Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Orange jump out, cruise to victory in 15-5 win over Utah

Going west turned into a get-right game for ‘Cuse as they stopped their losing streak at two.

The Syracuse Orange’s trip out west turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for a team on a two-game losing streak and coming off a rough loss at home last weekend.

‘Cuse ventured out to Salt Lake City, where they comfortably defeated the Utah Utes, 15-5, on the strength of a dominant first half in which they led 8-1 less than 16 minutes into the game and 11-1 at halftime.

In that first half, the Orange executed their game plan nicely to put themselves in the driver’s seat though the duration of the proceedings. From the outset, it was clear that the offensive game plan centered around attacking Utah’s short-sticks off the dodge, which SU did with ease early and often in that first half.

Wyatt Hottle got the scoring started with a dodge from up top that he finished into the top corner with a beautiful shot on-the-run. That goal kicked off a string of four straight goals for ‘Cuse that were all scored less than a minute than the one before. Sammy English followed Hottle with his own up-top dodge that he finished off with a spectacular bounce shot to make it 2-0 less than five minutes in.

Owen Hiltz and Luke Rhoa, back from his one-game absence, followed in short order with their own goals to make it 4-0.

Utah would end the run with their lone goal of the first half, before the Orange picked right back up and scored three more goals to end the first quarter up 7-1 before a 4-0 second quarter made it 11-1 at the break.

The theme for the offense in this game was all about spreading the love, as an impressive 11 players combined for their 15 goals with 14 players recording at least one point. Even more impressive, no single player finished with more than three points as part of a true team effort.

Eight goals in this game were scored by offensive midfielders, and six of them were scored off individual dodges, with five of those being against shorties. The ‘Cuse offense knew where they wanted to initiate, especially early in the game, and they exploited it.

It was the Orange attack that led the way in the score column, though, as Owen Hiltz (2G, 1A), Finn Thomson (1G, 2A) and Joey Spallina (3A) all tied for the team lead with three points. Luke Rhoa (2G), Wyatt Hottle (2G) and Michael Leo (2G) were primarily responsible for the shortie goals and each finished with a pair.

It wasn’t all rosy for the Orange, as a dominating first half gave way to a very lackluster and sloppy second half, something we’ve seen before from this team in the Vermont game.

Utah came out and owned the third quarter with superior intensity, outscoring ‘Cuse 3-0 to make it an 11-4 score that was still never in doubt but was still disappointing given the miscues.

They brought it back in the fourth quarter with a Johnny Mullen goal off the opening face-off, and they closed it on back-to-back goals from beyond midfield by Michael Grace and Billy Dwan as Utah ineffectively went into their 10-man ride.

SU won the quarter, 4-1, to land at the final of 15-5, but it was a subpar second half in which they only scored four goals while turning it over nine times. It was a sloppy game in general for the Orange, finishing with 17 turnovers.

The good news is there was no sloppiness in their shooting, as they shot 15-of-41 (37 percent), and they did well to win 15-of-24 face-offs (63 percent). They also won the ground ball battle, 33-22.

The defense had a very strong game, holding the Utes to five goals on 33 shots and 19 turnovers. The Orange caused 10 of those turnovers, and the starting close defense was particularly vicious on the day.

Michael Grace (3CT), Billy Dwan (3CT) and Riley Figueiras (2CT) all finished with multiple CTs to lead the charge of a defense that had a great day timing their double teams to force loose balls. They were especially effective defending Utah’s star attacker, Ryan Stines, who finished 0-for-9 shooting with four turnovers.

Jimmy McCool (11SV) did let in a couple goals I thought he probably should have nabbed, but it’s tough to argue with 11 saves and a .688 save percentage.

Of potential concern was the fact that Finn Thomson did not play in the second half of this game. Late in the first half, Finn took a check right to the forearm that he already appeared to be favoring, and immediately went down to a knee before getting up and running to the sideline. He didn’t come back in, and I could see the training staff looking at his forearm at points throughout the rest of the game.

Payton Anderson (1G) came in in his stead and scored a goal, although he had a handful of miscues for a freshman getting his first minutes at attack.

The Orange will return home to renew their rivalry with Johns Hopkins in the JMA Dome next Sunday, March 9 at 2 PM on ESPN U.