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No. 18 Syracuse coasted to a third nonconference victory over the past weekend, but its easy start is now over. The Orange are playing against the defending champions in College Park, Maryland. 

The Terrapins were upset this past weekend, falling 12-7 against Loyola (Maryland). It was Maryland’s first loss since Memorial Day Weekend in 2021, when it lost to Virginia. The Terrapins defeated the Orange 14-10 in the second game of last season. 

Here’s what our beat writers expect to happen when it visits No. 9 Maryland (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten):

Anish Vasudevan (3-0)
Terrapin wins the race
Maryland 16, Syracuse 14

The Orange are catching the Terrapins at the perfect time, but they’ve had it too easy up until this point. This season is the complete opposite of 2022, when SU started the year against some of its toughest opponents. SU has been living in a mirage, going against weak nonconference opponents. Saturday, it will get a reality check.

John Tillman’s program has been nothing below excellent for the last two years. It may look like the Terrapins are going through some sort of national championship hangover, but what happened against Loyola was uncharacteristic and likely won’t happen again. Syracuse could get close if it gets another dose of high production from the entire offense, but the defense will likely falter at the end. Will Mark can’t stop every shot, especially if the Daniels, Daniel Maltz and Daniel Kelly, are wide open.   

Connor Smith (3-0)
The first bump in the road 
Maryland 15, Syracuse 10

Maryland was the No. 2 team in the country going into last weekend, but proceeded to lose by five at Loyola, only scoring seven goals in the process, its fewest in a game since 2019. That loss dropped the Terrapins to No. 9, but make no mistake, this is still a great team. UMD ran the table last season, going 18-0 to win its fourth-ever national championship. The Terps have six players who were named preseason All-Americans, including midfielder Kyle Long who notched 42 points last season.

Syracuse made the jump to No. 18 in the polls after its 3-0 start included comfortable wins over UAlbany and Holy Cross, but the Orange haven’t faced a big-time test yet this season. That will come Saturday in College Park, Maryland, against a team SU lost to by four at home last year. Syracuse has looked solid this season — especially defensively, giving it up less than seven goals per game — and its talented young attacks are getting better and beginning to play more cohesively. But I think Maryland will be too much, too dominant, for a young SU squad that will get a good experience playing a top team on the road, though it will fall short. 

Anthony Alandt (2-1) 
Terrapins are slow turtles
Syracuse 14, Maryland 12

Syracuse erased questions of whether or not it can score with a 35-goal weekend, amassing a 3-0 record in the first week of the season. Now, the Orange, who are ranked for the first time in over a year, head to College Park to take on the defending national champions. But Maryland isn’t the team that it was last season, not even close, especially after the loss of starting goalie Logan McNaney, who reportedly is out for the season with a torn ACL. 

Though Binghamton transfer Teddy Dolan will be in net for the Terrapins, I expect Syracuse’s diverse offensive attack to overcome Maryland. Not only is Maryland coming off of an upset loss to Loyola where they notched the fewest goals since 2019, but the Terrapins were shut down on offense, totalling just 26 total shots, 17 of which were on goal. They have hardly been impressive through two games, and the Orange have.

Led by Joey Spallina, expect a prolific scoring day from the Orange, with plenty of shots on goal. Defensively, Mark, the Orange’s own former conference defensive player of the year, will stop whatever shots the Terrapins manage on net. And Syracuse — now ranked — will exit with an impressive 4-0 start.

Published on February 15, 2023 at 9:09 pm