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Syracuse entered the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament. By May 4, SU assured its place in the NCAA Tournament and earned the seeding to host a game by winning the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2016. As the No. 4 seed, it stormed through the conference tournament, downing No. 1 seed Notre Dame and No. 3 seed Duke.

The reward was a revenge matchup with Harvard in the first round. The Orange were upset 15-14 by the then-No. 15 Crimson on Feb. 22 in a game marked by goalie Jimmy McCool getting benched. Since then, it’s been mostly an upward trajectory for McCool — who earned ACC Goalie of the Year and ACC Tournament MVP honors — and SU. Now, the second section of Syracuse’s postseason began as the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Just as soon as SU’s NCAA Tournament started, it all but ended. The Orange came up sluggish, falling behind 3-1 after one quarter and trailed by as many as six goals in the second quarter. Their offense was plagued by turnovers and failed clears, mustering a season-low two goals in the first half.

But then, the ever-capricious Orange had a change of mood. A barnstorming fourth quarter resurrected Syracuse and its tournament hopes. Five goals in 1:40 leveled proceedings at 11-11. Suddenly, with 8:49 to go, the Orange had life and the Dome crowd behind them. Harvard sucked the air out with a late leveler, but Owen Hiltz brought the air back with a prompt overtime winner.

Here are some observations from No. 6 seed Syracuse’s (12-5, 2-2 ACC) 13-12 overtime win over Harvard (10-5, 4-2 Ivy League):

Mullen magisterial again

In the Orange’s shocking loss to Harvard earlier in the season, SU’s faceoff man John Mullen kept up his end of the bargain. The sophomore gave Syracuse ample possessions, winning 28-of-31 faceoffs.

In Sunday’s matchup, Mullen looked to once again excel against the third-worst faceoff unit in the country. However, he lost the first faceoff of the game. Mullen proceeded to dominate, winning the next four faceoffs. But like the first meeting, Orange success didn’t follow, as it trailed 5-1 four minutes into the second quarter.

As tempers frayed in the second quarter, Mullen was rocked in the head by Harvard faceoff man Matt Barraco, resulting in a two-minute penalty. Nonetheless, Mullen kept up his strong form, winning the first five faceoffs of the second half. His exploits boosted the Orange to a two-goal run in the third quarter. After Joey Spallina scored, Mullen deftly won a faceoff by kicking the ball to Sam English on the left wing, who picked it up and started SU’s attack.

To aid SU’s comeback, Mullen won 11 straight faceoffs in the fourth and overtime. When the chips were down, he had a chip on his shoulder.

Mullen wasn’t as torrid as when the Orange first met Harvard but still did his part, winning 24-for-28 draws. It proved the difference in SU’s flurry of goals and the eventual come-from-behind victory.

Crimson cause McCool nightmares again

McCool had a point to prove Sunday. His last outing against the Crimson ended in ignominy. Now, on the back of winning ACC honors and rising towards the upper-echelon of goalies in the sport, he had a chance to make amends.

But his day got off to an inauspicious start. He allowed three goals in the first five minutes without making a save. The first one, 48 seconds in, was at a saveable height as Teddy Malone slotted one past him. The second, he had no response to a close-in Sam King effort. And on the third, John Aurandt IV rifled one after spinning free of his defenders.

McCool again had little response to Harvard’s shots. He gave up five goals on its first six shots. At the break, he had one save and eight goals allowed. Granted, it was Syracuse’s defense that offered the Crimson repeated open and unmarked opportunities to strafe McCools’s net. After letting in his first goal of the second half, he denied an Aurandt shot with an impressive reaction to spring across his net.

He stepped up slightly in the second half, getting down to deny a shot in traffic during the first two minutes. He did the same again on a bid five minutes into the frame. McCool had an overall middling showing, registering a .294 save percentage and five saves, but SU’s offense picked up the slack in the final quarter to bail him out.

Ground balls galore

Despite having the third-worst faceoff winning percentage in Division I, Harvard grabs the second-most ground balls per game, notching 36.14. The Crimson imposed their physicality early, forcing Syracuse to go 2-for-4 clearing in the first quarter and boss the ground ball battle 10-6. When Spallina tried to receive a pass in front of the net late in the quarter, he was bodied by two Harvard defenders, couldn’t corral the pass and the Crimson picked up the ball and went the other way.

To begin the second quarter, Harvard’s ride caused continued troubles. SU was forced to hoist a pass to Rhoa, but he couldn’t control the ball, getting checked from the back and spilling it to the turf. The Crimson picked up the ground ball.

Syracuse’s English was dispossessed as Ray Dearth sent him to the turf and jarred the ball free. The Crimson raced downfield, where Owen Guest easily put away his two-on-one opportunity with McCool, who the Orange defense had hung out to dry. Harvard extended its lead to 7-1.

As Hiltz tried to spark SU in the second half, he was met by a firm Charlie Muller check and turned the ball over — Syracuse’s 14th of the game.

For a Syracuse team that averages the third-fewest turnovers in the nation with 13.38, it frequently couldn’t hold onto possession, committing a season-high 20 giveaways. While the Orange posted a woeful 10-for-13 clearing clip, it proved unimportant as they somehow came away victorious.

Syracuse’s 4th-quarter miracle

With its season on the line, there was a visible urgency from Syracuse coming out of the break. Though turnovers still remained, SU’s offense looked more like its normal self. That was further proven when freshman Payton Anderson scored midway through the quarter. And right off a Mullen faceoff win, Nick Caccamo added another goal 10 seconds later to make it 8-4.

The Orange outscored the Crimson 3-1 in the third quarter to slightly dent the advantage, but still entered the fourth quarter trailing 9-5. With its season on the line, Syracuse needed a near-miraculous final-quarter showing.

Harvard struck first, as Jack Speidell roofed a shot to worsen the Orange’s prospects. English responded with a goal of his own, but Syracuse needed a more sufficient spark. Rhoa completed his hat trick. Trey Deere scored from just outside the crease, trimming it to a three-goal deficit with 10 minutes to go. Even with SU’s offense humming, it looked like it was too little too late to keep its season alive.

But, the momentum kept building. Chuck Kuczynski scored SU’s third goal in 40 seconds to produce a booming cheer from the crowd. All of a sudden, Syracuse was within two goals, had all the momentum and 9:38 to work with.

The momentum kept building and the Orange goals kept coming. Five goals — three man-up — in 1:40 tied the score at 11-11. In the blink of an eye, SU had gone from dead and buried to rising from its grave and taking the Crimson, and the game, by the jugular.

With its season suddenly on life support, Harvard’s Owen Gaffney jolted it back to life with six seconds left in the fourth quarter, scoring to end a 10-minute goal drought. This rollercoaster of a game headed to overtime.

After Mullen won the faceoff, Hiltz called game with a mazing run and tight finish. They’ll be talking about this fourth quarter for some time in upstate New York, where a goalscoring frisson reinvigorated Syracuse and kept its season alive.

Published on May 11, 2025 at 8:08 pm
Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu | @nalumkal