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James Williams, Gavin Takacs and Stephen Boscarino lined the railing of the stands, wearing No. 22 on their backs. But they weren’t just any fans. They showed up for their friend.

With that number, it’s obvious who the friend was: Joey Spallina. Syracuse’s NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal at Hofstra’s James M. Shuart Stadium Saturday meant Spallina was playing on his native Long Island. It also meant his hometown friends were in attendance.

Williams, Takacs and Boscarino — who all befriended Spallina when he moved to Mt. Sinai from nearby Rocky Point in seventh grade — screamed nonstop during No. 6 seed SU’s thrilling 13-11 victory against No. 3 seed North Carolina. Spallina logged six points in the win, dazzling his hometown friends and everyone else who tuned in.

“That UNC game was definitely the top game that we’ve all ever seen,” Williams told The Daily Orange Thursday, once his voice recovered from cheering Saturday. “The energy was just electric.”

Spallina is two games away from a national title. He’s openly discussed that objective since arriving at Syracuse. During his chase, he has vociferous votaries at his back.

“I’m still recovering only to ruin my voice again on Saturday, but it’s worth it,” Williams said.

Joey Spallina’s friends celebrate after one of his goals versus North Carolina. The group met Spallina in seventh grade. Courtesy of James Williams

The trio has frequently attended SU games — particularly NCAA Tournament contests — during Spallina’s Syracuse career. Williams, Takacs and five more of Spallina’s hometown friends will drive to Charlottesville at 5 a.m. Saturday to run it back at the Final Four, where the Orange meet No. 2 seed Notre Dame at 2:30 p.m. ET.

“Just seeing him work his ass off throughout his career and this isn’t surprising, but it’s still so awesome to watch,” Williams said. “I really think our friend group are some of the biggest diehard fans that ’Cuse has. And it’s just so awesome to see him perform, especially in person or go to Charlottesville this weekend as well.”

Williams said the UNC win was “the Super Bowl of his life.” The New Yorker compared it to the New York Knicks’ 22-point comeback win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals Tuesday night.

“Only it was 20 times that energy, what we were feeling,” Williams said.

Besides the three, many more loyal supporters made the neutral-site matchup feel like a Syracuse home game, Boscarino said. After every Orange goal, Takacs and Williams jumped out of their front-row seats in the bleachers and jawed with Tar Heel supporters a couple of sections to their right.

“Maybe doing some profanity,” Boscarino said. “Maybe, maybe not, calling out UNC fans.”

“Showing our love for the Orange,” Takacs jumped in.

Spallina scored two fourth-quarter goals to seal the win, which Boscarino said was “absolutely electric.” Spallina’s heroics sent the three of them “over the edge,” Takacs, who played college lacrosse at Stony Brook, added.

The first goal began with SU defender Billy Dwan III completing an airborne pass to keep the ball in bounds. Two passes later, Spallina rifled a shot home to give the Orange an 11-10 lead. With under three minutes left, Spallina scored again to hand SU a comfortable 13-10 advantage.

Postgame, Spallina embraced his vocal supporters and friends. Williams walked away from the hug with his ear coated in the face paint Spallina sports under his eyes during games.

“I had all my family here, a lot of my hometown friends, (you) probably saw them all wearing Joey Spallina 22 jerseys, going absolutely bonkers,” Spallina said postgame of the hometown support. “I don’t condone anything that they did or said.”

Joey Spallina stands on the James M. Shuart Stadium turf during Syracuse’s NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal win over North Carolina. The senior’s six points willed SU to its second straight Final Four. Courtesy of Jacob Halsema | The Newshouse

Boscarino said supporters screamed that Syracuse, its fans and Spallina were “the best.” They also threw friendly jabs at UNC’s side — “How some of the UNC players aren’t that good. How the UNC fans are not better than us. A couple of F-bombs dropped for sure.”

The trio’s antics started during Notre Dame’s win over Johns Hopkins, the first of Saturday’s doubleheader at Hofstra. Mikey Trepeta, who played for the Blue Jays, is another of the group’s friends from Mt. Sinai High School.

“It’s nice to know we get another crack at Notre Dame fans,” Takacs said of SU now meeting ND in the Final Four.

“They hate to see us coming because we’re in the same fit, so they know it’s us,” Williams chimed in.

Williams remembers meeting Spallina at a birthday party at Sky Zone Trampoline Park the summer before they entered seventh grade. Trepeta introduced them.

“He’s like, ‘Yo, this is Joey moving up to Mt. Sinai,’ and all I remember him saying was that he’s dirty at lax,” Williams said. “We found out real quick he was nice at lax.”

Once seventh grade started, Spallina was called up to play for the high school’s junior varsity team, which was “unheard of,” Williams said. Williams’ brother was on the JV team then, and when he attended games, Spallina was throwing behind-the-back passes.

“What the hell is he doing?” Williams remembers thinking.

Things haven’t changed. On the lacrosse field, Spallina was always “so much better than everyone,” Williams said.

The trio participated in football, basketball and lacrosse with Spallina at Mt. Sinai. Williams said Spallina was a “hard-ass hitter” in football, where he played quarterback and inside linebacker.

Boscarino remembers lining up against Spallina in a football pursuit angle drill in seventh grade. Boscarino thought he’d run past Spallina. Instead, Spallina knocked Boscarino to the ground.

During the summer, the friends would go out on Spallina’s boat on the Long Island Sound. They’d go fishing and clamming in hopes of catching dinner to make a clam pizza, Williams joked.

Joey Spallina’s hometown friends line the railing at Syracuse’s NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal victory over North Carolina. The group has frequently attended Spallina’s games throughout his SU career. Courtesy of James Williams

Once Spallina arrived at SU as the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2022 class and the biggest lacrosse prospect to choose the Orange in decades, he didn’t forget his hometown friends. Takacs, Boscarino and Williams visited Spallina in his second week on campus as a freshman. Their group chat, named “Autoboys” for a joke about their Mt. Sinai classmate and fellow Orange lacrosse player Dylan Sageder, started in eighth grade and is still active today.

“It would be so easy for someone in his position to be, like, ‘F–k my hometown friends.’ He’s got friends everywhere,” Takacs said. “He’s the best lacrosse player on the planet. But he’s texting us everyday. We’re texting in the group chat. He’ll just never switch up on us. He’s just such a genuine dude.”

For Takacs, watching Spallina’s lacrosse career up close has been “so sick but so predictable.” Boscarino added Spallina would wake up at 5 a.m. every morning to go to the nearby LA Fitness with his younger brothers, Jake and Brett.

“We’ve all just supported them like a brotherhood, not even just a friend group, and we’ve all been his biggest supporters throughout his career,” Williams said.

That support continues Saturday. You can find Williams, Takacs and Spallina’s other hometown friends on Scott Stadium’s railings, wearing No. 22 on their backs, showing up for their friend.

“Don’t expect anything less from all these boys, not just James and Gavin,” Boscarino said. “You can catch us in the front row again, all wearing 22. It’s hard to miss us. We will be there. We will bring the energy.”

Published on May 22, 2026 at 3:54 pm
Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu | @nalumkal