Takeaways from Syracuse lacrosse's 16-15 NCAA Tourney win over Yale

Syracuse hung on to beat Yale 16-15 on Sunday at the Dome in the first round of the NCAA playoffs.

The game featured seven ties and five lead changes. The Orange led by four with six minutes left but needed a last-second stop to move onto the quarterfinals. The win means that the Orange will get a third chance to beat North Carolina, who they’ll play on Saturday in Long Island.

Here are three takeaways from the final home game of the 2026 season.

McCool grows into the game

Syracuse goalie Jimmy McCool had a nightmare second period. After the Orange led 6-4, they let in four goals in five minutes as Yale flipped the two-point deficit to a two-point advantage.

“They made some plays,” Syracuse coach Gary Gait said. “They're a very good team, so they were ready to play.”

In the third period, which saw 10 goals, McCool found his groove with five saves. On the other side of the field, Syracuse shot seven times for seven goals.

“I never lost trust in myself, in myself and in my teammates to make the next play,” McCool said.

In the final period, the Bulldogs fired 16 shots. McCool made six saves and conceded four times. The Bulldogs were stifled on their final possession due a double save by McCool.

When asked what he saw during the play, he said he had “no idea, (I) completely blacked out.”

Overall, the senior was by far the better goalie recording 16 saves, impressive considering the slow start.

Finn Thomson comes alive in the third

Finn Thomson probably should’ve had two goals in the first period near the cage but couldn’t cash in either chance. He more than made up for it in the third period.

“I think we had lots of opportunities early in the first quarter, and the ball wasn't going in,” Gait said.

Thomson’s first two goals helped tie and then take the lead early in what was a chaotic stretch.

“First half, hit a couple of pipes, and Joey [Spallina] told me to shake it off and keep going,” Thomson said. “Halftime, just a little regroup, you got to shoot to get hot and shoot to stay hot.”

After Syracuse squandered their lead, Thomson once again equalized with his third goal. Two minutes later he picked up his fourth point in the period assisting Spallina’s first goal.

He led all players with five points. It also tied his season-high.

John Mullen with a great performance

Faceoff specialist John Mullen struggled throughout the season for SU, but that didn’t deter him against Yale as he went 21/33 on faceoffs. Going into the playoffs, his record was at 52 percent, but on Sunday, he outperformed his average by about 11 percentage points.

“We were hoping that he’d get things together and be at the top of his game come playoff time,” Gait said.

He had a perfect start to the game winning the opening faceoff cleanly and going on to score six seconds later. Mullen was 14-17 in the first half and allowed the Orange ten more shots than the Bulldogs in the first two periods.

The second half wasn’t as kind to Mullen, but the overall performance was his best since mid-March against Air Force. It’s encouraging news for Orange fans as on Saturday he’ll face Brady Wambach of North Carolina, who wins just over two-thirds of his faceoffs. Mullen is a combined 17-41 against the Tar Heels this year.

“[Mullen’s] been working hard, doing some great practices, and we are ready to move on to the next one, and I know he's excited about it,” Gait said. “It’s another chance to go against [Brady] Wambach.”

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