Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Orange head back to Final Four with bonkers, 19-18 win over Princeton

For the first time since 2013, ‘Cuse is going back to the biggest stage in the sport.

The Championship Weekend drought is over!

The Syracuse Orange are heading back to the Final Four after their 19-18, instant-classic win over the Princeton Tigers in one of the wildest games of lacrosse you will ever see on Saturday afternoon at Hofstra in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

In a real tribute to the heyday of two of the most historic programs in the sport, playing each other for the 11th time in the NCAA Tournament, the game featured 10 ties, five lead changes, 37 goals, 93 shots, 68 ground balls and countless yell-inducing moments.

The best of those belonged to Joey Spallina and Owen Hiltz, who led the charge on the day with eight and five points apiece, and connected for the game-winning goal with 3:50 left on the clock.

Spallina, who was spectacular on the day attacking Princeton’s defense, drew enough of a slide to free up Hiltz in the middle of the field for one of his patented, flick-of-the-wrist finishes on the move past Princeton’s Ryan Croddick.

That was followed by a couple of massive, clutch saves from Jimmy McCool to preserve the lead and send the Orange off to the 28th Final Four in program history and their first since 2013 after a 10-season drought (no tournament in 2020).

This game was balls-to-the-wall the whole way through, with wild runs and swings in momentum that turned this one into an instant classic, even by the standards of Syracuse and Princeton in the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers were the first ones to grab momentum, scoring four goals in the first five minutes and opening up a 5-2 lead midway through the first quarter. But the Orange didn’t wait long to punch back, scoring four straight goals to close out the quarter with a 6-5 lead that signaled that we were in for a wild ride of an afternoon.

The first of that four-goal run was a gorgeous connection between Hiltz and Finn Thomson, who found each other for a backhanded shovel pass and a backhanded shovel goal. That moment of brilliant teamwork was followed by a trio of goals off the dodge from Spallina, Sammy English and Payton Anderson.

Princeton opened the second quarter with two goals in the first minute, but Joey Spallina absolutely took over his matchup with Colin Mulshine by beating him off the dodge for three consecutive goals to give ‘Cuse a 9-7 lead midway through the second.

The second quarter ended with chaos. After two more Princeton goals and a man-up tally by Trey Deere, SU looked to be heading into halftime with a 10-9 lead. But the Tigers scored twice in the final 16 seconds to take an 11-10 lead, made worse by the fact that Jimmy McCool committed a two-minute, unreleasable penalty as he was jumping up to try to grab a loose ball rebound that he had allowed. He made direct contact with Coulter Mackesy’s head, and the Tigers had a man-up coming after Mackesy scored with a second and a half on the clock.

But Johnny Mullen, who did not have a great day overall, made a huge play when he impressively won the face-off directly to himself with less than two seconds on the clock to ensure SU would start the second half with possession despite the two-minute penalty.

It proved to be massive, as not only would Princeton not score at all on that penalty to start the third quarter, but ‘Cuse would go on their biggest run of the day with six straight goals to take a 16-11 lead late in the third. The last two goals of that run came directly off some fantastic, physical defense that caused Princeton turnovers and led to ‘Cuse tallies.

In that moment, it looked like the Orange were taking control with a five-goal lead and just over 15 minutes to play after what had been an incredibly tight, back-and-forth affair.

But, of course, this roller coaster had way more twists, turns and (unfortunately) drops for us than that. Princeton scored a goal with just three seconds left in the third for a rather innocuous tally at the time that proved to be the kick-start to their fourth quarter run.

The Tigers took over the game for a period, scoring four more goals in the first five minutes of the fourth to make it a 5-0 run and a tie game at 16-16 with 10:02 on the clock.

The run came to an end on a goal by Tyler McCarthy, who successfully executed a pick play with Spallina and finished low from the wing to give ‘Cuse a 17-16 lead just about a minute after the Tigers tied it up.

But Princeton wasn’t done. Jimmy McCool gave up a soft goal to Sean Cameron less than a minute later as the Tigers tied it right back up at 17-17. After a few back-and-forth empty possessions, Nate Kabiri gave them the lead on what appeared to be a potential back-breaking goal with one second left on the shot clock with 4:54 remaining.

‘Cuse would have the final say. Michael Leo got his third of the game on a long-distance shot just 33 seconds later to tie it for the 10th and final time. 31 seconds after that, Spallina and Hiltz hooked up for the game-winning goal to make it 19-18.

After the second of McCool’s two crucial late saves, the Orange were able to clear the ball and see the game out for their biggest May win since 2013.

‘Cuse will take on the winner of tomorrow’s game between Maryland and Georgetown next Saturday in Foxborough.