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HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — If you ever, for whatever reason, have to drive from Annapolis, Maryland, to Hempstead, New York, here’s some advice: don’t.

Because if, by some perverted act of karmic justice, you have to drive from Annapolis to Hempstead, you’ll have to go through a toll to get to the Lincoln Tunnel. Then, if you’re an idiot — like me — you might try to bypass the toll’s logjam, take the wrong exit and find yourself in Bergen County, New Jersey.

When I took the wrong exit, Google Maps said I was 90 minutes away from Hofstra. I drove through about three New Jersey boroughs before reaching Fort Lee, where I got stuck on a street called Park Avenue. The problem with Park Avenue is that it’s backed up to oblivion with drivers trying to reach the George Washington Bridge. The traffic light is a perpetual flashing red. Nary a green in sight.

Nobody’s moved in eons. It’s been at least 45 minutes, and Google Maps still says I’m 90 minutes away. I felt like Sisyphus, condemned to lift the same boulder up a mountain for eternity, watching my efforts get endlessly erased.

Syracuse men’s lacrosse knows the feeling. Sisyphean is the perfect adjective to describe its slow climb back to relevance. When SU’s current seniors graduated high school, the Orange hadn’t made the Final Four since they were in third grade. In 2022 — Gary Gait’s first year at the helm — Syracuse went 4-10, its worst record in 47 years. The once-mighty Orange had fallen hard.

My solution to shortening my commute was simple — reach the George Washington Bridge. Gait’s solution to returning Syracuse men’s lacrosse to glory was simple, too. He just had to get SU’s 2022 recruiting class in the building.

“Obviously, we knew where we were at Year 1, 4-10. It was tough,” Gait said after Syracuse’s NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal win over North Carolina. “We’ve been in the mix ever since.”

In the mix puts it mildly. Here’s a more direct assertion. This season has been a never-ending discussion of legacy, specifically about where Syracuse’s vaunted senior class will stand among the program’s greats. No matter what happens in Charlottesville this weekend, the conversation is over. With its win over UNC, this senior class has stamped its legacy as the group that made Syracuse lacrosse relevant again.

“I’m super proud of all these guys,” Gait said postgame. “They were incredible today, all year and the last four years to get us where we’re at.”

Thousands of Syracuse fans stand in the bleachers during SU’s NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal win over North Carolina. Per Inside Lacrosse’s Terry Foy, the second, fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th-biggest crowds of the men’s lacrosse season have featured the Orange. Courtesy of Jacob Halsema | The Newshouse

SU’s victory over the Tar Heels booked its second consecutive trip to Championship Weekend. Seven teams have reached the Final Four in the past two years — Syracuse, Penn State, Maryland, Cornell, Princeton, Duke and Notre Dame — and the Orange are the only ones to make it in both seasons.

Before defeating Duke in last year’s Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, SU hadn’t won an ACC title since 2016. Before qualifying for the Final Four by beating Princeton a few weeks later, the Orange hadn’t reached Championship Weekend since 2013. Before Saturday’s win over UNC sent it to Charlottesville, Syracuse hadn’t been to consecutive Championship Weekends since 2008-09.

Here are some fun facts about May 2009. For starters, the person writing this column had just turned 3. The iPhone 3GS was about a month away from its release. And Drake — the ubiquitous Canadian rapper who briefly broke Spotify by releasing three albums simultaneously last week — hadn’t released his debut studio album, “Thank Me Later.”

It’s been a while since Syracuse was atop the lacrosse world. Former longtime head coach John Desko had occasional glimmers — a national championship game appearance in 2013, a 5-0 start to 2020 — but ultimately couldn’t bring SU the title it craved.

When Gait took over after Desko’s retirement, The Daily Orange’s feature story on him — aptly titled, ‘RETURN TO DOMINANCE’ — began with the following sentence:

“Within days of returning from Championship Weekend, Charlie Lockwood remembers Syracuse parents making plans for the same weekend next year.”

At the time, it was a prudent cost-cutting move. After the 2000s, it would’ve been seen as nothing but disgraceful hubris. In the decade before Gait’s arrival, if a parent booked a hotel for Championship Weekend a year in advance, the several hundred bucks they’d spent would’ve been better off donated to charity.

And it wasn’t just Final Fours that were missing. The whole program had lost its luster. The No. 22, lacrosse’s most famous number, was stained after Chase Scanlan’s domestic violence arrest in 2021. The No. 11, the sport’s greatest defensive number, hadn’t had an SU defender reach the Final Four since Brian Megill in 2013.

But look at No. 22 now. There’s Joey Spallina, breaking Syracuse’s all-time points record and entering his second Final Four as a Tewaaraton Award favorite. Look at No. 11, too. There’s Riley Figueiras, locking down opponents’ best weapons with ease and steering SU’s defense to consecutive Final Fours.

Syracuse players surround goalie Jimmy McCool after SU defeated North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals. McCool, one of 10 seniors on the Orange, has helped restore Syracuse’s national relevance over the past few years. Courtesy of Jacob Halsema | The Newshouse

You’d be lying if you said those numbers’ legacies aren’t as strong as they’ve been in decades.

“It’s a f—ing blessing to wear No. 22,” Spallina said on ESPN’s telecast after the UNC win.

You’ve made it a blessing again, Spallina.

When he and Figueiras arrived as part of Syracuse’s 2022 recruiting class, it was the highest-rated group in the country. Eleven four-plus star recruits brought a winning pedigree and similar expectations.

Billy Dwan III previously told The D.O. that the group came to SU knowing they wanted to overhaul the program.

“When you have a bad year, your culture tends to lack, and you just end up not doing the things you’re supposed to,” Spallina added.

It took four years, but they did it gradually, with extra workouts and shoot-arounds after practice. The players certainly care now.

The fans do, too. If you persevere through Park Avenue and cross the George Washington Bridge, you’ll find Yankee Stadium, the domicile that houses Spallina’s favorite comparison for Syracuse lacrosse: the New York Yankees. In all honesty, the Yankees are only the Yankees because people love to watch them lose, and when you look at Syracuse’s attendance figures, the comparison seems pretty damn accurate.

The Orange are villains again. Championship or not, that’s the class of 2022’s legacy.

None of its members will ever say the job is done, not as long as they’re still vying for a national championship. But no matter what happens in Charlottesville, these seniors are etched in stone, forever united in Orange lacrosse lore. They brought an ACC championship to SU. They restored the program’s Championship Weekend expectations. They elevated the sport’s most hallowed numbers.

They gave people a reason to watch Syracuse lacrosse.

“You know,” Gait began, sitting at the podium after SU’s win over UNC, “we’re relevant again.”

Mauricio Palmar is a Development Editor at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at mjpalmar@syr.edu or on X @mpalmarDO.

Published on May 22, 2026 at 12:15 am
Contact Mauricio: mjpalmar@syr.edu | @mpalmarDO