Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Orange breeze by Utah, 18-7, in weekday matinee

It wasn’t the perfect performance, but ‘Cuse got the job done against a solid team in a bounce-back effort.

Wednesday afternoon in the JMA Dome was a slightly odd setting for the first ever meeting between the Syracuse Orange and the Utah Utes, in which the home team cruised to a convincing, 18-7 victory to improve their record to 4-1 on the season.

More than anything, it was probably the unfamiliar time to be playing a game that counts at noon on a weekday, but it didn’t stop Gary Gait’s boys from putting on a nice performance for the almost-4,000 fans who showed up thanks to February break for the school kids.

The Orange got off to a somewhat slow start in this one, as the game was tied at 2 halfway through the first quarter, with SU edging ahead, 5-3, with a few minutes left in the opening frame.

That’s when ‘Cuse took complete control, adding a pair late in the first to kickstart an extended 8-0 run that would bring their lead all the way up to 13-3 by the end of the third as the defense shut the Utes out through the second and third quarters. The fourth quarter was a formality at the teams traded goals to finish at 18-7.

While there was a definite sloppiness issue in this game with SU turning the ball over 18 times (chalk it up to the noon start?), there was also plenty of good for an offense that matched that number with 18 goals despite all the miscues.

When they were keeping possession, the offense had one of those days where they produce in just about every way imaginable. Goals were scored from great ball movement, off individual dodges from X, off wing dodges against SSDMs, from Joey Spallina picking passes while standing alone at X, in transition, directly off face-off wins, and in highlight-reel fashion.

There was such wonderful variety, as there usually is for this unit, but the best might have been the goal that started the eight-goal run late in the first quarter.

In one of the best hidden-ball tricks I’ve ever seen, Finn Thomson and Owen Hiltz perfectly executed the hidden ball up near the substitution box, completely fooling the defense and goalie as they followed Hiltz down the right side while Finn curled around up top and fired a shot home for a goal that just so happened to inadvertently bounce between Christian Mulé’s legs before hitting the net.

You could not have drawn it up any more beautifully than that.

Other highlights included a gorgeous Christian Mule BTB finish that he put in off a rebound from a save, a fantastic Saam Olexo transition goal that also featured Wyatt Hottle’s first career point, Jake Spallina’s first career goal that was immediately followed by big brother Joey being the first person to mob him in celebration, and Joey having his own celebration as he collected his 100th (!) career point in just his 20th career game. Whew!

I also want to bring extra attention to the fact that this was yet another game in which ‘Cuse scored multiple goals directly off face-offs, which they did three times in this game. Unquestionably, that uptick in quick-scoring offensive production is due to the arrival of Mason Kohn, who had another goal and assist in this game and is already at nine points for the season in just five games. He had 10 for the whole season at Tufts last year, but he’s brought an aggressive approach to winning possession and it’s thus-far paying off for this offense.

Overall, eight players scored multiple points in this one, led by Joey Spallina’s seven (3G, 4A). Finn Thomson (3G, 1A) had his long-awaited breakout game this season with a hat trick and four points to go along with his amazing hidden-ball trick goal, and Christian Mulé (2G, 2A) joined him with a four-point day of his own.

Owen Hiltz (2G), Michael Leo (2G) and Jackson Birtwistle (2G) all had two goals, and Saam Olexo (1G, 1A) and Mason Kohn (1G, 1A) each had a goal and an assist.

The face-off unit was once again completely dominant. The Orange won 13-of-15 first half FOs on their way to winning 21-of-29 (.724) for the game and owning the ground ball battle, 47-31.

Mason Kohn led the way, going 14-of-18 with 12 GBs, while John Mullen went 7-of-11 with seven GBs. Of the 21 total face-offs that they won, Kohn and Mullen picked up 19 of the 21 GBs themselves; that is the very definition of FO dominance.

The defense had an excellent day, most specifically holding Utah off the board for the entirety of the second and third quarters and a scoreless streak that lasted over 34 minutes.

They did a wonderful job of preventing the Utes from getting any kind of consistent penetration, instead keeping them on the outskirts of the Orange defense. This lead to Utah getting less than half of their shots on frame (.477). Utah only took three fewer shots than ‘Cuse in this game, but they took 14 fewer shots-on-goal.

Keeping the Utes on the outside led to a lot of long-range attempts that helped make Will Mark’s life a little easier. The veteran took advantage, having a wonderful game with 14 saves and a .700 save percentage.

The Orange will now have a rare weekend off before getting back to action next Wednesday, February 28 for the return of the Army Black Knights to the SU schedule. The always-intense battle between the NYS foes will take place at 6 PM on ACC Network Extra.