Jimmy McCool benched for 2nd time in career in Syracuse’s loss to UNC
Jimmy McCool was benched for the second time in his career during No. 3 Syracuse’s 14-9 defeat to No. 2 UNC. Aaron Hammer | Staff Photographer
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Every goalie dreads making the walk. Hearing your name called from the sideline, instructing you to come out of the cage in place of someone else. There’s a loneliness in sauntering off the field, knowing you failed your team.
Jimmy McCool has seldom done that during his two years as Syracuse’s starter.
Once, to be exact. Saturday was the second.
As Mason Szewczyk pinged a shot into the top right corner for North Carolina’s 12th goal, Gary Gait made the call. McCool was benched.
The senior walked through the substitution box and headed to the dugout on the sideline. McCool placed his stick on top of his head. All he could do was stare into the nothingness of the brick facade. Gait followed him there. A quick conversation ensued and McCool made his way to the sideline.
Still distraught, McCool squatted down next to his teammates and lifted his helmet half off his head, trying to ponder what went wrong.
For McCool — and Syracuse — everything did. McCool made just seven saves on 19 shots as No. 3 Syracuse (9-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) was handily defeated by No. 2 North Carolina (10-1, 1-0 ACC) 14-9. His 36.8 save percentage was a season-low and the fourth-worst of his career as a starter. Michael Ippoliti saved four of the six shots he faced in relief, in an attempt to spark an SU comeback, but the Orange never got their deficit under three after trailing by as many as six.
“We just needed to change something up,” Gait said of benching McCool postgame. “They were scoring (and) they had quite a lead, so we need to do something to try and change momentum. And Michael Ippoliti does a great job in practice, and just wanted to give him a chance.”
Gait gave a definitive answer when asked if McCool was SU’s starter going forward.
“Jimmy’s our starter, and we haven’t made any changes to that,” he explained. “Just today, we gave (Ippoliti) a shot and thought he did pretty well.”
McCool’s been here before. His last benching came when he saved just five shots and let in 10 in a loss to Harvard last year. McCool bounced back and earned ACC Goalie of the Year. He also won ACC Tournament MVP and anchored the Orange to their first Final Four appearance since 2013.
Across Syracuse’s final nine regular-season games, McCool saved 55.5% of the shots he faced. He was also 60% in two ACC Tournament games versus Duke and Notre Dame.
This time is a little different. McCool’s first benching came last February. Now it’s April, and Syracuse has three regular-season games remaining.
The goalie has also been trending downwards, despite SU winning six straight games. In Syracuse’s last four contests, McCool is saving 46.5% of the shots he’s faced, well below his average of 54.2% this season and 53.5% last season.
Numbers don’t always tell the whole story. Syracuse has been winning despite McCool being under 50% in four of the last five contests. He also made four key stops in Syracuse’s 16-15 win over then-No. 6 Duke last week.
Still, McCool’s performance Saturday is cause for concern. Good goalie play is required to win national championships. Wyatt Knust was solid for Cornell last season. Liam Entenmann — one of the greatest college keepers of all time — led Notre Dame to back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. Logan McNaney was the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player in Maryland’s 2022 National Championship run.
North Carolina’s offense was always a dangerous proposition for Syracuse’s defense and McCool. Dominic Pietramala is arguably the best shooter in the country, and Owen Duffy is as slick as they come.
Syracuse’s defense didn’t do its goalie any favors. Pietramala — who finished with a game-high five goals — Duffy and the rest of UNC’s supplementary options peppered McCool all game. Shots from distance found the top corner. Easy crease dumps inside were simple. Transition strikes also popped up.
North Carolina only finished with five more shots than the Orange (41 as opposed to 36) and one more shot on goal (25 to 24). However, the quality of the looks was completely different. Pietramala somehow found himself wide open on numerous occasions. In the first quarter, Syracuse struggled to defend the back side, leading to easy finishes.
Outside of a couple quick bursts in the first and fourth quarters, Syracuse’s offense was also a slog. The Orange went scoreless for 15 minutes and had 10 of their 14 turnovers in the first half, while UNC scored six straight goals.
The Tar Heels are always going to have a possession advantage, with Brady Wambach at the faceoff X. The best faceoff specialist in the country entered Saturday with a 71% win rate. John Mullen and Drew Angelo kept him at 50% in the first half, but Wambach ended up 16-for-26.
Wambach’s dominance can be thwarted with good goalie play. Syracuse clearly didn’t get that at Dorrance Field. Meanwhile, McCool’s counterpart, Josh Marcus, had the best game of his young career. The freshman made a season-high 15 saves and denied 62.5% of Syracuse’s shots on target.
“We had open looks too,” Gait said. “Everybody gets open looks, you just got to get some stops and have your goalie make some saves. “(Marcus) made a bunch of saves on our open looks, and we didn’t make them. So that’s just the way the ball bounces.”
Being a goalie can be lonely. Plaudits arrive after good performances, while blame gets shouldered after bad ones.
Yes, defenses can make a difference by giving favorable looks, but it’s still up to goalies to make stops. Get in a rhythm, and the ball looks like a beach ball. Once in a funk, it turns microscopic and an avalanche of bad performances can follow.
Nobody can get inside McCool’s head to figure out his psyche. After his worst performance of the season, the goalie’s confidence likely isn’t high. What’s important for McCool and Syracuse is not letting this performance impact the final stretch of the regular season and postseason. The Orange’s defense is good, but they’re not going to win a national championship with subpar goalie play.
If McCool’s performance against North Carolina is an indication of things to come, then it might not be the last time he has to make that dreaded walk to the sideline.
