Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

On June 15, 2019, Orlando Bowen realized his son Dante Bowen had a future in lacrosse. Orlando still remembers that moment.

Dante picked up the sport almost by accident at age 10, killing time during his brother’s swim lesson. Seven years later, in New Castle, Delaware, he was guarding one of the country’s top high school attacks. Dante was amid a tied North American Lacrosse Summer Invitational game against Primetime Lacrosse, a top-three program in the nation, per Orlando.

Orlando doesn’t remember the player’s name. He remembers the sequence.

Primetime’s attack, who Orlando called a “perennial tournament All-Star,” tried to dodge Dante, a short-stick defensive midfielder. Dante jolted him back. They reset and tried again. Same result. It had “all the makings of a moment,” Orlando said.

Orlando doesn’t remember exactly how — maybe Dante stripped him — but he ended up with the ball.

Dante’s Ontario-based Edge Lacrosse club team — featuring future Syracuse teammate Finn Thomson — was on the attack. Dante passed it to teammate Ty English, who gave it back to Dante. Ten seconds later, Edge scored. They eventually beat Primetime 9-8. Postgame, Dante was a magnet for college coaches.

“He might have found this thing,” Orlando remembers thinking. “At that point, it crystallized for me, and it became real for him, too, because of the things that happened after that game.”

Fast forward six years, Dante and English will share the field again this weekend. But they’ll be on opposing sides when No. 6 seed Syracuse (12-5, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) clashes with No. 3 seed North Carolina (13-4, 2-2 ACC) for the third time this season in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals. Both are in their fifth year of collegiate lacrosse. Dante’s path included four seasons at Ohio State before using his extra year of eligibility from a junior year Achilles tear to join the Orange this season.

Dante Bowen evades Georgetown’s Liam Connor during Syracuse’s win on March 22. Dante has scooped up 16 ground balls and caused 13 turnovers this season. Aaron Hammer | Staff Photographer

“I thought he had some untapped potential from Ohio State,” SU defensive coordinator John Odierna said. “You could come here and play a major role.”

With SSDMs Carter Rice and Nathan LeVine departing, Dante was SU’s sole transfer this year. Head coach Gary Gait emphasized that replenishing the position was needed in helping the program capture its first national title since 2009. SU’s staff also told Dante he could improve his professional prospects at SU, which he did, getting selected 30th in the 2026 Premier Lacrosse League Draft.

“We identified just knowing we were losing two senior mids, we felt like that was a position that we could really use another experienced player,” Odierna said. “Ultimately, Dante just became the most logical fit.”

After Dante graduated from Ohio State and the Buckeyes’ season ended in the NCAA Tournament First Round, he thought he’d reached the end of his collegiate career. But Dante had another year of eligibility from missing his entire junior campaign. Orlando reminded him, “You don’t want to ever regret that you didn’t use what you had.”

Dante entered the transfer portal in mid-June. He admitted he was “in limbo,” not knowing where he’d end up.

During that time, Orlando asked Dante what his dream school would be. Dante said Syracuse.

The feeling was mutual. He played box lacrosse with the Orange’s Joey Spallina, Jake Spallina and Trey Deere with the Orangeville Northmen in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League in summer 2024. Plus, he played with and against the fellow Canadian Thomson growing up. There was familiarity, and SU’s players advocated for Dante.

“It was somebody that the guys were comfortable with,” Odierna said. “We don’t try to bring in too many renegades.”

Odierna added the Orange did the same last season when they added Canadian defender/long-stick midfielder Michael Grace as a graduate transfer. Grace had played with former Orange player Sam English, Ty’s brother.

A week after entering the portal, Dante received a text from Gait asking if he’d be interested in visiting campus.

When Dante arrived, Gait told him SU needed a short-stick defensive midfielder — Dante’s position — to reach the next level and win a national championship.

“Once our (2025) season was over, it’s like, ‘OK, how do we get better next year?’ And he was at the forefront of our priority,” Odierna said.

After four years in Ohio State’s defensive system, Odierna said Dante needed to adjust to SU’s defensive scheme, which gives players more freedom to make decisions on the fly.

“Ohio State, among other programs, it’s just a little bit more structured,” Odierna said. “In the fall, Dante was not used to having as much freedom and being able to maybe be wrong, but it still be right in a way.”

Orlando praised his son for unlearning OSU’s scheme — probably the most valued life skill in the shifting world. Still, Dante admitted the new system took some getting used to.

Having familiarity with the Spallinas, Thomson and Deere helped Dante’s adjustment. Odierna said Dante had some class conflicts in the fall, which kept him from attending every practice. But he “turned a major corner” in a scrimmage at Army in October, Odierna said.

“That was a bit of a coming out party for him,” Odierna said. “He played fantastic. His confidence bloomed. Everybody’s confidence in him bloomed. And it was a cool moment for him. And he kind of never looked back after that.”

Dante has taken a major leadership role in the short-stick defensive midfield unit this season, Odierna said. It’s a position Odierna calls the “defensive lineman” of lacrosse — where you only get noticed if you make a mistake. Where the box score may not reveal if you had a good game. Where you have to be a “humble warrior,” Dante said, understanding the team comes before personal recognition.

With that in mind, Dante said a strong performance for him entails staying connected to the other six defenders, including the goalie, while stalling opposing offenses and forcing tough looks.

“Having an older guy who’s rock solid emotionally and is somebody you can lean on, he’s just very consistent across the board,” Odierna said of Dante. “When I got here, that position group was considered a weakness on the team. And I would say we’ve made some pretty big strides the last couple of years.”

Dante Bowen defends a North Carolina player in the ACC Tournament on May 1. Dante will be key as Syracuse faces UNC for the third time this season in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals Saturday. Eli Schwartz | Asst. Photo Editor

Early in the season, when SU trailed Penn 5-4 at halftime on March 1, Dante challenged the Orange to play with more toughness and grit, Odierna recalled.

“I know what we can do and we’re not doing that right now,” Odierna remembers Dante telling the team.

Even if the statistics tell an incomplete story, the PLL took notice. It was part of SU’s recruiting pitch. Odierna thought Dante had untapped potential at Ohio State, and Syracuse had recently turned graduate transfers into draft picks, like Grace, who was selected No. 22 by the New York Atlas last year.

“I mentioned that to him in our initial phone calls,” Odierna said. “You could come here and play a major role. If pro lacrosse is something you want to do, we could platform you for that.”

On draft day, April 14, the California Redwoods, whose general manager is Joe Spallina — the father of Joey and Jake — picked Dante at No. 30.

After the selection was announced, the telecast showed Syracuse’s watch party. Dante was sitting in the second row of SU’s small auditorium. Before he could even stand up, his Orange teammates rose to their feet and surrounded him in a maelstrom of high fives and pats on the back. Dante received the news like the rest of us — through the telecast — and is still in shock.

“I’m still kind of adjusting to it a little bit, but I’m really fortunate enough to have been selected in the draft among some of my great teammates,” he said.

Before heading to the PLL, Dante and Syracuse’s other five draftees have unfinished business. They’re gunning for the national championship. Just like Gait predicted, Dante is essential for that.

“He’s playing at the highest level of his career right now,” Odierna said.

Even though Dante has only been around the team for one season, committing to the program meant embracing the expectations and level of play, he said. Orlando reminded him that Syracuse chose him for a reason — now he had to justify it.

“(Orlando) wanted me to push myself harder than I’d pushed myself in the past to be better, so that when I came to Syracuse, being a veteran guy, being a fifth-year, being the only transfer, he wanted me to just be as prepared as I could and bring that compete factor,” Dante said.

Published on May 14, 2026 at 11:15 pm
Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu | @nalumkal