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In Syracuse’s last game, an 18-2 blowout of Manhattan Tuesday, it took a quarter for the Orange to fully find their offensive footing. The Jaspers led 1-0 after the first 15 minutes in large part due to goalie Connor Hepward’s performance. Hepward stood strong, recording nine first-quarter saves.

However, SU opened the floodgates offensively and clamped down on defense to run away with the lopsided win. It scored nine second-quarter goals and didn’t allow a score for the final 36 minutes.

Syracuse won’t have another easy game from here on out. Five of its final six games are against ranked opponents, and it still has its loaded Atlantic Coast Conference schedule upcoming. That gauntlet began Saturday versus Colgate, which boasts the fourth-best scoring offense yet the 15th-worst scoring defense in Division I.

The Orange only needed five seconds to unpick the Raiders’ defense, as Owen Hiltz broke the deadlock early. Then, SU largely grounded Colgate’s high-flying offense, with goalie Jimmy McCool recording 18 saves and holding the Raiders to two first-half goals. On attack, Joey Spallina broke the 200-point milestone and carved up Colgate’s defense with a career-high 11 points (five goals, six assists). The Orange survived a late Raiders rally to come out on top.

Here are some observations from No. 10 Syracuse’s (7-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) 16-12 win over No. 18 Colgate (5-4, 0-0 Patriot League) Saturday:

Mullen magic

John Mullen needs no introduction. Despite being a sophomore in the middle of his first season as a starter, he leads the nation with 118 faceoff wins while putting up a .674 faceoff winning percentage, fourth-best nationally.

With a clear advantage over Colgate’s faceoff men Johnny Hartzell and Kyle Rummel — who each mustered sub-.500 winning percentages — Mullen easily won the opening faceoff, raced upfield and fed the ball to Hiltz. Hiltz netted the finish for a near-instantaneous lead.

Mullen finished the first quarter 6-for-8 at the X and continued his dominance in the second. He showcased his stick skills on his third faceoff win of the third quarter when he sprinted down hill, then looped a behind-the-back pass to Spallina. Spallina passed the ball to Trey Deere, and he tucked the shot into the bottom corner. It was another strong day at X for Mullen, as he finished 18-for-31.

Milestone performances for Spallina, Hiltz

Hiltz’s finish to start the game put him at 199 points in his collegiate career. Fellow attack Spallina also entered sitting at 199, on the precipice of the 200-point milestone.

Then, at the 10:21 mark, on a finish that regained SU’s lead, both Hiltz and Spallina reached the landmark tally. Spallina provided the assist, dishing from X. And Hiltz added the finish, cutting and converting with aplomb.

Spallina became the second-fastest SU player to reach 200 points in 41 games, only trailing Tim Nelson’s 34-game mark. Though Spallina admitted Tuesday he’d rather have four national championships than any individual milestone.

Neither didn’t stop with his bicentennial point. Hiltz completed a first-quarter hat trick when he attacked down the right alley and blasted his shot past Colgate’s goalie Matt LaCombe. Leaving Spallina open at X, as he frequently was, is like giving Dracula the keys to the blood back — he’ll make you pay. Spallina connected with Deere in the first quarter for an assist, cut toward the net for his first goal and fed Sam English for his fifth point of the day.

With Colgate pulling within four points late in the third quarter, Spallina took control again, driving from X and beating the buzzer with one second left to extend SU’s cushion to five heading into the final quarter.

Both were productive, with Spallina finishing with a career-high 11 points and Hiltz contributing five.

Deere dazzles again

When Gary Gait said starting attack Finn Thomson would be out for “a while,” questions percolated on who’d replace him, especially as the Orange entered a make-or-break stretch in the middle of their season.

Deere, who only played five games as a freshman in 2024, started his third straight game against Colgate and again performed well, registering four goals. Deere’s connection with Spallina from playing box lacrosse for two summers in Canada was apparent again, as the two were on the same wavelength to create a 3-1 Syracuse lead.

In one fluid motion, Spallina received and fed a pass to a cutting Deere from X. Deere didn’t miss, slashing a shot home. The chemistry was displayed again in the third quarter, when Spallina selflessly found Deere in front for an easy finish.

Deere showcased he can do it the hard way, too, when he found the back of the net from an acute angle on the right goal line extended over the onrushing LaCombe.

Man-up neutralized

Like its offense as a whole, Colgate’s man-up unit is prolific. The crew is 13th nationally in conversion percentage (.481) with 13 goals on 27 extra-man opportunities. Yet, against Syracuse, which entered with the 20th-best man-down defense, the Raiders struggled to take advantage of numbers-up situations, going 2-for-8 on man-up opportunities.

First, when SU’s Billy Dwan was addressed a two-minute penalty for hitting a Colgate player in the head early in the first, the Raiders cashed in on the man-up advantage with a Ryan Favaro goal.

But from there, Colgate was held at bay on its next four man-up advantages of the half. Wyatt Hottle was called for an illegal body check as he crashed into Raiders’ faceoff man Rummel. Still, McCool made the save on the next play and SU’s Caden Kol forced a turnover as Favaro picked up the rebound. Michael Leo had to sit out for a minute for slashing, and again, McCool stalled Colgate’s efforts.

It seemed to go from bad to worse for Syracuse when Dwan was assessed a 30-second interference penalty while Leo’s penalty was still in effect, further attenuating the Orange. But McCool held firm in net and jump-started an attack for SU, where it beat the Raiders’ 10-man ride, setting Spallina up on the right wing. He placed the ball in an empty net as Leo’s penalty expired.

In the final 30 seconds of the first half, SU’s man-down unit again snuffed out a Colgate chance when Hiltz was called for holding. McCool denied a Jack Turner shot and saw out the rest of the half.

Don’t let the Raiders get hot

Colgate’s offense showed what it was capable of when it exploded for three goals in one minute in the fourth quarter to pull within two and set up a nervy finish. Casey Quinson netted a pair, with the second coming as he was falling down facing away from the goal. Seven seconds after the restart, Rory Connor roofed his shot and narrowed the deficit to two.

Following the big-time goal, though, two Raiders were assessed penalties, setting up a prime SU opportunity. The Orange capitalized, as Deere scored his fourth goal of the game from a tight angle on the right side of the goal.

Colgate earned a man-up opportunity in the final five minutes, but, like nearly all its other man-up moments, it ended with a McCool save. Another Raiders man-up advantage presented itself soon after, and this time, it made no mistake, moving within two goals again.

Spallina slammed the door shut though, allowing Syracuse to come away with the vital victory and weather the late Colgate offensive flurry.

Published on March 22, 2025 at 2:42 pm
Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu | @nalumkal