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For the first time since 2013, Syracuse men’s lacrosse is back in the Final Four.

No. 6-seed SU — after a rollercoaster season featuring one of the nation’s best offenses, two brutal losing streaks and its first Atlantic Coast Conference Championship since 2016 — defeated Harvard and No. 3 seed Princeton to secure a spot in the national semifinals. It completed an incredible six-goal comeback to shock the Crimson in the JMA Wireless Dome, then outlasted the Tigers in an eventual 19-18 quarterfinal victory.

Junior attack Joey Spallina steered the Orange back to Championship Weekend, tallying the game-winning assist against Harvard before exploding for an eight-point masterclass versus Princeton. Syracuse is riding a four-game winning streak into Foxborough, Massachusetts, playing its best lacrosse of head coach Gary Gait’s four-year tenure.

Though the Orange will face their Achilles heel on Saturday: Maryland. SU previously fell to UMD on Feb. 15 in College Park. Syracuse hasn’t defeated Maryland since May 16, 2009. Poetically, that was also the last year the Orange won an NCAA title. To reach the pinnacle of Division I lacrosse, they’ll have to go through the Terrapins first.

Here’s how our beat writers envision No. 6-seed Syracuse’s (13-5, 2-2 ACC) NCAA Semifinal battle with No. 2-seed Maryland (13-3, 3-2 Big Ten) to transpire Saturday in Gillette Stadium:

Cooper Andrews (11-7)
Party like it’s 2009
Syracuse 13, Maryland 11

John Tillman is Syracuse’s boogeyman. The Terrapins haven’t lost a single game to the Orange since Tillman took over the program in 2011, establishing a 7-0 record over the ACC powerhouse. The Orange have to eventually beat Tillman’s Terrapins to raise another national championship banner in the Dome.

And they’re ready to conquer their demons this time around.

Syracuse will shock Maryland in Gillette Stadium and advance to Monday’s title game. How? It all comes down to goalie play.

One trend has determined every Terrapins’ loss in 2025: when star goalie Logan McNaney plays poorly, they struggle. McNaney has finished at a save percentage below .500 only three times this season — against Michigan, Rutgers and Ohio State. All three were losses. Against Rutgers and Ohio State, Maryland faced first-quarter deficits of 5-1 and 6-1, respectively. These deficits didn’t stem from faceoff issues or an inability to snag ground balls. McNaney simply did not see the ball right, and the Terrapins couldn’t recover from his struggles.

If the Orange are going to pull off the upset, they need to shoot with a precision they’ve never displayed before. No matter what, Saturday’s game will be slower than a line at the DMV. But when the Orange do receive scoring chances, they must get their attackers active around the cage to put McNaney in tough spots.

It may take poking a hole in a voodoo doll to conjure up a poor McNaney performance Saturday. Though if any team can put Maryland’s cage protector on skates, it’s Syracuse.

Zak Wolf (10-8)
Been here, done that
Syracuse 9, Maryland 10

Throughout the season, I’ve said Syracuse can beat anyone in the country — except for Maryland. The Terrapins are a thorn in SU’s side that it can’t seem to remove. As Cooper mentioned, it’s been a long time since the Orange defeated Maryland. Players leave, systems change, but Tillman is the one constant through it all. The 15-year head coach knows how to win. It may not always be the prettiest, but it’s effective.

A couple of weeks ago, I took a jab at Tillman on social media. Maryland had just defeated Penn State in a Big Ten semifinal contest where the Terrapins were thoroughly outperformed by the numbers. Yet Maryland came out on top. I made the comment out of respect for Tillman’s squad. It’s not easy to win consistently in this sport, but he has. That’s why I think Maryland gets the job done.

Syracuse showed a lot of heart in its quarterfinal win over Princeton. It got a monkey off its back, which had been latched on for over a decade. It’s one thing to get to the Final Four. It’s another to try and take down a team that’s been a constant presence in it over the past decade.

Maryland simply won’t beat itself. The Terrapins know who they are: a gritty, experienced team with a lockdown defense. Will Schaller, who will be tasked with containing Spallina, is an eraser on the backend. Maryland doesn’t have a go-to guy on offense, but it consistently makes smart plays when it needs to. The Terrapins have been in this spot. They know what it takes on Championship Weekend. Syracuse’s inexperience in that department will be costly.

Nicholas Alumkal (10-8)
Testudo Takedown
Syracuse 11, Maryland 10

When Syracuse lost at Maryland in February, the Orange weren’t yet the team they are now. Back then, I boldly predicted that SU would finally exorcise its Terrapin-shaped demon. I was wrong.

I trusted Syracuse too much, too soon, and made the audacious call that it would win the national championship. That premature faith led me to overestimate the Orange’s readiness and predict a near-perfect season. But here’s the twist: my final prediction still lives. It just requires Syracuse to slay its bête noire — and this time, it will.

The Orange’s win over Princeton wasn’t just a quarterfinal victory — it was a statement. Syracuse didn’t just clear a hurdle; it barrelled through a wall of history. The offense was a pyrotechnic display of movement, pace and precision. And while the defense had its lapses, it rose when it mattered most, locking down the Tigers for the final 4:54.

That stand was anchored by McCool, who has evolved into a cornerstone in net. His growth mirrors the team’s. And Syracuse won despite John Mullen’s lackluster performance at the X.

If Mullen bounces back even close to his dominant self, Syracuse will control more possessions in what’s likely to be a gritty, low-scoring semifinal. This won’t be about highlight-reel goals. It’ll be about poise. Discipline. Edges measured in inches.

Maryland cracked Syracuse once this season. It won’t happen again.

This time, the Orange are ready.

Published on May 22, 2025 at 4:41 pm