Champions! Men’s Lacrosse Wins ACC Tournament

Sunday, May 4

Charlotte, N.C.

Noon

Syracuse University

11-5

#9/#9 Duke

12-5

Syracuse

Duke

5/4/2025 2:14:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Watch NCAA Selection Show Highlights Postgame Press Conference

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – With a 9-8 victory over No. 9 Duke on Sunday at American Legion Memorial Stadium, the No. 12 Syracuse University men's lacrosse team won its third ACC Tournament title and first since 2016.

The Orange (11-5) defense smothered the Blue Devils, limiting them to just eight goals, four short of their season average. ACC Goalie of the Year Jimmy McCool made 10 saves to help Syracuse avenge its regular season defeat at Duke last month.

Jimmy McCool was voted Most Valuable Player for the ACC Tournament, while Billy Dwan III, Riley Figueiras, Owen Hiltz, John Mullen, Joey Spallina, and Finn Thomson were named to the ACC All-Tournament Team.

Joey Spallina (1g, 2a) and Michael Leo (1g, 2a) paced Syracuse with three points each, with Owen Hiltz, Finn Thomson and Payton Anderson all tallying a pair of goals. John Mullen won 13 faceoffs to help the Orange control the battle in the circle 14-6, while Syracuse also dominated in ground balls, finishing with a 37-20 advantage.

Andrew McAdorey, Benn Johnston and Tomas Delgado all scored two goals to lead Duke (12-5) on the day. Eric Malever had three assists, but Syracuse held Duke's leading goal scorer without a tally. Patrick Jameison made 16 saves for the Blue Devils.

This is the second time Syracuse has won the ACC Tournament as the No. 4 seed, as the Orange also did so in 2016. Syracuse's victory over Duke came after a win over two-time defending national champion and top seed Notre Dame in Friday's semifinal round.

How It Happened

Hiltz scored the game's first goal on Syracuse's first possession, marking his 61^st consecutive game with at least one point, breaking the school record that was previously held by John Zulberti (1986-1990).
After both teams went nearly eight minutes without scoring, Duke found its first goal of the day with 5:57 remaining in the quarter before the Blue Devils added another just over three minutes later. The Orange responded with two goals of their own to take a 3-2 lead at the end of the frame. Tyler McCarthy netted his third of the campaign with 1:41 to go with Thomson scoring 53 seconds later to give Syracuse back the lead.
The second quarter was a defensive struggle, with Spallina finally breaking through for the first goal of the period with 6:36 remaining. Then, with 3:04 to go, Thomson connected on a behind-the-back release to push Syracuse ahead 5-2. Duke beat the buzzer with a goal in the final second to make the score 5-3 entering halftime. McCool made five saves in the frame as the Orange held the Blue Devils scoreless for 17:43 before the final Duke tally.
Duke opened the scoring in the third quarter with a goal in transition from Johnston at the 10:17 mark. After killing a man-up opportunity for Duke, Leo notched Syracuse's first goal of the half on the other end to restore a two-goal lead. Anderson gave the Orange a 7-4 advantage just over a minute later with a goal from Spallina feed, but Duke cut the deficit back to two with 3:17 remaining. Hiltz brought the lead back to three, 8-5, with his second goal of the contest at the 2:33 mark.
The Blue Devils cashed in a man-up opportunity to pull back within two in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, but Anderson answered with his second goal of the half to stretch the lead back to 9-6. Duke pulled back within two with 5:40 remaining and struck again with 1:01 left to make the score 9-8.
Syracuse won the ensuing faceoff and tried to run out the clock but the Blue Devils forced a turnover with 22 seconds left and successfully cleared the ball before taking a timeout with eight seconds remaining. Malever had an open shot in front of the cage with time expiring but fired it wide, as the Orange held on for the 9-8 win.

Behind The Numbers

Hiltz's school-record streak of 61 straight games with at least one point began on Feb. 21, 2021, in Syracuse's season opener against Army. The redshirt senior has scored at least one point in every game of his Syracuse career.
Hiltz led the Orange with seven goals in the ACC Tournament. He scored five in the semifinal victory over Notre Dame.
Mullen went 13-of-17 on faceoffs against the Blue Devils to finish the ACC Tournament 34-of-43 (79-percent) in the circle. The Orange won the game's final seven faceoffs and went 9-of-11 in the second half.
Mullen led the Orange with 11 groundballs with Billy Dwan III scooping four. Thomson, Sam English and Chuck Kuczynski all picked up three groundballs, which matched Kuczynski's career best.
The two goals by Anderson secured his third multi-goal effort of the campaign and first since March 29 at Virginia.
Spallina has racked up 17 points in the last four games (4.25 per contest), all of which have come against ACC opponents.
Syracuse held Malever, Duke's leading goal scorer, without a goal Sunday after he netted five in the regular season matchup between the teams in Durham on April 19. The Orange are just the third team to hold Malever scoreless in a game this season, joining Notre Dame and North Carolina.
Syracuse outshot Duke 39-35 and outpaced the Blue Devils 25-18 in shots on goal.
With the victory, the Orange improved to 4-1 against Duke all-time at the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse is now 3-0 against the Blue Devils in ACC championship games.
The win over Duke was Syracuse's sixth against a ranked opponent and fourth against at top 10 team this season.

Up Next
Syracuse will find out its NCAA Tournament draw tonight during the NCAA Selection Show, which will air at 9:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+. In the event the Orange host a first-round game in the tournament, tickets for the contest will be available at cuse.com/tickets.