S
yracuse men’s lacrosse came two games away from restoring itself as the kings of college lacrosse in 2025. After a decade-plus Final Four drought, the Orange found themselves with a chance at their 11th national championship. Instead, SU faltered, getting drubbed 14-8 by John Tillman’s Maryland.
After nearly tasting glory last season, Syracuse is hungry for more in 2026. It’s championship or bust. Everything Gary Gait has done the past four years has led to this moment. Syracuse has improved every season Gait’s been in charge, and the program’s next step is winning it all.
The Orange will begin the season ranked No. 3 in the country, only behind national runners-up Maryland and Princeton. A challenging schedule awaits the Orange, but with the pressure on, they’ll have to perform.
Here’s how our beat writers feel Syracuse will fare ahead of its pressure-filled 2026 season:
Zak Wolf
Back on top
12-3 (3-1 ACC)
MVP: John Mullen
X-Factor: Payton Anderson
Let’s not beat around the bush. This is Syracuse’s best shot at winning a national championship in a long time. The pressure is always on for SU because of its pedigree. This season, it’s ramped to the max, and it should be. The Orange are as talented as any team in the country, led by Joey Spallina — the Tewaaraton Award favorite — Michael Leo, Billy Dwan III and plenty of others. Syracuse’s senior-led squad has one more shot at reaching the pinnacle of college lacrosse.
Everything over the past three years has built to this moment, and I think Syracuse will be back on top of the college lacrosse world come Memorial Day weekend. Spallina is the best player in the country. Going off last year’s metrics, the team (Cornell) with the best player (CJ Kirst) won. Will Spallina hit Kirst’s level of dominance? Probably not, but he has enough to help the Orange win it all.
With John Mullen at the faceoff X, Syracuse will never be outmatched there. With Mullen supplementing the attack, SU’s offense will be potent, while Dwan and Riley Figueiras hold down the fort defensively.
The schedule is challenging, with SU facing nine NCAA Tournament teams from last season. But to be the best, you have to beat the best, and that’s why Gary Gait constructed this mammoth slate. It’s all to make Syracuse the best team possible come May. Gait’s challenge will pay off, and Syracuse will officially be “back.”
Nicholas Alumkal
New season, same result
12-3 (3-1 ACC)
MVP: Joey Spallina
X-Factor: Luke Rhoa
Gait has garnered acclaim for performing better each season he’s helmed his alma mater. He went from missing the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and 2023 to the quarterfinals in 2024 and, finally, the Final Four in 2025. That upward trajectory stalls out in 2026.
In SU’s best chance to win a national championship in years, it’ll fail to surpass the Final Four. Again. The Orange will be pulsating with wins over big programs like last year’s barnburners against Harvard and Princeton. Syracuse will be up to the test in its loaded schedule, including going 5-1 on its six-game road trip. Rhoa, Anderson and Mullen will all step up to have terrific seasons. But the final taste in their mouth will again be a sour one for the Orange and their vaunted 2022 recruiting class.
The difference will be beating SU’s bête noire, Maryland. The Orange have lost all eight meetings against the Terrapins since 2009, including getting comfortably beaten in both meetings last year. An early-season home win against UMD would change my outlook for Syracuse. But until SU shows it can crack the Terrapins’ shell, I have no reason to believe it can reach the promised land.
Sure, Spallina will be the best player in the sport. He’ll become SU’s program points leader and win the Tewaaraton. But he doesn’t care about any of that. His stated goal upon arriving at Syracuse was to win four national championships. His and the rest of the 2022 class’ collegiate careers will end with zero.
Mauricio Palmar
Terp troubles
13-2 (4-0 ACC)
MVP: Joey Spallina
X-Factor: Dante Bowen
This is it. Syracuse — for perhaps the umpteenth year in a row — is facing a “Now or Never” season. Except this time, it’s legitimately now or never for the Orange to win their first NCAA Tournament since 2009.
SU’s highly-touted 2022 recruiting class — with core pieces such as Jimmy McCool, Leo, Finn Thomson, Dwan and, most importantly, Spallina — is entering its final year of eligibility.
Spallina will be Spallina. He’ll break Mikey Powell’s all-time points record with ease, and without Kirst wreaking havoc in Ithaca, he’ll end the season with his first Tewaaraton Award in tow. Right now, the real X-factor here is Dante Bowen. If the Ohio State transfer can become SU’s primary shortstick defensive midfielder, Syracuse could run through ACC play.
But at the end of the day, it simply won’t be enough. The Orange have a proverbial wall blocking them from reaching the sport’s pinnacle. Its name is “John Tillman.” Maryland — led by Eric Spanos — has consistently given SU trouble offensively, and the defensive tandem of Will Schaller and Eric Kolar will continue to bother Syracuse’s offense, even without Logan McNaney in net. If the bracket works out well for them, the Orange could find themselves in a national championship game. But their road will end wherever they encounter the Terrapins.
Photograph by Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer
Published on January 29, 2026 at 12:00 am