Syracuse wants to win it all. It might have to burn a few boats to get there.
Syracuse opened its season with a dominant 13-6 win over No. 17 Boston University. Joey Spallina helped power the Orange to the win, notching five points. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer
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The tone for Syracuse’s season-opening win over No. 17 Boston University was set in December. Billy Dwan III recalled a video sent by defensive coordinator John Odierna about former Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, who rose to prominence during his 1519 invasion of Mexico.
The legend of Cortés originates from his decision to have his ships destroyed when arriving in Mexico. It left his army with no chance to retreat. So, they had two choices: conquer the Aztec Army, or perish. The former occurred.
Applying that theme to Syracuse is simple. The Orange want to win a national championship, and they’re ready to give everything for it. So, over an hour before the opening faceoff, every SU player came out in orange T-shirts with blue lettering on the back.
The words?
Burn the boats.
“That’s the message. We’re gonna stick to our goals, we set out to do, and we’re gonna die trying to do it,” Dwan said postgame. “Or we’re gonna, hopefully, take back someone’s boat. So that’s kind of the mentality, the mindset. There’s no Plan B, only ways through.”
Much like Cortés, Syracuse (1-0, Atlantic Coast Conference) wants to be ruthless. 2026 is the most consequential season since Gary Gait took over in 2021 and the sense of urgency is as high as can be. Although it wasn’t perfect Sunday, the Orange passed the first of many tests that await them, defeating BU 13-6. Joey Spallina led the way with three goals and two assists, while four other players recorded two goals. John Mullen also went 14-of-19 from the faceoff X.
Plenty of tougher challenges await Syracuse. But it did what it needed to Sunday — it won.
SU’s Final Four loss to Maryland in May left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. Especially Dwan. Knowing he’d never get to play with guys like Owen Hiltz, Sam English and Michael Grace still hurts.
“Everybody’s really hungry to win,” Dwan said. “So super happy, super looking forward to the rest of the year. And that’s kind of the mentality, I’d say, is we’re pretty hungry.”
Prior to the season, everyone kept asking Gait the same question. “How are you going to be?” The truth is Gait wouldn’t even have a partial answer until Sunday. And still it’s only one game.
“I said, ‘We’ll see after we play somebody,’ so at least we have a base now of what we’re capable of and the areas that we can tweak and work on,” Gait said. “Really, it’s just about guys that are going to now take a look at themselves and say, ‘What can I do better this week so that we can execute at a higher level?’”
BU was a solid opening act to Syracuse’s season. The Terriers were one game away from making the NCAA Tournament last season and present challenges with their 10-man ride. Syracuse went 10 minutes in between goals in the first quarter, which was a mix of poor shot accuracy and solid saves from Connor Phillips.
Eventually, Syracuse found its footing. Spallina rifled home a shot from distance before freshman Bogue Hahn got his first career goal 27 seconds later, making it 3-1.
BU head coach Ryan Polley wanted to prevent Syracuse from scoring four or five goals in a row, which it has a knack of doing, especially at home. BU followed that game plan, staying within two goals for most of the first half.
The Terriers’ ride gave Syracuse headaches. It was Gait’s biggest concern during the week.
After Polley failed to implement it up much in the first quarter, SU was flustered by it in the second. Syracuse couldn’t get the ball to its midfielders, so defenders like Billy Dwan and Riley Figueiras were forced to chuck the ball down the field in hope that a teammate would be the first person to the opposite end line. The stats say the Orange finished 22-of-25, but that’s because any shot is counted as a clear.
There were plenty of times where the long hurls ended with BU getting possession.
“Looking back at it, we probably would have done a couple different things, cleared some space and probably just dodged one to clear it,” Gait said. “We’ll make those adjustments moving forward.”
Arguably the biggest play of the game saw Syracuse break that pressure. Leading 5-3 late in the first half, SU got possession and Dwan launched a ball downfield to Finn Thomson. He fired to a wide-open Payton Anderson on the other flank. Luke Davis and Phillips closed down the angle, but Anderson played a simple pass to Wyatt Hottle, who scored with a second remaining.
BU never got within three goals the rest of the game. Coming out of the half, Leo roofed a righty shot on the run. Mullen won the ensuing faceoff, and hit a behind-the-back pass to Vincent Bolognino to set SU off to the races. Bolognino drew a defender, swung to Hottle, who shifted again to Spallina for the score.
Two goals in 12 seconds. That’s how easy it can be for this team.
Syracuse did it again later in the quarter. A Rhoa howitzer snuck by Phillips, and Mullen took the ensuing faceoff the entire way to make it 10-5. This time, it was eight seconds in between goals.
“I thought our guys controlled the game throughout,” Gait said. “They won every quarter and played very smart. And I think we’re only going to get better as we go.”
Polley wanted to make Spallina into a shooter. That was evident by his 12 shots, the most he’s taken since an 18-10 win over Colgate on Feb. 5, 2024. BU’s mistakes came when a short stick midfielder got switched onto the senior. And when you fall asleep on the Tewaaraton Award favorite, you’re going to get punished.
Spallina scored the lone goal of the fourth quarter, capping off a solid start for SU.
There are still things to clean up, which Gait acknowledged, like the clearing issues and some turnovers — SU had 17 total — but nobody’s the finished product in the opening game.
The truth is, Syracuse is as talented of a team as there is in the country. The goal is simple, and the talk of winning a national championship won’t disappear. It’s going to be the theme throughout the season.
To some, that can be a dark cloud hanging over a program. The expectations can be too much. Although pressure is synonymous with Syracuse lacrosse. As the program with the most national championships in college lacrosse, the weight to deliver is heavy. Especially when so much is riding on this season.
Syracuse is embracing that burden. It’s going to lay it all on the line this year. And it’s ready to burn a couple boats to do so.
