#8 Orange Cap Six-Game Road Swing with Win at Denver

Monday, March 16

Denver, Colo.

8 p.m. ET (6 p.m. MT)

Syracuse University

7-2, 0-0

Denver

4-3, 0-0

Syracuse

Denver

#8 Orange Cap Six-Game Road Swing with Win at Denver

3/16/2026 11:46:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Tickets Highlights Photo Gallery Photo Gallery

DENVER, Colo. – No. 8 Syracuse survived a furious fourth-quarter push from No. 14 Denver to close out the program's longest regular season road stretch in over 50 years, holding on for a 13-12 victory Monday night at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.

Luke Rhoa paced the Orange with four goals, while Payton Anderson added two goals and two assists. Finn Thomson contributed two goals and two assists in the win. Joey Spallina and Billy Dwan each scored once, and Jimmy McCool made 10 saves to earn the victory. The win avenges a 10-8 loss to the Pioneers in the 2024 NCAA Tournament quarterfinals and moves Syracuse to 5-1 all-time against Denver, 2-0 when playing in Colorado.

Denver (4-4) mounted a fierce comeback after trailing 12-7 heading into the fourth quarter, scoring five of the final seven goals including three man-up tallies in quick succession after the Orange were penalized twice in the opening minute of the period. Cody Malawsky led the Pioneers with three goals, while Chase Bruno and Chris Merageas added two apiece. Grayson Manning, who entered the game with the nation's best save percentage, stopped 13 shots in goal.

John Mullen controlled the faceoffs for the Orange, winning 14 of 24 draws and scooping seven ground balls. Syracuse outgained Denver in total ground balls, 30-24, and held the edge in shots, 43-37.

How it Happened

Anderson opened the scoring with a Finn Thomson assist at 14:05 of the first, but Denver responded with back-to-back goals from Sam Trumble and Chase Bruno to take a 2-1 lead after one quarter.
The second quarter was the game's most seesaw stanza. Malawsky pushed the Pioneers ahead 3-1 before the Orange rattled off five of the game's next seven with goals from Rhoa, Thomson, Wyatt Hottle, and Matt McIntee, capped by a Rhoa man-up tally off a Thomson feed with five seconds left in the half to take a 6-5 edge to the break. Denver briefly tied it twice and grabbed a 5-4 lead on a Lucas Klokiw tally before McIntee and Rhoa answered.
Syracuse came out of halftime with three goals in the first 9:32 of the third quarter. Rhoa, Tucker Kellogg, and Anderson scored on the first three possessions, pushing the lead to 9-5 before Denver interrupted briefly. Billy Dwan III , Rhoa again, and Thomson bookended a Malawsky goal to extend the advantage to 12-7 at the end of the third.
Penalties proved costly early in the fourth as the Orange were called twice in quick succession, giving Denver a lengthy extra-man stretch. The Pioneers capitalized with three straight man-up goals from Rory Graham, Marek Tzagournis, and Merageas to trim the gap to 12-10. Spallina answered with his first goal of the afternoon at 11:00 to make it 13-10, but Bruno and Merageas scored again to pull Denver within one at 13-12. The Orange clamped down to secure the final margin.

Behind the Numbers

The win caps Syracuse's six-game road swing, the program's longest regular season road stretch since 1972. The Orange went 4-2 over the stretch, surpassing the 3-3 record from the 1972 team.
Rhoa's four-goal performance was a career high.
Mullen recorded his second straight dominant faceoff performance, winning 14 of 24 (.583) on the night. He now has 309 career ground balls — second all-time in program history.
Syracuse improved to 5-1 all-time against Denver and won for the first time in Colorado since a 13-10 triumph on March 10, 2002.
The Orange held off Denver despite surrendering a 1-for-4 man-up mark and giving up three extra-man goals in the fourth quarter alone. Denver finished 3-for-8 on the power play.

Up Next for Syracuse

The Orange return home for the first time since February 13 as No. 8 Syracuse hosts No. 13 Georgetown Sunday, March 22, at the JMA Wireless Dome for the first regular season meeting between the programs since 2013.
Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m. Tickets are available at cuse.com/tickets.