3 takeaways from No. 8 Syracuse lacrosse’s 18-12 win over No. 13 Georgetown

Syracuse lacrosse returned home for the first time since Feb. 13 to a packed crowd at the JMA Wireless Dome, as it often is when Georgetown is in the building. In an important nonconference matchup, the Orange and Hoyas showed there’s been no love lost between the two squads.

After the Orange fell behind 3-1 early on, their offense found another gear for the remainder of the first half. Scoring 11 of the next 14 goals up until the break, Syracuse jumped ahead to a comfortable 12-6 lead that it never came close to relinquishing.

Star attacker Joey Spallina led the charge with six points, and Michael Leo recorded a game-high five goals as 11 different SU players logged at least a point in the blowout victory.

Here are three takeaways from Syracuse’s fifth consecutive win.

Syracuse’s dominant second quarter

After a slow start on offense due to some superb saves early on by Georgetown goalie Anderson Moore, the Orange broke through for three unanswered strikes to end the quarter on a high note. But the trio of tallies were only the beginning.

Over the next 15 minutes, Syracuse outscored Georgetown 8-3. Spallina, Leo and Payton Anderson each found twine twice during the dominant stretch, as the Hoyas simply had no answers for the Orange’s relentless attack, which fired 14 shots on target from range and in tight at will.

“When we’re having fun, flying around out there and Johnny (Mullen) is doing a good job of getting the ball it’s really easy to stack goals that way. When we score two ro three and a row and the Dome’s rocking, I think you just want to keep scoring because you just want to hear the crowd go crazy,” Spallina said.

At the other end, even Georgetown’s most potent weapons were kept in check during the frame by SU goalie Jimmy McCool and Co. The Hoyas dynamic duo of Liam and Rory Connor combined for just two points during the second quarter, as SU’s explosion of goals set the stage for it to cruise to victory the rest of the way.

Unlikely scorers shine on both sides

While the stars shined bright for both Syracuse and Georgetown Sunday afternoon, there were also some unusual suspects who managed to chip in on the scoresheet throughout the contest.

With the Hoyas up 1-0 out of the gate, senior Joe Cesare doubled their edge with just his second tally of the season. Then, Natty Mason fired home his second goal of the campaign minutes later to put the Hoyas ahead 3-1 in the first before freshman Haydon Cody added on the first of his career to end the first half.

As for the Orange, man-up specialist Greg Elijah-Brown fired home his third goal of the campaign late in the opening frame, while junior Charlie Kraftson also ripped home his second of the year amid SU’s lengthy scoring run in the second quarter.

“We’ve got a lot of great players who have been getting opportunities. Coach (Pat) March has been changing it up in the midfield quite a bit. Tucker Kellogg and Charlie Kraftson are guys who have earned some more time, so we got some opportunity to see them play,” SU head coach Gary Gait said.

A scrappy final frame

Anytime Syracuse and Georgetown get together, it's pretty much a guarantee that tempers will flare. Sunday’s matchup was no exception.

As the Orange looked to run out the remainder of the clock inside the final 10 minutes. SU defender Chuck Kuczynski was given a match penalty for an illegal body check in front of the Syracuse goal. Then, as the physicality continued down the stretch, SU got caught being too aggressive once again when Riley Figueiras was assessed penalties for pushing and illegal body contact.

The Orange finished the day with six infractions compared to Georgetown’s two, but their lights out offensive performance kept those mistakes from coming back to bite them in the end.

“When I addressed the team after the game I said we need to do a better job (of being disciplined) and work on that some more. If that’s a one-goal game, that could cost us,” Gait said.

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