 Cornell, Syracuse men’s lacrosse dropped to No. 7 in Inside Lacrosse’s Top 20 Poll. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer
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Syracuse men’s lacrosse (9-3, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) went from No. 4 to No. 7 in the latest rankings from Inside Lacrosse, the publication released Monday. SU’s drop in the rankings comes following its 17-12 loss to No. 1 Cornell on Long Island, its first defeat in nearly two months.
Before the defeat, Syracuse had earned its highest ranking since the season’s opening week. When it was ranked No. 2. Facing the Big Red, the Orange didn’t put together enough of a consistent performance to pull off an upset.
Syracuse couldn’t contain the nation’s best offense with CJ Kirst running rampant. The Tewaaraton Award favorite finished with five goals and three assists, bringing him within five goals of the all-time NCAA scoring record. Ryan Goldstein also recorded eight points, while Cornell’s man-up offense poured in four goals. Jimmy McCool also struggled in net, recording a season-low 30.4% save rate.
At points, SU’s offense did enough, but it was plagued by droughts. Syracuse was scoreless for 15 minutes in the first half, which allowed Cornell to take an 8-2 lead. The Orange reeled off five of the next six goals, but four in a row from Cornell pushed its lead back to six. Syracuse answered with four straight to finish the third but couldn’t prevail in the fourth quarter.
Owen Hiltz led the way with six points (four goals, two assists) and Luke Rhoa recorded a hat trick to pace Syracuse. Joey Spallina was held quiet with just one goal after four the previous week against Notre Dame.
Syracuse closes out its regular season with two ACC games against No. 12 Duke and No. 5 North Carolina. If SU wins both, it’ll win its first ACC regular-season title since 2018.
