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Joey Spallina is the belle of the ball. With the No. 22, the No. 1 in last year’s recruiting class and an old-school ability from the X, every opposing defense has their eyes glued onto him. Johns Hopkins was no different, each defender glaring at Spallina behind the cage in the final minute of the first half.

With no head turned in his direction, Finn Thomson emerged wide open on the right side with an upright stick. Spallina tossed the ball to him and Thomson flipped his stick behind his back to clinch a 6-5 halftime lead.

“We’ve got a lot of freshmen doing a lot of good things for us,” head coach Gary Gait said earlier this season.

Spallina tied a team-high four points but Thomson (three points) and Michael Leo (two) eclipsed No. 22’s total as the freshman trio combined for nine points in Syracuse’s (3-4, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) 11-9 loss to No. 10 John Hopkins (5-3, 0-0 Centennial Conference). They demonstrated a youthful exuberance to the Orange’s offense, which has been reliant on older stars for the last few seasons.

“They have chances to make plays and they’re making them,” Gait said postgame.

In 2022, Jackson Birtwistle was the only young contributor to the offense. Owen Hiltz was out with a season-ending injury before the year, leaving Brendan Curry and Tucker Dordevic to do much of the heavy lifting on offense. Birtwistle didn’t even make an impact until the final four games of the year, when he combined for 13 points.

Dordevic and Curry’s departure left the Orange with a ton of questions ahead of this season. Transfers Cole Kirst and Alex Simmons brought a veteran presence to the attack but Pat March’s offense was mostly in the hands of an inexperienced batch of young players.

So why have they fit? Gait said the freshmen have all been consistent so far. Thomson and Leo said March gave them the “keys” to the offense on certain possessions, allowing them to utilize their individual strengths with full freedom. For Spallina, that means navigating at the X and finding his Canadian counterparts who prefer to battle at point-blank range.

Spallina settled at the X four minutes in, sprinting to the left side of the cage with a defender on him. He flipped the ball over his defender to a cutting Hitlz. The pass was high but perfectly placed, letting Hiltz slot the goal into the bottom of the net. Hiltz returned the favor to Spallina 10 minutes later.

At the start of the second quarter, Spallina mimicked his earlier play, going to the same exact spot behind the cage. He dished it to Hiltz, who emerged open after a pick from Birtwistle, to give the Orange a 4-3 lead.

Thomson’s goal to end the first half represented the successful design which Syracuse had heading into the matchup against Johns Hopkins, Gait said. March studies the opposing defenses before each game and decides how to shift the offense, moving Thomson to attack for Saturday’s game.

“We’re getting opportunities and they’re in that mix,” Gait said.

Five minutes into the second half, Alex Simmons got the ball on the left side. He somewhat had an open look but waited for John Hopkins’ slide to fully move over, freeing up the middle for another Syracuse player.

Thomson filled the gap, receiving a pass from Simmons before pump-faking at the doorstep. His move caused Blue Jays’ goalie Tim Marcille to fall to the turf, leading to an easy tap-in score.

Like Thomson, Leo’s impact came later in the game. He took control of the offense with two minutes left in the third quarter, the game tied at 7-7.

Leo caught the ball from 10 yards out, dodged to the right side before digging his feet into the turf. Leo spun back to his left, lifted his stick up to his side and ripped the ball low. It bounced onto the turf and over Marcille’s stick, hitting the back of the net as he fell to the ground.

“He’s quicker than he looks,” Gait said. “He’s a really good finisher.”

A minute before Leo’s score, the Orange couldn’t make the most of a two-man-up opportunity. But they earned another man-up look four minutes into the final period, when Thomson held onto the ball on the right side.

Johns Hopkins expected Thomson to flip it to Hiltz, who had already scored three times and had the space for a deep lefty rip. But Thomson only looked at Hiltz, firing the ball to Lee, who was wide open near the crease. He received it, turned around and scored in one motion, giving the Orange a 9-8 lead.

“Everyone on our offense can make a play happen,” Leo said. “We trust one another.”

Still, the inexperienced caught up with SU. Leo coughed the ball up on a surefire possession two minutes later. And on the final attempt to tie the game at 10-10, Kirst’s pass to Thomson was intercepted.

“They made plays when they needed to,” Gait said. “We showed that we’re still young and that we’re growing and we’re learning.”

Published on March 11, 2023 at 8:34 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu