Spallina makes history, No. 5 Syracuse takes care of Colgate

Senior Day, the final home game of the regular season, a chance to remain undefeated at the Dome; all reasons to be excited about Saturday’s game between No. 5 Syracuse and Colgate on Saturday. 

But nothing was more exciting than the realistic prospect of senior Joey Spallina making history. 

It took only 11 minutes and 56 seconds for the attackman to notch his second point of the game and etch his name into the record books with his 308th career point en route to a 14-7 victory for the Orange. 

After a goal less than three minutes in, Spallina’s assist to classmate Michael Leo put him past Syracuse legend Mikey Powell (2001-04) for the most career points by an SU player in program history. 

The senior went on to record five more points, finishing with two goals and five assists.

“To hear the crowd go that crazy when they announced it was awesome. We still have more to do,” Spallina said. “I get texts from former 22’s all the time. It’s really unbelievable. Everybody is close and everybody cares.”

You can say it was fitting that Michael Leo scored a beauty of a behind-the-back goal off a behind-the-back feed from Spallina for the record breaking moment. Although much of the attention was rightly focused on Spallina making history, it was also the Michael Leo show at the Dome in the first half. 

That finish earned him a hat trick not even one quarter in and the senior was up to four before halftime.

“It definitely sank in walking out of the Dome today,” Leo said when asked about the emotions of Senior Day. “You just realize, though, that this place is awesome.

“We’re gonna do it [win a national title], I just know.”

To Colgate’s credit, the visitors hung around throughout the first half. The Orange took a 3-0 lead just over five minutes in and it felt like that was a sign of things to come. The Raiders kept creating chances though and ultimately found the breakthrough with 8:47 left in the first quarter thanks to freshman Tristan Schaeffer’s goal in his first career game. 

SU led 5-2 after the first but the score was even in the second quarter. The theme of unsuspecting players getting on the scoresheet for Colgate continued when freshman Carter Cadin netted his first career goal to get within two of Syracuse. A Leo goal just over a minute later gave the Orange a 7-4 lead heading into halftime. 

Out of the locker room, Colgate regained momentum thanks to a Dante Bowen penalty less than two minutes into the second half. Attackman Casey Quinson cashed in for the Raiders’ second man-up goal of the evening but it didn’t take long for Syracuse to answer with senior Finn Thomson, SU’s leading scorer entering the day, reestablishing a three goal advantage with his first. 

That ended up being the start of an Orange run, highlighted by junior Jake Spallina tallying his first goal of the season off the assist from his brother Joey. A 3-0 run extended the lead to 10-5 just past the midway point of the third quarter. 

Colgate refused to go away and back-to-back goals from attackmen Cole Quinson and Freddy Fowler made it 10-7 Syracuse entering the final quarter. 

The last 15 minutes turned out to be comfortable for SU. The first half might have been the Michael Leo show but you can argue the same for Finn Thomson in the fourth quarter. The senior matched Leo’s four goals with a three straight in just over three minutes to put the game away.

Sophomore Payton Anderson tacked on another and Syracuse outscored Colgate 4-0 in the final quarter to secure a 14-7 win and improve to 11-3 on the season. The Orange have now won four straight against the Raiders. 

As for what’s next, SU heads to South Bend for its regular season finale with No. 1 Notre Dame next Saturday at noon. With a win, the Orange can claim the one or two seed for the ACC Tournament.