Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse survives Yale to advance in NCAA tourney

The JMA Wireless Dome was the setting for marquee moments Sunday. 

In the morning, thousands of Syracuse University students took part in Commencement with sports broadcaster and alum Mike Tirico offering his wisdom and inspiration. 

By Sunday evening in the Dome, it was the Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse team that found the right inspiration to post a 16-15 win over Yale in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“That’s a really good Yale team,” SU head coach Gary Gait said. “Our guys gave it everything they had, made the play when we needed it and got the W.”

As a No. 6 tournament seed, the Orange earned the host designation to play the Bulldogs in the Dome, where the team hadn’t lost during the regular season.

Syracuse displayed its “home-sweet-home” dominance by jumping out to an early 2-0 lead with goals from face-off specialist John Mullen and junior Wyatt Hottle.

An early timeout settled Yale, which went on to dominate the scoresheet the remainder of the first half. The Bulldogs scored six second-quarter goals and went on a 4-0 run to close out the half up 8-6.

While trailing after 30 minutes, SU looked like the better team statistically, leading face-offs 13-3, ground balls 28-16 and shots 29-19.

“Looking at the stats I feel like we kind of dominated the first half, maybe not on the scoreboard,” said Joey Spallina, the program’s all-time leader in total points. “It’s Game 7, you have nothing to lose.”

Syracuse’s offense returned to form in the second half, scoring seven goals in the third quarter, all but one from Spallina and fellow seniors Michael Leo and Finn Thomson. 

Gait said it was a matter of his players settling down and relaxing after halftime.

“We found the open players and finished the opportunities,” Gait said.

The back and forth between the two squads continued until early in the fourth quarter when three straight goals from midfielder Luke Rhoa, Hottle and Spallina built SU’s lead to four with 6 minutes to play.

The Dome crowd of 4,300 had reached its loudest points in the game, but Yale refused to go down without a fight.

The Bulldogs scored three consecutive goals and took possession of the ball off a John Mullen face-off violation with 47 seconds to play.

With Yale in prime position to even the score and potentially force overtime, Syracuse’s senior netminder stood his ground.

Goalie Jimmy McCool made two remarkable saves, the second of which was off the first shot’s rebound, to keep his team in front and pull off the one-goal victory.

“I got to give him credit down the stretch, he was great,” said Yale Men’s Lacrosse head coach Andy Shay. “He shut the door.”

McCool had a very emotional week with his grandmother passing away, so he felt motivated to get a victory on Mother’s Day – leaning on his mom for support in recent days.

“I have to give a big shout-out to my mom,” McCool said. “She’s the greatest mom I could ask for.

“[I’m] thankful for the lessons I’ve learned from my grandma. We got the win for her.”

The win for Syracuse propels a team stacked with seniors to the opportunity to bring home its first National Championship trophy since 2009.

The Orange’s next matchup will be a big one for Spallina, who grew up playing in James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, New York, where the team will face ACC rivals North Carolina for the third time this season.

“I know there’s going to be a ton of family and hometown people that’ll be there,”  Spallina said. “I can’t wait to go back.”

This No. 3-seed Tar Heels matchup will not prove easy for Syracuse, who fell 14-9 in the regular season and 12-10 in the ACC tournament semifinals. 

But Thomson said he’s confident that they can get past their Carolina blue demons.

“Lacrosse is a game of runs,” Thomson said. “There are always going to be ups and downs. [You] just got to stay calm and rely on your teammates.”

The second-round clash on Long Island will take place on Saturday with the time still to be announced.