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Mounting college lacrosse’s summit three weeks ago, Syracuse earned the right to patronize those below it.

With championship expectations in head coach Gary Gait’s fifth year at the helm, the assumption is that SU can compete with anyone. But recently, it’s been the contrary.

The two teams that Syracuse sent home in the NCAA Tournament last year — then-No. 14 Harvard and then-No. 7 Princeton — got their revenge, beating the Orange. And while SU recovered against then-No. 19 Penn last Saturday, things were looking shaky.

The stakes remained above the clouds in college lacrosse’s greatest rivalry, another opportunity for the Orange to return to the pique of the nation.

Here are observations from No. 10 Syracuse’s (5-2, Atlantic Coast) 12-8 win over No. 11 Johns Hopkins (4-2, Big Ten):

Turnovers galore

Despite the loss to Harvard two weeks ago, the contest marked a turning point for SU in its ability to force turnovers. Heading into that game, the most turnovers it forced in a quarter was five. But the Crimson surrendered seven in the first and fourth quarters apiece.

Syracuse carried the momentum Saturday, jarring nine loose in just the first quarter and 16 total against the Blue Jays. SU’s prided itself in its feisty short-stick defensive midfielder group, helmed by Dante Bowen. The former Ohio State Buckeye whipped his pole at Carson Brown to jar the ball loose just over 30 seconds in.

Entering Saturday averaging 13 turnovers per game this season, JHU had 12 with about five and a half minutes left in the second quarter. Chuck Rawson gave up the ball two and half minutes into the frame, and that permitted defender Billy Dwan to work his way upfield to score.

While the Blue Jays recovered in the final three quarters, with just seven turnovers in the final 45 minutes, they dug themselves an inescapable hole in the first quarter.

Chauvette in check

Ranked as the No. 22 freshman ahead of his first collegiate season in 2024, attack Hunter Chauvette merited copious expectations. Emerging as a starter last year, he entered Saturday having tallied 39 goals throughout the last two seasons in just 19 appearances.

After scoring six times in last week’s triumph over Virginia, you’d think the junior would carry over the firepower early in Saturday’s matinee. But rather, the Orange were ferocious on defense, targeting Chauvette.

In the first quarter, he ripped a shot wide, and while the Blue Jays recovered, the junior gave up the ball for a clear. Less than a minute later, the Orange pressured Chauvette, and he missed wide of Jimmy McCool’s frame again. McCool got his stick on a later try in the first quarter, and Tyler McCarthy blocked Chauvette moments later.

The Blue Jays attack foiled 10 of his 11 shots on goal Saturday, with only four landing on goal. The six-goal spectacle turned into a one-goal disaster.

Spallina recovers

It’s been a little while since Joey Spallina showed the world why he was Inside Lacrosse’s No. 1 player ahead of the season and the Tewaaraton Award frontrunner. He disappeared against Princeton, not scoring a point for the first time since the 2024 NCAA Tournament. And even in Sunday’s clash with Penn, despite his scoring, he didn’t look like the Spallina of old.

A bout with Johns Hopkins brought the best out of him. A keen memory of last season’s contest was Spallina’s perfect execution of a one-of-a-kind rendition of the hidden ball trick. While Spallina pretended to rip a shot from the JMA Wireless Dome’s 40-yard line, Sam English ran the length of the field.

Spallina had some more tricks up his sleeve Saturday. A clean, smooth feed to Finn Thomson inside helped give SU a 2-0 lead early into the game. The Orange are undefeated when they strike first this season, and Spallina made sure that trend continued with a second early strike for SU. He later poached at X for Thomson again, feeding him a finish on a golden platter.

Down the stretch in the second half, Spallina floated into the JHU crease, and scored his first goal of the day while falling down. The senior scored again seconds into the fourth, receiving a pass from Luke Rhoa at the doorstep and evading Oran Gelinas for an important cushion.

It was a classic Spallina performance, one the Orange so desperately needed in college lacrosse’s greatest rivalry.

Sustained lead

No ranked game is ever safe for Syracuse, having trailed in its last four opportunities. While it dropped two of them, Saturday’s contest changed that.

The Orange never lost a quarter Saturday, in large part due to their sustained momentum. Striking first is part of that, and with SU entering 2-0 when scoring first, it was no secret that the initial Rhoa goal wouldn’t change that.

By virtue of a nine-turnover first quarter for the Blue Jays, SU found every possible way to assert its dominance. Constantly winning the faceoff battle, with John Mullen helping the Orange to 13 of their 23 tries, every small part made the difference.

There was a small scare early in the second quarter when the Blue Jays knotted things up at two with a Matt Collison goal. But three consecutive goals in that frame helped the Orange to a lead they didn’t relinquish.

Published on March 7, 2026 at 3:32 pm
Contact Jason: jaglick@syr.edu | @jason_glick