Syracuse earns 7 Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-American selections
Four Syracuse players were named to an Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-American team, and three additional players earned an honorable mention. Eli Schwartz | Asst. Photo Editor
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Syracuse earned seven selections on Inside Lacrosse’s Midseason All-Americans list, the publication announced Friday. The Orange’s total is tied with No. 2 North Carolina, which they face Saturday, and places them just behind No. 1 Richmond and No. 5 Princeton.
Joey Spallina was the Orange’s lone First Team selection, slotting in next to UNC’s Owen Duffy and Richmond’s Aidan O’Neil in the first-line attack. Michael Leo followed as a Second Team midfield selection, and SU had two senior defenders earn a spot on the Third Team — Riley Figueiras and Billy Dwan III.
Beyond that group, faceoff specialist John Mullen, midfielder Luke Rhoa and goalie Jimmy McCool were all named Honorable Mentions.
Spallina earned the top spot in Inside Lacrosse’s 2026 Preseason Top 50 Players list, and he’s justified that hype. With 23 goals and 55 points thus far, Spallina stands at 301 career points, just seven points shy of breaking Mikey Powell’s program record of 307. Spallina was also named to the First Team in IL’s Preseason All-Americans list.
Leo was expected to take an ever greater step forward in SU’s midfield, but he’s instead switched between attack and midfield regularly this year. He’s been sharing time with Spallina and Finn Thomson on SU’s top-line attack recently, scoring 21 goals and 36 points.
Figueiras and Dwan, meanwhile, have created a formidable defensive core that has only allowed over 12 goals in a game twice — to Harvard and Duke. Figueiras has 34 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers in 11 appearances, while Dwan has 18 ground balls and five caused turnovers.
Mullen, a junior, is the lone honorable mention who was previously named to an IL Preseason All-American team. He’s had a solid year with 132 faceoff wins at a 56.4% clip, but it’s a step back from his 283 wins and 63.0% win rate as a sophomore.
