No. 3 Men's Lacrosse Rolls Past Jacksonville

Saturday, February 1

Syracuse, N.Y.

Noon

Syracuse University

1-0

Jacksonville

0-1

Jacksonville

Syracuse

2/1/2025 2:18:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score 2025 Season Tickets Highlights Postgame Press Conference Photo Gallery

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse University men's lacrosse put both its offense and defense on display Saturday afternoon at the JMA Wireless Dome as the Orange opened the fresh season with a 24-5 win over a Jacksonville University team that reached its league title game last spring.

Eight Orange players scored two or more goals in the contest, led by Michael Leo with four. Leo and Joey Spallina shared the game's points lead with five each. Owen Hiltz and Trey Deere recorded four points, thanks to two goals and a pair of assists for each. The Orange had 16 different players record a point on the day, with 12 different goal scorers. Deere, Spallina, Hiltz, and Tyler McCarthy shared the team lead in assists with two apiece. 'Cuse got it done in faceoffs and on defense as well, going 20-33 in faceoffs while causing nine turnovers in the game.

Jacksonville recorded a different scorer for each goal in the contest, as well as a different player for each assist. Ryan Della Rocco recorded a game-high eight saves. The Dolphins (0-1) got three of their five goals off the bench. Drew Rippeon won 11 of his 24 faceoffs.

How it Happened

The Orange cracked open 2025 with 10 unanswered goals while the defense held the Dolphins without a goal over the first 25 minutes of the game. The 10-goal run already surpassed the longest scoring run for the Orange across all of last season.
Leo scored four times in the run, including a natural hat trick in less than two minutes. Luke Rhoa scored twice, including the game's opening goal, an impressive one-handed shot while being hauled to the turf.
Jacksonville found the board with 4 minutes and 36 seconds left to play in the opening half from Dalton Hubbs. Daylin John-Hill scored two minutes later for a back-to-back pair for the Dolphins.
Spallina scored once more in the half to send the teams into the break with Syracuse leading 11-2.
Syracuse's high-octane offense poured it on again with a second 10-goal run in the entire third quarter, getting goals from seven different sources, including the first career goal for Payton Anderson on a physical drive from behind the cage.
Jacksonville scored three times in the fourth quarter, limiting the Orange bench to three goals and never more than two unanswered. Jackson Birtwistle, Gavin Gibbs, and Owen O'Farrell all scored for Syracuse, including the first career goals for Gibbs and O'Farrell.

Behind the Numbers

Syracuse won its fourth-straight season opener under head coach Gary Gait while winning the program's 949th game all-time.
The Orange offense stayed hot throughout the game, scoring the 24 goals on 58 total shots, a 41.4 shooting percentage on the day. Syracuse put 39 of its 58 shots on goal as well, a whopping 67 percent of its shots were on goal.
Leo had his fifth career hat trick while Spallina recorded his 15th while notching his team-leading 19th career five-plus point game.
John Mullen won 14 of his 22 faceoffs with 11 ground balls and a timely assist, feeding Spallina immediately after a Jacksonville man-up goal. Syracuse scored five times directly following a Mullen faceoff win.

Up Next for Syracuse

The Orange return home for a Friday night clash against Vermont.
Game time at the JMA Wireless Dome is set for 6 p.m. and will be an Ice Out game. Fans are encouraged to wear white shirts for the game.
Season and single-game tickets are still available by visiting Cuse.com/Tickets or by calling the box office at 1-888-DOME-TIX (1-888-3663-849).