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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Revisionist history is a problematic trend. We see it all the time in politics and pop culture. Things previously accepted as fact become fiercely debated and polarized in the public eye, all due to notions that typically don’t exist.

In the aftermath of Saturday’s NCAA Tournament Semifinal round, it’s clear Syracuse men’s lacrosse is that trend’s latest victim.

The Orange — after a resounding season where they displayed one of the nation’s best offenses and finished atop the Atlantic Coast Conference — were one win away from the national title game. But they ran into Maryland and got crushed 14-8. UMD is a historically awful matchup for SU, which has lost its last eight meetings versus the Big Ten powerhouse.

There are no excuses for how unprepared and outmatched Syracuse looked against Maryland Saturday in Gillette Stadium. That shouldn’t discount what the Orange did in 2025. Yet, if you peruse any SU fan comment section across social media, you’d think it missed the tournament entirely. Just listen to UMD 15-year head coach John Tillman.

“If anybody doesn’t know, they’re back,” Tillman said of Syracuse. “They’re really good. We knew it’d be tough today.”

Tillman ballooned his all-time record against SU to 8-0 Saturday, so it’s easy for him to say.

But he’s right.

I argued at the end of the 2024 season that, despite a disappointing NCAA Quarterfinals defeat to Denver, head coach Gary Gait was building Syracuse into a champion. Well, the Orange became ACC champions this past season — their first conference title since 2016. They also made their first Final Four since 2013.

Sure, the campaign didn’t result in a national championship. But SU’s accomplishments prove it grew in 2025, seamlessly aligning with the trajectory of its star-studded 2022 recruiting class, a group approaching its senior years next season.

Don’t let revisionist history disrupt the real narrative here: The Orange exceeded expectations this past season by returning to Championship Weekend, but building a national champion takes time. Gait deserves plenty of it if Syracuse is ever truly going to be “back.” So, give him the chance. After all, SU has improved year-to-year in each of Gait’s four seasons at the helm. Why can’t it improve again into a national-title winner?

It’s far too early to indict Gait for his performance — even Tillman took seven seasons to capture his first NCAA Championship in 2017. Since then, he’s become the best coach in college lacrosse.

Of course, there are key differences between how Tillman and Gait fared early at their respective spots. Tillman lost four national titles before winning his first, while Gait hasn’t reached Memorial Day yet. Still, they don’t ask how you got there; they ask if you got there or not. Gait could be on a similar seven-year plan. We simply don’t know it yet.

Syracuse attacks Joey Spallina and Owen Hiltz celebrate after Hiltz’s opening goal on Saturday versus Maryland. Though Hiltz is out of eligibility, Spallina headlines a strong junior class that can help SU truly contend for a national title next season. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer

It seems many have also forgotten about how terribly Roy Simmons Jr. began his legendary head coaching tenure at SU. Taking over for his father, Roy Sr., Simmons Jr.’s first season in 1971 coincided with the start of the NCAA era in college lacrosse. He missed eight NCAA Tournaments in a row, including abysmal 2-9 and 3-8 seasons.

Simmons Jr. took 12 years to bring Syracuse a national championship and won five NCAA titles (SU’s 1990 title was vacated) in a 13-season span from 1983-95.

If social media existed then, Orange fans would have fired Simmons Jr. before you’d ever even heard of him.

Losing faith in Gait is strange, considering he took over Syracuse in 2022 with an atrocious roster and limited recent success in the NCAA Tournament.

Gait’s lowest point thus far is probably his inability to construct a competitive faceoff unit in 2023. Johnny Richiusa and Jack Fine were rarely on par with the opposition. As a result, the Orange went 8-7 and missed a second straight NCAA Tournament after going 4-10 in 2022.

Other than that, what has Gait done notably wrong?

Four wins, to eight, to 12 in 2024 — a year that culminated at the time in SU’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2017. Three years of exponential growth. Then, 2025 brought Gait’s first Final Four appearance as a men’s Division I head coach and his winningest season (13 victories). This is steady growth, the kind Gait always expected would happen.

After Syracuse’s semifinal loss to Maryland, Gait spoke about his graduating class — including Owen Hiltz, Sam English and others. He credited them for sticking around through coaching changes, such as Dave Pietramala to John Odierna manning the defense, and for meshing with transfer players like English, Michael Grace and former faceoff specialist Mason Kohn, among others.

“There’s been some turnover, brought on some new guys with the mission of building Syracuse lacrosse back and get back to Championship Weekend,” Gait said of the changes. “That was the goal when I took over: to win a national championship again.”

Gait is beating around the bush here. He’s saying he’s content with making moves that benefit SU both in the short- and long-term. It may take years for Gait to get fully in-sync with Odierna and offensive coordinator Pat March, so to accomplish short-term goals, he’ll use the transfer portal and his ability to lure highly-touted recruits.

The last four years were never supposed to result in a national title. But, judging on next year’s way-too-early roster outlook, 2026 could be the year circled on Gait’s calendar. It’ll be the last hurrah for Joey Spallina, Michael Leo, Finn Thomson, Riley Figueiras, Billy Dwan III and Luke Rhoa — the 2022 freshman class that put the Orange back on the map. In theory, they’ll be experienced enough to take a leap as seniors.

Led by Spallina, they spearheaded the immense strides SU made this past season. Before 2025, Gait hadn’t beaten Notre Dame. This year, the Orange defeated the Fighting Irish twice. Syracuse unleashed a six-game winning streak in the middle of the season, its longest under Gait. It beat Johns Hopkins. It won the ACC. It had four First- and Second-Team All-Americans. It came back from down six to win an NCAA Tournament game. It won the highest-scoring non-overtime NCAA Quarterfinal contest ever. The season was a clear success.

Are we supposed to forget it all because of one loss that, let’s face it, many saw coming?

There’s no reason to diminish Syracuse’s achievements in 2025. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Gait needs more time; not only to conquer his Maryland demons, but to construct a team that’s talented, well-experienced and tactically sound — one that can deliver SU’s 11th NCAA Championship.

The Orange aren’t quite there yet. That doesn’t mean they won’t be in the near future.

Cooper Andrews is a Senior Staff Writer at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at ccandrew@syr.edu or on X @cooper_andrews.

Published on May 25, 2025 at 2:03 pm
Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews