3 takeaways from No. 1 Syracuse lacrosse’s 13-12 loss to No. 14 Harvard

On a snowy Saturday in Cambridge, MA, Syracuse lacrosse took the field ranked as the nation’s No. 1 team for the 100th time in program history. Almost exactly a year after it was upset by Harvard last season, SU looked to avenge that loss and maintain its undefeated record. Instead, it only came away with another letdown.

In a back-and-forth contest, the Orange fell 13-12 to the Crimson on the road. After a slow start, Syracuse rattled off four unanswered goals to close the opening frame before Harvard answered with five of its own before halftime. The two sides continued to trade scoring runs from there, but it was a Nathan Cobery strike with 50 seconds left on the clock that proved to be the difference.

“We battled them twice last year, both in one-goal games, and this year it was just more of the same. It just came down to making a play at the very end, and they made it and we didn’t,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said postgame.

Here are three takeaways from SU’s first defeat of the 2026 campaign.

Sluggish second quarter

As the contest rolled over into the second frame, Syracuse held a comfortable 4-1 advantage thanks to four unanswered goals from its potent offense. With all the game’s momentum on its side, SU looked to keep filling the net. But Harvard had other ideas.

Hindered by six turnovers, the Orange’s attack fell into a lull and registered just four shots on target, each turned aside by goalie Graham Stevens. At the other end of the field, Harvard’s offense went to work.

The onslaught began less than a minute in, when John Aurandt IV beat Jimmy McCool with a left-handed finish from the right side of the cage. Then, at the 10:05 mark, Aurandt quickly struck again. After blowing past the short stick of Ryder Ochoa, he sprinted down the middle and ripped a laser into the back of the net. 51 seconds later, the game was tied.

With Harvard now in the driver’s seat, Syracuse fell into its first penalty of the frame to hand a brief extra-man opportunity to Harvard. Behind a surgical series of passes, the Crimson didn’t let the chance go to waste. After the power-play tally, Harvard tacked on one more in the waning seconds before the half.

“We had a flow going (in the first quarter), (but) they played some great defense,” Gait said.

Joey Spallina held to 3 points

Ahead of its matchup with Syracuse, Harvard knew it would have to find a way to limit Joey Spallina’s impact if it was going to knock off the top team in the country. And boy did it ever.

Though he was hounded from the opening faceoff, Spallina still showed signs of his usual self early on. He started the afternoon with an assist on SU’s opening goal midway through the first quarter. Following Luke Rhoa’s man-up tally moments later, Spallina then added on a strike of his own. But from there, the Tewaaraton Award favorite’s impact was limited. Still, it wasn’t for a lack of chances.

He finished the contest with a game-high 14 shots, nine of which were accurate. After notching SU’s 12th goal, the sharpshooter nearly tied the contest with less than a minute left, but Stevens denied the in-tight bid.

“We were looking to run and move and find the openings when they came,” Gait said of SU’s mentality in the final seconds. “(Spallina) thought he had the shot there and he took it, and unfortunately the goalie made a good save.”

Michael Leo leaves his mark

While Syracuse will have a tough time taking any positives away from this loss, its main bright spot against Harvard was the play of Michael Leo.

Amid a contest that saw both sides engineer lengthy scoring runs, his goal and four assists played a huge part in keeping Syracuse’s offense afloat. The five-point outing tied a career high for the senior, who figures to once again be an essential part of Syracuse’s attack after enjoying a breakout year in 2025.

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