John Mullen crushed Harvard last season. He barely broke even Saturday.
After claiming 88% of draws versus Harvard last season, SU faceoff man John Mullen won a measly 54.1% draws in its 13-12 loss Saturday. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Syracuse’s two meetings with Harvard in 2025 were taut. The two teams split the series with one-goal wins each. But, in those contests, the faceoff matchup wasn’t close.
Whenever the ball was placed at the X, you could practically guarantee who would come away with it. John Mullen was certain as a sunset — and his 15-of-16 line in the second half of the NCAA Tournament First Round sunsetted the Crimson’s season.
However, that was in the JMA Wireless Dome. When the Orange met No. 14 Harvard Saturday in the sub-freezing outdoor conditions at Jordan Field, Mullen was neutralized. He went a measly 13-for-24 (54.2%). Despite Mullen’s woes, No. 1 Syracuse (3-1, Atlantic Coast) hung tight in a 13-12 loss to the No. 14 Crimson (3-0, Ivy).
“(Mullen) battled,” SU head coach Gary Gait said postgame. “We won some ground balls off the face off. But, it was a much closer battle in that area today. But it’s what you do after you get the ball, or when you don’t get the ball. You got to get some stops.”
Gait further deflected blame away from Mullen. He stressed the Orange gave up “too many rebounds” and missed slides on defense that afforded “great opportunities” Harvard capitalized on in its signature win.
However, Mullen, though one of the best faceoff men in the nation, has documented struggles away from the Dome. At the Orange’s home base last year, he won 68.49%.
But on his travels? Look at last year’s trips. Fifty percent at Maryland, 40.9% at Virginia. 55.1% on Long Island against then-No. 1 Cornell. 57.1% at then-No. 12 Duke. 48.5% versus No. 3 seed Princeton in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal. Forty-five against No. 2 seed UMD in the Final Four. You get the pattern.
However, Mullen won 88.1% versus Harvard last year. Even with the conditions Saturday, the drop was precipitous.
But it wasn’t all about what Mullen may have done poorly. How about what the Crimson and other teams have done well to adjust?
On Thursday, prior to the Harvard game, Gait admitted more teams are going to lengths to counter Mullen, calling him a “known quantity.”
In 2025, Mullen’s first season as the full-time starter, teams went to try to beat him straight up and win the clamp, Gait said.
How are teams adjusting this season?
“A lot of people are practicing their counters and getting ready and finding a way to get the ball loose and get it onto the wings,” Gait said Thursday.
Teams aren’t trying to win the faceoff against Mullen. Rather, jar the ball away from X and hope to have the reinforcements in wings claim it. It’s a plan the Crimson executed just enough to dethrone the Orange after a sole week atop college lacrosse.
That plan proved successful on a consequential draw in the third quarter. Harvard led 9-7 with just over five minutes to play in the stanza. Harvard faceoff man Owen Umansky — who went 1-for-12 in the Crimson’s regular season win in 2025 — and Mullen clenched the ball between the back of their sticks.
Mullen looked to pull the ball back into Syracuse’s half; Umansky held on like a barnacle on a battleship in a Category Five hurricane, his stick caressing the rolling sphere as if it were his long-lost lover, magnetized, hypnotized.
The Crimson reinforcements arrived like a florid cavalry at high noon.
As the ball squirted loose — finally — through Mullen’s legs, a scrap ensued. And Harvard’s Owen Guest came away with the rock. The Crimson’s Nathan Cobery extended their lead to three on the ensuing possession.
How did Umansky go from winning 8% last year to 48% Saturday? Harvard head coach Gerry Byrne took a hearty slice of the blame pie.
“In the past, I think we were overcoaching that (faceoff man) position,” Byrne said.
“(Mullen’s) clearly gifted, and clearly the best faceoff guy in the country, and so we just did less,” Byrne added. “We coached (Umansky) less. It’s like not talking to a kicker.”
Don’t talk to him. Don’t disturb his routine. Don’t add extra pressure.
Umansky and Mullen trained together in the summer, Byrne added.
“I’m not saying familiarity breeds contempt, but familiarity breeds familiarity,” Byrne said.
Though Umansky was pulverized in the one meeting last season and didn’t take a single draw in SU’s mulligan in the postseason, Umansky may have gotten the better of Mullen in those summer practices, Byrne noted.
Yet, Byrne had to be honest. He was surprised. He didn’t expect the Crimson to nearly split the stripe against Syracuse.
“The only guy who knew it was going to happen was Owen Umansky,” Byrne said.
