Orange Offense Paces Men's Lacrosse

Tuesday, March 21

Syracuse, N.Y.

6 p.m.

Syracuse University

5-4

St. Bonaventure

1-7

St. Bonaventure

Syracuse

3/21/2023 8:00:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

Most Goals of the Season for Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The biggest offensive output of the season led the Syracuse University men's lacrosse team to a 22-6 win over in-state foe St. Bonaventure, the first-ever meeting between programs Tuesday night at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Joey Spallina led the way for Syracuse (5-4) with six points on two goals and four assists while Owen Hiltz and Alex Simmons contributed hat tricks. John Cohen had a career night with four points on one goal and three helpers. Will Mark made eight saves in the win while Harrison Thompson, Kyle Rolley and Patrick Duffey all saw time in cage.

Syracuse allowed just three goals in either half, including a shutout third quarter while tagging the Bonnies for nine. All told, the Orange posted 36 points on 22 goals and 14 assists as 17 different players contributed points. Twelve different players registered at least one point off the bench.

The Orange return to the JMA Dome on Saturday for a 1 p.m. showdown with Hobart, putting the Kraus-Simmons Trophy on the line. Tickets can be purchased at cuse.com/tickets.

How it Happened

The Orange got out quickly as Simmons scored his first of the night just 37 seconds in. After St. Bonaventure leveled the score, the Orange notched three unanswered from Jackson Birtwistle, Finn Thomson and Griffin Cook. The Bonnnies scored once more in the first to make it 4-2 Syracuse after 15 minutes.
The first four goals of the second belonged to the Orange from three different sources: Cook, Hiltz twice, and Luke Rhoa. Again St. Bonaventure got the final score of the period with 1:48 to play in the half to make it 8-3 Syracuse at the break.
It was all Orange out of halftime as the Syracuse defense smothered the Bonnies while the offense clicked off nine unanswered goals just in the third. Simmons scored twice in the period, while Spallina, Hiltz, Rhoa, Max Rosa, Birtwistle, Cohen, and Carter Kempney all scored. Cohen handed out two assists on the run while Cole Kirst distributed an assist, the 99th point of his career.
After leading 17-3 through 45 minutes, the Orange tallied another two goals for an 11-goal run, the longest by Syracuse this season. Spallina got his Division I-leading ninth man-up goal while Tyler Cordes got his first of the year, finishing a feed from Caelin Lewis.
The teams split the final six goals of the game with Jack Fine and Pete Fiorini getting their first of the season while Blake Erlbeck added his second. Cohen helped Fiorini's goal while Barrett White fed Erlbeck.

Behind the Numbers

The Orange out-shot St. Bonaventure by a narrow 39-37 mark, scoring on 56.4 percent of their total shots. Only four Syracuse shots on goal were stopped by a Bonnies netminder.
Spallina's four assists are tied for the ninth-most helpers by a 'Cuse freshman in a single game. The rookie has at least three points in seven of the nine games this season. Spallina is now one point shy of joining the top 10 for points by a Syracuse freshman. Eventual Tewaaraton winner Mike Leveille scored 41 points in his rookie season (2005). Spallina's 23 goals are two shy of joining the freshman top 10 (25, Gary Gait, 1987) and his 17 assists this year are tied for the 10th-most by a rookie (Ryan Powell, 1997).
Hiltz has now registered at least one goal in his last 15 appearances and a point in his last 22.
Syracuse snapped a three-game home slide with the win over St. Bonaventure. The Orange surpassed 20 goals for the second time this season after knocking off another in-state opponent, UAlbany, 20-7 back on Feb. 10. Syracuse has out-scored in-state teams 58-21 this season.

Up Next for Syracuse

The Orange host the second tilt of a three-game homestand on Saturday, taking on a third-straight New York team, Hobart.
'Cuse and the Statesmen clash at 1 p.m. on Saturday on ACC Network Extra.
The Orange and Hobart meet for the Kraus-Simmons Trophy game, which Syracuse has claimed victory in for the last eight meetings.
Tickets for Saturday's showdown can be found at cuse.com/tickets.