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Boston University’s 10-man ride was vexing Syracuse. The second quarter was nearing completion, and the Terriers hung tight with the Orange, 5-3. SU could only hurl hopeful lobs downfield to prevent a violation. Its high-flying offense was stalling against BU’s aggressive defensive tactic that sends all 10 players and the goalie to press the opponent.

With 10 seconds left in the half, defender Billy Dwan executed a clear, finding Finn Thomson on the left wing, but the clock dwindled to six seconds.

Thomson sprayed a pass across the field to sophomore attack Payton Anderson. As the time reached three seconds, Anderson selflessly dished the ball to Wyatt Hottle. Hottle leapt and finished past a sprawling BU goalie, Connor Phillips.

Syracuse had finally executed a clear, it had finally beaten the ride and it had finally found pay dirt to snap a five-minute drought as the quarter expired. The remedy during the second quarter of offensive inconsistencies caused by the ride in No. 3 Syracuse’s (1-0, Atlantic Coast) 13-6 season-opening win over No. 17 Boston University (0-1, Patriot League) was Anderson and Hottle, who each scored two goals. Once the ride was broken, their speed and ruthlessness were deadly. But on that score, Anderson was selfless.

“I could have took it, but the goalie came kind of high above the crease, and I saw Wyatt on the backside,” Anderson said postgame. “So good one more (pass) to him, and good finish by Wyatt.”

Hottle and Anderson have familiarity, Anderson said. They both were on the second-line midfield together last year, building chemistry throughout the season, Anderson said.

“We trust each other,” he added. “I trust him. He’s a great player, and he makes plays.”

The diminutive 5-foot-7 Hottle made something happen early in the second quarter to extend SU’s lead to 4-2. He received a pass in the left corner of the field from Joey Spallina, scanned the defense and then took off at X behind the goal. Terrier midfielder Charlie Huntley couldn’t keep up.

Hottle created clear separation between him and the trailing Huntley as he rebounded in front of goal once he reached the other side of the net. Huntley reeled forward, Hottle rocketed a shot into the roof of the net. The junior, who scored seven goals in 2025, opened his account for the new year.

Hottle’s lane to the cage was created by BU defenders being locked in on Spallina. It was a predictable concerted tactic to mark the preeminent player in the sport tightly, Boston University head coach Ryan Polley said postgame. When Hottle took off, he passed Spallina’s marker — Connor Kehm. Instead of pursuing the SU attack, Kehm hesitated, checking his shoulder for Spallina. Hottle capitalized on the opening and doubled the Orange’s lead.

“We’re trying to not slide to everyone, but it’s challenging with how quick they are,” Polley said. “I think (Hottle) got one off the end, beat us top side, and then Anderson out of a timeout. We like our guys’ styles a lot, and just got underneath them.”

That aforementioned Anderson goal out of a timeout came as SU searched for answers to its sloppy attack. Nicknamed “Bear” for his 6-foot-2 size and excessive energy, Anderson charged from X to the net. The defense couldn’t deter him.

Syracuse sophomore Payton Anderson works against a Boston University defender in SU’s win. Anderson scored two goals in Sunday’s season opener, building off his 14-goal freshman campaign. Jacob Halsema | Senior Staff Photographer

It was like one of the many shooting sequences he’d practiced in his backyard, driveway and garage from age 4 to 17, where his father, Rob, accompanied him and pushed him to complete 15,000 reps a month in high-intensity, 15-minute sessions. When Anderson encountered one of the situations he practiced repeatedly in-game, he said it felt natural. He made it look facile Sunday.

But taking matters into his own hands and scoring unassisted as Anderson did took until the end of his sophomore year of high school, Anderson’s coach at the Brunswick School, David Bruce, said.

Rob figured out what drives Anderson: he doesn’t want to let people down; he wants to be the reason others celebrate. After restoring Syracuse’s two-goal lead, he even joined in on a few hugs.

Anderson allowed Hottle to celebrate when he dished the pass to him for the goal in the final moments of the first half.

The sophomore, Anderson, returned to the scoresheet with under a minute to go in the third quarter. Spallina, drawing defenders like iron filings to a magnet, threaded a cross-field pass through the forest of Terrier defenders. Anderson, open to the right of the net, blasted a low shot between Phillips’ legs. It wasn’t the coup de grâce, but it did hand SU a commanding 12-6 lead.

“You take one thing away, and you try to focus on that,” Polley said. “And, the next thing you know, Anderson’s getting underneath and dunking in. And you’re trying not to go to everybody, and it can be challenging. So, certainly (the Orange) have a lot of options.”

True, Gait does have options in attack. Yes, attack Owen Hiltz’s 46 goals are no longer on the team due to graduation. And, yes, the Orange can’t replace Hiltz like-for-like. But they do have two clinical attacks in Hottle and Anderson, who offer similar speed, dodging and finishing. Sunday proved it.

“They both played well today, and they’ll do whatever we ask,” Gait said postgame. “So, Payton, he’s a big body, big presence, great shooter, finisher and does it all. And Wyatt today as a middie scored some big goals for us.”

In SU’s first game of 2026 — a now-or-never season it hopes to end in a national championship — the two stepped up. When left open, Anderson flipped the switch and made BU pay. And when the defense showed a window, the rapid Hottle raced right through it.

“They’re just two guys that have roles on this team, and they’re going to both step up and make plays,” Gait said.

Published on February 1, 2026 at 6:01 pm
Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu | @nalumkal