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Luke Rhoa and Michael Leo reconvened at halftime of Saturday’s contest against Maryland. From the first half, they realized they were only getting short-stick matchups the entire night.

The pair knew they had to initiate offense more. They knew they had to take unassisted opportunities, something they’d done against short-stick defensive midfielders in practice all week. And that’s exactly what they did, scoring three times in the fourth quarter to push the game into overtime.

“We just took our chances and buried our opportunities we had,” Leo said postgame.

Rhoa and Leo finished with a combined seven goals on 19 shots, carrying No. 5 Syracuse’s (3-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) offensive production in a 13-12 overtime loss to No. 4 Maryland (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten). The Terrapins defense, led by defenseman Ajax Zappitello, held Joey Spallina to one goal and two assists, his lowest goal total since he was shut out against Virginia last April.

The Orange relied on Rhoa and Leo to make up for Spallina’s offense, and they easily met the challenge.

“Those guys, they’re so good they’ll make you pay,” Maryland head coach John Tillman said about Syracuse’s sophomore pair.

Tillman spent a lot of time with his defense to stop Spallina and Owen Hiltz. They expected the Orange’s star attacks to find holes in Maryland’s system, using picks to get open looks. That did happen at times Saturday, with Spallina’s only goal coming off a pick, but the Terrapins limited SU’s top options. Hiltz finished with just one assist.

Maryland’s focus on Spallina and Hiltz reaped benefits for the rest of SU’s offense. While the Terrapins continuously slid over to give help on Spallina, no one helped on Rhoa and Leo, giving them easy chances to get shots on goal.

“We left guys on islands tonight,” Tillman said.

Three minutes into the game, Spallina was already having trouble getting open. He tried to gain a step on Zappitello, but another defender came charging at him. Spallina quickly flipped the ball onto the turf, bouncing it into Rhoa’s stick. Rhoa stepped into an underhand shot, hammering it into the back of the net.

Mason Kohn scored SU’s only other goal of the first quarter, heading into the second quarter down 5-2. Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said the offense was getting plenty of opportunities but they had to settle down.

“No one panicked, we worked our way back and got up on them,” Gait said.

Leo led the charge in the second quarter with back-to-back scores — the only goals from either side in the quarter.

On his first goal, Leo worked alone on the right side before charging toward the middle. He gained a step on Joshua Coffman, firing a lefty strike past Logan McNaney.

Coffman was called for an illegal body check on Leo’s goal, giving SU its first man-up opportunity of the night. On the man-up play, Leo made his way to the baseline of the goal on the right side. He waited patiently as the ball made its way around the perimeter before landing in his stick.

Finn Thomson made the final pass, allowing Leo to smoothly catch the ball and thread it into the back of the net to bring Syracuse within one.

At the start of the third quarter, Rhoa got back on the board. He worked solo this time, beating his defender while running down the right side before bouncing it past McNaney.

Spallina scored directly after Rhoa, also dishing it to Jackson Birtwistle at the crease with a minute left in the third quarter for his first goal of the season. That was the last of Spallina’s contributions of the night, though it was enough to give the Orange an 8-7 lead heading into the final quarter.

After Braden Erksa mimicked the Syracuse’s pair’s unassisted play to begin the final period of regulation, Rhoa answered back. He charged to the middle of the field from the right side before ripping a lefty shot into the top of the net.

Erksa responded though, tying the game at 9-9. Leo put Syracuse back in front, muscling his way past Nick Redd to get to the right side of the crease.

Once he got his body turned to the goal, Leo immediately bounced the ball left of McNaney’s stick and into the back of the net. Kohn won the ensuing faceoff, setting up Rhoa’s fourth goal of the evening — an unassisted lefty blast from dead-on.

In overtime, Syracuse’s new offensive strategy didn’t change. After the defense made a key stop on the Terrapins opening possession, Leo took the first shot, clanging it off the post. Following another miss from Sam English, Leo misfired again.

Then, Leo did what he’s done so many times before, going back to his time at MacArthur High School. He charged downhill directly at the crease from the right side, diving as he launched the ball into the back of the net. But after video review it was ruled a crease violation, and Maryland impaled the final dagger on the other end.

“I took a shot and obviously the call didn’t go our way,” Leo said. “That’s just sports and you got to move on.”

Published on February 17, 2024 at 11:37 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu