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Syracuse’s Maryland nightmare is finally over.

Revenge is a dish best served cold. And the Orange handed an ice cold platter to the Terrapins Friday.

Nine months ago, UMD ended SU’s season in the Final Four. A defeated SU squad was full of slumped heads and raw emotion. It was the latest result in a 16-year run of despair at the hands of Maryland coach John Tillman.

Under Tillman, UMD had defeated Syracuse eight-straight times, including the last five with Gary Gait in charge. It seemed like SU would never solve the Maryland riddle.

Until Friday.

For the first time since 2009, No. 2 Syracuse (3-0, Atlantic Coast Conference) took down Maryland (1-1, Big Ten), defeating the Terrapins 11-9 to vanquish its demons. After eight-straight losses to UMD, the Orange finally got over the hump in front of 10,000-plus fans at the JMA Wireless Dome. Joey Spallina was immense, racking up four goals, while Syracuse’s defense locked all windows and doors in the fourth quarter to hold on for the win.

The victory will likely catapult the Orange to the No. 1 spot in Inside Lacrosse’s media poll for the first time under Gait. SU hasn’t held the top ranking since the 2020 COVID-19-shortened season, when it started 5-0.

This time, barring the emergence of another unprecedented global pandemic, Syracuse will get a chance to win it all.

“Just incredibly proud of the team effort,” Gait said postgame. “Top to bottom, coaching staff, everybody went to work this week, and did what they needed to do to get better and win the week.”

It was hard to ignore the stakes during the week. No. 1 vs No. 2 matchups don’t happen often in lacrosse. Let alone in February. Still, Gait downplayed the occasion on Tuesday, calling the contest a must-win game purely because it was SU’s next game.

Deep down, Gait probably knew what a win could do for Syracuse. Maryland has been SU’s nightmare since Tillman arrived in 2011. That year, the Terrapins defeated the top-seeded Orange in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals, thanks to a Grant Catalino overtime winner.

It’s been Maryland domination ever since. In four matchups from 2014-2023, it outscored Syracuse by 19. The Orange’s closest call under Gait came in 2024, when Michael Leo’s overtime goal was disallowed due to a goal mouth violation in overtime. George Stamos ended the game seven seconds later.

In 2025, Syracuse was dispatched handily, first in College Park and then at Championship Weekend. Was this year going to be much of the same? The answer was a definitive no.

The Orange outplayed the Terrapins, trailing for less than five minutes and holding at least a two-goal cushion in the second and third quarters.

Does that mean a weight is lifted from Syracuse?

“No, not really, no weight,” Gait said. “It’s February, it’s the third game of the year. But it was a nice step and, to be honest, we just executed better to get past them … Today, our focus was on us, and how we were going to be prepared to do what’s asked of (us).”

Syracuse’s execution is Gait’s biggest point of pride. Maryland’s modus operandi is it doesn’t beat itself. Tillman always has his team well-drilled. Whether it’s patient offensive possessions or a smothering defense, Maryland always seems to out-execute its opponents.

It’s why Syracuse has struggled with the Terrapins in the past. In pressure moments, it would crumble. SU’s typically slick offense always seemed to come to a screeching halt against Tillman. This year was different, which Gait pointed out. The Orange beat the Terrapins at their own game.

It started with Spallina. Against Will Schaller — the best defender in the country and arguably the nation’s best non-Spallina player — the attack needed to find a way to free himself. Last season, Spallina was held to five points across the two Maryland games.

SU’s game plan was to involve Spallina in as many picks as possible. At times, he played off-the-ball. But when he got the ball, it was almost certain a screen was coming.

Even if the pick didn’t force a switch, it still created some space. Spallina got his day started with a transition goal off a feed from Finn Thomson to make it 2-2. Later in the quarter, freshman Bogue Hahn set a beautiful screen to take Schaller out of the play. Spallina then pinballed around before his shot beat Brian Ruppel.

“Our plan is to just do what Coach is asking (of) us,” Spallina said. “If that means you’re playing off the ball to start possessions — where they have to slide — and then I’m on a different player, that’s what I’ll do at the end of the day.

“I’m doing whatever I have to do to win the game. And hey, if that’s me sitting on the crease and shooting the ball, I’m all for it.”

Once Syracuse got the lead, it never gave it up. Wyatt Hottle put Syracuse up 4-2 at the end of the first quarter. For the next 21 minutes and two seconds, Syracuse led by multiple goals.

Yet, it would be naive to think Maryland was ever going to go down lightly. Syracuse led 7-4 at halftime, but the Terrapins kept digging into the advantage. Eventually, Eric Spanos ripped one home, cutting Syracuse’s lead to 8-7 with nine minutes left in the third quarter.

Nervous energy started to creep through the Dome. Was it going to be the same old story, Maryland outclassing Syracuse?

Not if the Orange could help it. Leo wove his way through defenders to score a low bouncer, and after a short stick midfielder switched onto Spallina, he went to work. He teased the defender, maneuvering side-to-side, and capped it off with a lefty finish to put SU up 10-7.

When goals from Braden Erksa and Elijah Stobaugh brought it back to a one-goal game with 13 minutes left, that same palpable tension returned to the Dome.

Enter Hahn. With nine minutes remaining, the freshman rifled a low left-handed shot past Ruppel for the game’s final goal.

“It was a huge goal,” Gait said. “No question.”

Syracuse’s defense closed the game out from there. Billy Dwan III, Riley Figueiras and Jimmy McCool in net thwarted any Maryland threat from Spanos or Leo Johnson. McCool only had nine saves, but many of them swung momentum Syracuse’s way.

The realization of the upset started to set in when Spallina picked up a loose ball in his end, chucking it to the opposite end line with nine seconds left. Lost in the chaos when Maryland came downfield was the fact Syracuse had seven players on defense, meaning it was offsides.

But at that point, it was only a formality.

Instead of being haunted by another Maryland nightmare. Gait could sit back, relax and enjoy watching 10,000 plus fans lose their minds. The head coach called the Dome the “greatest place to play lacrosse.” It sure feels that way when your team knocks off the No. 1 team in the country.

Come Monday, Syracuse will be in a position it hasn’t been in under Gait, as the nation’s top-ranked team. It’s still only February, but SU’s win over Maryland put college lacrosse on notice.

The psychological weight of not beating the Terrapins has vanished. Now, it’s up to Syracuse to prove its victory wasn’t a fluke.

Published on February 13, 2026 at 8:28 pm
Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22