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The first thing Trey Deere taught Joey Spallina this summer was how to fight. Playing for the Orangeville Northmen as one of a few American players in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League — Canada’s premier box lacrosse league — and a highly touted college prospect, Spallina had a target on his back.

In a league known for its physicality, Spallina desperately needed the lesson as opposing players cross checked him, tugging his jersey off the ball and grabbing his facemask to get under his skin. But whatever they tried didn’t work. He racked up 148 points — the most ever by an American in the OJLL — earning league-wide respect by the end of the summer.

“Not many guys put up 100 points this year and for him playing in the OJLL for the first time putting up 100 points, it was definitely something special,” Deere said.

After winning Atlantic Coast Conference freshman of the year, Spallina took his talents up north to play in the OJLL. He honed in on his skills by playing in tight spaces and gained a deeper understanding of his Syracuse teammates, many of whom have box lacrosse backgrounds. Spallina’s already seen the benefits in 2024, recording 22 assists through five games after dishing 32 across 15 games in 2023.

Box lacrosse’s physicality sparked Spallina’s interest from a young age, leading him to play on Long Island and across the tri-state area growing up, his father Joe — who played box growing up — said.

When Nick Rose, the General Manager of the Northmen, approached Spallina in 2022 about an opportunity to play for Orangeville, he chomped at the bit. Spallina decided not to play before his freshman season at Syracuse, but he kept the idea in the back of his mind.

While at SU, Spallina’s teammates, including Finn Thomson and Owen Hiltz, grew up around box lacrosse. Spallina wanted to put himself in their shoes. His decision to play in Canada was a no-brainer once he reconnected with Rose at the start of 2023.

“That was part of my reason for going up there,” Spallina said. “Just to kind of get a little bit of a better idea of what they see on the field.”

Rather than field lacrosse, box is played in a much smaller area. The tight quarters with smaller goals call for quicker decisions and more precise shots, along with an increased physicality due to less restrictive rules.

Spallina’s experienced pressure before. He came into Syracuse as the No. 1 recruit in the 2022 class and SU’s new No. 22. But nothing could’ve prepared Spallina for the OJLL. He swapped the turf at the JMA Wireless Dome for 100-degree barns filled to the brim with passionate fans. When Joe visited Spallina this summer, he described the atmosphere as “wild” and said the “whole town shuts down for games.”

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Similar to his dad, Spallina quickly found out what box was all about. In his first-ever shift against the Toronto Beaches, Spallina said he “got laid out” trying to cross the crease. No flag came his way.

“I was like alright, I guess you gotta play tough here,” Spallina said.

He returned to the bench, collected himself and scored on his next shift. Spallina then used the next few games to get a feel for the league and its intricacies. Outside of shooting on smaller nets with bigger goalies, Spallina said figuring out how to pick-and-roll in a congested space proved difficult.

But Spallina rarely displayed any growing pains, according to Orangeville head coach Rusty Kruger. Kruger said Spallina’s skillset “speaks for itself,” whether it was his vision or his ability to shoot in small windows. Kruger used to play box with Americans like Casey Powell, Syracuse’s second-all-time leading scorer, yet he said Spallina was at a different level.

“He’s a dynamic player who can get to the net but he can also feed the ball real well and see some floors so it just made the guys around him better,” Kruger said.

Penn State freshman and Orangeville player Liam Matthews said Spallina got more comfortable as each game passed. Beyond scoring, Spallina’s vision became noticeably better. Matthews said Spallina can see people before they even know they’re open and often found players on cuts to the middle of the field.

But the most impressive thing to Matthews was that Spallina embraced the “box culture.”
As opponents tried to get in his head, it often ended with Spallina putting “three goals down their throat,” promptly ending the shenanigans, Matthews said.

In game two of Orangeville’s series against Burlington Blaze in the Ontario Provincial final, Matthews remembered a defender who chirped Spallina all game. Later on, Spallina got the best of him on a goal and proceeded to talk back in his direction.

“It was really refreshing that he just shows how much passion he has, even if it’s box lacrosse,” Matthews said.

There was a clear difference when Spallina returned to the field game for fall ball. Joe said he became “immune to contact” because of the difference in physicality. Spallina said the game slowed down for him.

Teammates started to take note of Spallina’s growth. Deere said guys joked about how Spallina “finally learned how to pass.” In response, Spallina cracked a smile and said they’re just busting his chops — quick to point out that most seasons he’s played lacrosse he’s had more assists than goals.

“Box has only helped my passing game, being able to throw skips and find open guys within the zone that defenses are running and so it’s helped me in just so many different ways,” Spallina said.

But it was one thing for Spallina to say his passing improved. He needed to prove it.

In Syracuse’s season opener in 2023 against Vermont, Spallina’s 1-for-15 shooting performance left much to be desired. In the 2024 opener, Spallina got another crack at the Catamounts. Before the game, he took a deep breath to calm himself and loosened the grip on his stick. He told himself to do what he does best and play his game.

The result was a four-assist performance — something Spallina accomplished just twice as a freshman — in a dominant 20-7 victory.

When Vermont head coach Chris Feifs was asked postgame about the difference between Spallina in year two his answer was simple: he moved the ball. Feifs said Spallina was more of a “ball-dominant dodger” in 2023 who tried to beat defenders one-on-one. In 2024, the ball wasn’t glued to Spallina’s stick and it garnered instant offensive results.

“That shows just how playing box over the summer and going through a full season of Division I lacrosse starting as a freshman has developed is his game,” Feifs said.

Two days later, Spallina tied his career-high with five assists in a win over Colgate. The same week against Manhattan, Spallina set his new career-high with seven assists and was the first SU player to hit the 10-point mark since Ryan Powell in 2000.

Spallina’s success has been no secret in 2024. His natural skill combined with his added box intangibles from this summer have transformed him into one of the best all-around attacks in the country.

“If I have anything to say to young kids, it’s go play box lacrosse,” Spallina said.

Published on February 21, 2024 at 11:34 pm

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