What Gary Gait, key players said before SU’s NCAA Tournament run
Fresh off an ACC Tournament title, Gary Gait and key Syracuse players talked about how the Orange can continue their postseason success in the NCAA Tournament. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
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The night before each game, a select Syracuse player gives a speech at team dinner. Michael Grace took that responsibility in Charlotte on May 1, one day prior to SU’s Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament First Round matchup with top-seeded Notre Dame.
Grace, a transfer long-stick midfielder who’s a Division III national champion from the Rochester Institute of Technology, spoke about what he thinks are the keys to winning a title. He said every team he’s on that succeeds plays freely and approaches the game as if it’s backyard lacrosse. Teams that don’t succeed, in turn, play static. Grace, while trying to amp up Syracuse’s excitement, just wanted the Orange to focus on having “fun.”
“‘Where else would you rather be?’” junior defender Billy Dwan III recalled Grace asking the team in Charlotte.
SU took Grace’s message in stride, embarking on an ACC-title-winning run to secure the program’s first conference championship in nine years. Dwan says the mindset entering the NCAA Tournament remains the same. If the Orange play relaxed and maintain discipline, they don’t feel anyone else can match them.
“For this team, (it’s about) playing fun, playing loose and just knowing the difference between playing loose and slacking off,” Dwan said.
Here’s what No. 6 seed Syracuse’s (11-5, 2-2 ACC) key members had to say on Friday before it begins its run in the 2025 NCAA Tournament:
What went right in Charlotte
Wins over No. 1 seed Notre Dame and No. 3 seed Duke sealed SU’s first ACC Championship victory under head coach Gary Gait. It’s a distinction he’s looked to hold since becoming Syracuse’s men’s head coach before the 2022 season. Yet, ahead of this campaign, the Orange hadn’t even been to a conference title game in Gait’s tenure.
A lack of big-game success irked Gait. After Syracuse fell to Maryland back in February, he said the Orange needed to “learn how to win.” More recently, when SU lost to North Carolina in the JMA Wireless Dome to close the regular season, Gait lamented his team’s mistakes, saying that can’t happen in a conference like the ACC.
But last weekend, Syracuse played at a sustained level of excellence that it hasn’t displayed under Gait. And it resulted in an ACC title.
“It shows that we’re handling the pressure better, and we’re able to play well under pressure,” Gait said of SU’s ACC Tournament title. “So we’re hoping to take that into the NCAA Tournament and use that confidence to make a run.”
Syracuse’s players felt they were in the right mental state throughout the weekend, never setting their sights on future opponents. They knew their season was on the line with an early exit, and they played like it.
“We went into that weekend not being unsure of where we’re standing, and I think we just went into it thinking we needed to win that game on Friday,” Syracuse midfield captain Sam English said. “Just knowing that we needed to win with our backs against the wall, it’s been an important learning lesson for us.”
The triumph over Duke in the title game stood out to Gait in particular, but not just because of the nature of the victory. He thinks it was the most complete game SU’s exhibited all year. And, he’s probably right. The Orange won the ground-ball battle 37-20, had a 14-6 advantage at the faceoff X, outshot the Blue Devils by four, kept turnovers to a minimum and received strong play in net from Jimmy McCool. Gait hopes those trends persist throughout May.
“We executed pretty well in every aspect of the game,” Gait said of beating Duke. “And that’s again what I’ve been saying all year. (If) we put it all together, we can compete with anybody. And somehow, it all worked out that we put it all together for an ACC title.”
PLL pandemonium
Four Syracuse players got picked Tuesday in the 2025 Premier Lacrosse League Draft, which was the most of any Division I program this year.
English went third overall to the California Redwoods, attack Owen Hiltz was drafted eighth overall by the Carolina Chaos, Grace went 22nd overall to the New York Atlas and short-stick midfielder Carter Rice also went to the Redwoods at pick No. 29. SU players and coaches watched the draft live. A celebration broke out after each Orange player went off the board.
“It’s a dream come true,” English said of being drafted. “Since the PLL’s been a thing, it’s been an important part of my goals to be there, so that was awesome. And having three other guys get drafted was big for the program as well.”
Gait hypothesized both Grace and Rice raised their draft stock with their stout performances in the ACC Tournament. He said the PLL might’ve taken each player a little more “seriously” heading into the draft.
“Some of these guys are playing their best lacrosse right now, and I think people took that into account,” Gait said of the selections.
A 2nd crack at Harvard
Syracuse dropped to 3-2 on Feb. 22 after Harvard entered the Dome and thrashed SU’s back end. The Orange fell 15-14 in upset fashion despite dominating the faceoff battle 28-4.
Nearly three months have passed, and both teams are in very different places than they were before. Gait and SU’s players expect what happened in February to be thrown out the window by opening faceoff Sunday.
In terms of specifics, though, Gait didn’t offer much ahead of the rematch.
“You’re going to see a different look, a different game than you did that first time,” Gait said. “If we execute in all the areas, I think we’ll be in great shape.”
Sunday should be a marquee battle between two high-powered offenses — SU’s being led by Joey Spallina and Harvard’s being spearheaded by Sam King. But the goalie battle could define the first-round matchup.
Harvard five-star freshman Graham Stevens has boundless potential, though he’s vulnerable and inexperienced. For the Orange, McCool approaches a get-back game of sorts. He was benched in SU’s loss to Harvard after posting a lousy 5-of-15 mark on saves to start the day.
McCool soundly responded to his early-season blunder, earning ACC Goalie of the Year honors by tallying a .565 save percentage, the 11th-best total in D-I. Syracuse has an entirely different McCool than in February, and his teammates are confident he’ll deliver a crucial performance on Sunday.
“For us, it’s just huge seeing how much he’s developed on the field, obviously in the goal and in the pipes but also how vocal he’s gotten throughout the year,” Dwan said of McCool.
Having a consistent presence like McCool has jolted SU’s defense into being one of the country’s best units. Coached by defensive coordinator John Odierna, the Orange boast the No. 15 scoring defense (9.56 goals allowed per game) in D-I and are the nation’s eighth-most efficient defense, according to Lacrosse Reference. Against a deep Harvard attack, SU must remain steady defensively and build off its suffocation of Duke from the ACC Tournament.
Dwan acknowledges Syracuse’s history rests upon multiple layers of stud attackmen. He just wants the masses to recognize the dominance SU’s defensive unit has displayed in 2025 — oftentimes the driver behind this team’s success.
“We feel like we’re underappreciated,” Dwan said of the defense. “We don’t get the recognition we deserve. So for us, we play with the chip on our shoulder, an underdog mentality, and we’re going to fight and scrap for each other.”
