Orange Surge Past Air Force in Colorado Springs

Thursday, March 12

USAF Academy, Colo.

5 p.m. ET (3 p.m. MT)

Syracuse University

6-2

Air Force

1-6

Syracuse

Air Force

3/12/2026 8:19:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Joey Spallina dished out eight assists and Michael Leo erupted for five goals as #7/#8 Syracuse University men's lacrosse pulled away for a 17-11 win over Air Force Thursday afternoon at the USAF Academy's Falcon Stadium.

The Orange (6-2) won the third meeting in program history between the two programs and first since 2002, improving to 3-0 all-time against the Falcons. Syracuse extended its winning streak to three in the midst of its six-game road swing.

Leo led all scorers with five goals and an assist while Finn Thomson chipped in three goals. Tucker Kellogg added two goals and an assist, and Payton Anderson finished with two goals. Spallina's eight assists set a new career-high and are the most for an Orange since Kevin rice in 2014.

Air Force (1-6) got two goals apiece from Caelan Driggs, Luke Vrsansky, and Ben Heidt. Matt Deedy made 12 saves in 56:42 of work before giving way to Nolan Parlette.
Syracuse continues its Rocky Mountain swing Monday at Denver. Opening faceoff is set for 8 p.m. ET/6 p.m. MT at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.

How it Happened

Syracuse struck first as Thomson finished a dish from behind by Spallina. Air Force took a one-goal lead as AJ Serna and Ben Heidt struck in the opening minutes to grab a brief 2-1 Leo responded with back-to-back goals assisted by Spallina, and Luke Rhoa added a third-straight Orange tally, also from Spallina, to put Syracuse ahead 4-2. Air Force cut it to 4-3 on a Christian Schweiger man-up goal late in the first.
Thomson pushed the margin back to two at the second-quarter open with his second of the day, assisted by Rhoa. Driggs answered for Air Force to make it 5-4, but Drew Angelo responded immediately off the draw to make it 6-4. Luke Vrsansky pulled the Falcons within two again at 6-5, and the teams went to the half with Syracuse up 6-5 after neither team found the net the rest of the second.
The Orange came out of the break with purpose. Anderson opened the third on a Spallina dish, and after Air Force's Ryan Stadelmaier answered on a man-up, Matt McIntee and Bogue Hahn scored in succession to push the lead to 9-6. Anderson netted his second of the game, assisted by Rhoa, to make it 10-6. Vrsansky capped the third with his second goal to trim the margin to 10-7.
Syracuse exploded out of the gate in the fourth. Wyatt Hottle scored seconds into the quarter, and Thomson struck again 16 seconds after that on a Spallina assist to make it 12-7. After Frieri scored for Air Force, Leo and Kellogg each found the net on Spallina feeds, and Leo added his fifth on a Kellogg assist. Kellogg closed things out with a Greg Elijah-Brown assist as the Orange pulled away for the six-goal final.

Behind the Numbers

Spallina's eight assists are a career high and are the second most for a single game in program history, one behind Tim Nelson, who had nine assists three times.
John Mullen went 16 of 23 on faceoffs, almost 70 percent at the dot.
Syracuse won the ground ball battle 38-26 and out-shot Air Force 45-35.
Syracuse improved to 3-0 all-time against Air Force as the Orange won first-ever meeting in Colorado Springs.
The win is the 967th win in program history.

Up Next for Syracuse

The Orange continue the Rocky Mountain swing Monday at Denver.
Faceoff is set for 8 p.m. ET (6 p.m. MT) on Altitude/Midco Sports Plus
Monday's meeting is the first clash between programs since the 2024 NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals.