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BALTIMORE — Syracuse and Johns Hopkins are collegiate lacrosse’s greatest rivals. But, per S.L. Price’s recent ledger on the sport, their rivalry took a while to heat up.

The Blue Jays won nine of the schools’ first 10 meetings. With eight of those wins under JHU’s belt in 1971, it didn’t bother scheduling Syracuse anymore. Then-Johns Hopkins head coach Bob Scott said JHU would be better off playing against itself.

That statement irked SU head coach Roy Simmons Jr. When the schools collided in the 1983 national championship, Simmons addressed a Piscataway, New Jersey, ballroom made up of both teams on the eve of the title game. His speech began by seemingly purposely omitting the ‘S’ in Johns Hopkins. It ended with a pointed prediction.

The next day, the sky that dawned “Blue Jay blue” would end in an Orange sunset.

Simmons Jr. was right — but he needed a near-miraculous comeback to do so. Eight Orange goals in eight minutes pushed Syracuse to its first national championship with a 17-16 win. In the immediate aftermath, Scott offered his congratulations on the Piscataway turf, and said the teams should start playing every year.

Forty-three years and 53 matchups later, the rivalry was rekindled Saturday. And, despite a gloomy gray day in Charm City, the Orange reigned supreme in the end. No. 10 Syracuse (5-2, Atlantic Coast) defeated No. 11 Johns Hopkins (4-2, Big Ten) 12-8, its third straight victory in the rivalry. Joey Spallina had seven points, while Maryland native Luke Rhoa had four to propel SU’s attack.

Meanwhile, goalie Jimmy McCool saved 63.6% percent of the shots on goal he faced, and Billy Dwan paired his own defensive efforts with two goals to push the Orange across the line.

Per Spallina, Syracuse’s conversation all week was “getting back to our flow.” Dodging hard. Drawing someone and kicking it forward.

He wanted to return to SU’s identity to reinvigorate its national championship hopes in its consequential 2026 campaign — the type of team Simmons Jr. coached to six titles and in his legendary bouts with Johns Hopkins.

Spallina wanted to return to the proper identity the Orange showed in their first three games of the season, accentuated by defeating then-No. 1 Maryland. Spallina wanted to jettison the SU of the last three games — the one that lost at No. 4 Harvard and No. 3 Princeton, plus needed overtime to overcome No. 18 Penn.

“The two Ivy League games (at Harvard and Princeton), I don’t think were Syracuse lacrosse at all,” Spallina said. “Penn, I think we started to do it a little bit towards the end of that game.

“I think today was the first time in a bit where we looked like ourselves,” Spallina added later.

Yet, when Saturday’s match started, it looked like the SU that had stumbled in its last three games had made the trip to Baltimore.

“The game definitely started out pretty sloppy,” he said of the teams’ 14 combined first-quarter turnovers. “Clearing the ball was tough for both (teams). Bunch (of) offsides.”

Gait thought the Homewood Field atmosphere “amped up” his team. That high-energy caused some of those early mistakes, he said. But the head coach was proud the Orange got through the “messy part” of the game and started executing.

Spallina oversaw Syracuse’s return to its proper identity, and it’s no wonder that he sparked it. He connected with Finn Thomson to make it 2-1 midway through the first quarter. Then, the same combination struck pay dirt early in the second quarter.

The Baltimore Symphony’s Marin Alsop might want a word. There’s a new conductor in town, and his name is Joey Spallina.

The Orange passing hit an allegro rhythm, but they stayed on song and created an anthemic tune of destruction on their fourth goal. Vincent Bolognino dropped one in front of net to Thomson. Thomson dished it once more to Billy Dwan III. Dwan applied the finishing touch against the team his father coached for.

The sloppiness was gone. The goals started getting poured on like Old Bay seasoning on a blue crab leg. Blue is right. The Blue Jays compiled 53 shots Saturday to Syracuse’s 33, but McCool held firm with 14 saves.

Despite Johns Hopkins peppering SU with attempts, Dwan said the Orange had a good sense of what JHU’s attacks’ strengths and strong hands were, which helped neutralize them.

“A lot of Canadians (on JHU), so obviously more skilled, but more one-handed (players),” Dwan said. “And then just knowing their ‘knowns’ and trying to shut those guys down.”

Dwan noted 68.9% of the Blue Jays’ goals have been assisted this year, so he and Syracuse aimed to “make them earn it a little bit more,” Dwan said.

Once the Orange did have the ball, Gait emphasized pushing the pace.

“After our last couple games, we wanted to focus on bringing back some transition and scoring some goals that we didn’t have to possess the ball and play six-on-six the entire time,” Gait said. “So, I think we accomplished our goal today.”

Dwan was on the end of a transition attack in the third quarter, pile-driving a shot past JHU goalie Oran Gelinas in the netminder’s first start of the season. That put the score at 7-4. Johns Hopkins went on a 10-2 scoring run to secure a 14-13 comeback win at Virginia last week. There would be no dramatics this time around.

“A win is a win,” Gait said dryly postgame. “As far as I know, they all count the same. But it’s nice when you can get a bit of a cushion, kind of ride out the end of the game and not have to try and do it in overtime or the last seconds of the game.”

To begin the fourth quarter, Spallina cashed in on a man-up opportunity to make it 8-5. Fifty-six seconds later, the Orange had their largest lead of the day after Rhoa’s second strike. A Chuck Rawson dent to SU’s lead was answered in earnest when John Mullen won the ensuing draw — part of a 11-for-20 day at X — and dashed downfield. The move was capped with Mullen’s second goal of the season.

The goalscoring picked up as if both teams were throwing haymakers in the final round of title fight — a place these two teams are used to facing each other. But with the Orange matching each Blue Jay blow, Syracuse held onto the lead.

The ending was the same as Simmons prophesied and delivered. Even in the dreary conditions, Simmons might’ve recognized the Orange out there. Per Spallina — the latest man to don the program’s hallowed No. 22 jersey — SU looked like how Syracuse lacrosse should. And few things signal that more clearly than beating rival Johns Hopkins.

“It wasn’t the cleaning scheme, but we did what we needed to have success and walk away (with a win),” Gait said. “Great effort by the defense, offense when we needed it. And happy to start spring break with the W.”

Published on March 7, 2026 at 3:17 pm
Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu | @nalumkal