McCool Logs 18 Saves as #5 Orange Top #13 Virginia

Saturday, April 11

Syracuse, N.Y.

4 p.m.

Syracuse University

10-3, 2-1

Virginia

7-4, 2-1

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Virginia	1	5	3	0	9
Syracuse	3	4	6	1	14

McCool Logs 18 Saves as #5 Orange Top #13 Virginia

4/11/2026 6:14:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – In a bounce-back chance, No. 5 Syracuse University men's lacrosse picked up a huge ACC win Saturday afternoon at the JMA Wireless Dome, picking up a 14-9 win over No. 13 University of Virginia.

In a special halftime ceremony, legendary Syracuse men's lacrosse coach John Desko became the 10th member of the Ring of Honor at the Dome. He was joined on the field by his immediate family, Syracuse administrators, and alumni from all eras of Syracuse lacrosse, including another legend and Ring of Honor member, Roy Simmons Jr., who coached Desko as a student-athlete and mentored him as an assistant coach.

Syracuse (10-3, 2-1 ACC) had a huge effort in net from Jimmy McCool, who made 18 saves while holding the Cavaliers to just nine goals. The defense in front of him caused five turnovers, including two from Riley Figueiras. Not to be outdone, the Orange picked up hat tricks from Luke Rhoa and Wyatt Hottle, while the pair also added an assist each. Joey Spallina finished with five points on two goals and three assists, bringing his career total to 306, one shy of Michael Powell's all-time program record of 307. Syracuse picked up secondary scoring from two poles, Billy Dwan III and Chuck Kuczynski, and faceoff man John Mullen.

Virginia (7-5, 2-1 ACC) had five points from McCabe Millon on one goal and four assists while Truitt Sunderland had a pair of goals and one assist. Brendan Millon and Ryan Colsey notched two goals each. Goalkeeper Jake Marek made three saves in the loss, the third-straight in the series for Virginia.

How it Happened

Virginia got on the board first 39 seconds into the game as McCabe Millon connected with Ryan Duenkel.
The Orange got things even on the first man-up chance as Greg Elijah-Brown converted a bouncer with Spallina on the dish. It was the first of four straight as the Orange put in early separation from the visitors with goals from Hottle, Payton Anderson, and Chuck Kuczynski early in the second quarter for a 4-1 lead.
Brendan Millon broke up the run to make it 4-2, but Hottle answered two minutes later for a 5-2 advantage. Sunderland scored back-to-back goals to cut the lead to one, 5-4, midway through the second quarter.
Rhoa canned his first of the day on a Hottle feed before Colsey cut it to one again. Finn Thomson and Colsey traded goals as the Orange took a 7-6 lead into the break.
Out of the gate, Syracuse struck three times in 90 seconds as Rhoa put away his second of the night before Dwan got his third career goal against the Cavaliers. Immediately after the Dwan goal, Mullen won the draw and came through the heart of the Virginia defense and scored for a 10-6 lead three minutes into the fresh half.
McCabe Millon broke up the scoring run, but was quickly answered by Rhoa's third to keep it 11-7.
Charles Balsamo and Brendan Millon cut the Orange lead down to 11-9, but that Millon's goal was the final Virginia score of the night as the Syracuse defense held the Cavaliers off the board for the final 18 minutes and 43 seconds of the game.
Syracuse added three more goals for good measure, once from Hottle to complete the hat trick with two from Spallina to round out the game.

Behind the Numbers

Syracuse improved to 23-21 all-time against Virginia while holding the Cavaliers to fewer than 10 goals for the first time since a 15-9 Syracuse win back in 2015.
Spallina is now one point from tying Michael Powell's Syracuse record of 307 and needs two more to break the apropos 22-year-old record.
Dwan now has seven goals on the year and 19 in his career, surpassing Joel White for the most pole goals in program history. Dwan pulled even with Ric Beardsley in second for pole points at 20. White holds the program record for points with 28.
The Orange hit 10 wins for a third-straight season while picking up their eighth top-20 win of the season. This is the third-straight season Syracuse has won at least six games at the JMA Wireless Dome and was the 971st win in program history.
Syracuse had one of its most efficient shooting nights of the season, canning 40 percent of their total shots. The Orange put 14 of their 17 shots on goal in the back of the net.

Up Next for Syracuse

The Orange play their final home game of the regular season next weekend, taking on local foe Colgate on Saturday, April 18.
Game time for the ACC Network game is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the JMA Wireless Dome.
Prior to the game, Syracuse will honor its senior class.
Tickets for the regular season home finale are available at Cuse.com/lacrosse-tickets