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After missing back-to-back NCAA tournaments, Syracuse returned to action to face off against Vermont in its 2024 season-opener. The Orange squeaked by a pesky Vermont team 7-5 in its opener last season despite a slow offensive start. Since then, the Catamounts lost a lot on the defensive side of the ball as well as faceoff man Tommy Burke, who won 64.8% of his faceoffs last season.

In the third season under head coach Gary Gait, the Orange enter with hefty expectations. Star attack Joey Spallina has a year under his belt along with Michael Leo and Finn Thomson. To pair with the youth, SU added veteran transfers like Jake Stevens and Sam English (Princeton) along with Christian Mulé (Lehigh).

After a slow start offensively for each team, Syracuse came alive. Three straight goals in the first quarter created a lead and a nine goal second period had Syracuse up seven at the break. Led by an all-around attacking effort in the second half, Syracuse was never threatened as it cruised to an opening day victory.

Here are observations from No. 9 Syracuse’s (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) 20-7 victory against Vermont (0-1, 0-0 America East):

Strong defense

Much has been made about the departure of Dave Pietramala in the offseason. Syracuse replaced him with former Manhattan head coach John Odierna, who brings a different philosophy to SU and a fresh set of ideas. On Saturday, his plan was effective.

When Syracuse couldn’t get anything going offensively early on, its defense held strong. Vermont continuously looked for openings that weren’t there and Syracuse provided constant pressure. At the end of the first quarter, Vermont had seven turnovers.

Halfway through the first quarter with the score still knotted at zero, Luke Reiter controlled the ball on the near side and attempted to cut inside of defender Riley Figueiras, who checked the ball away, creating a fast break opportunity.

Toward the end of the first, Vermont attempted to kill a man-up chance for Syracuse. Patrick Murphy controlled the ball after breaking Syracuse’s pressure, looking to spin away. Multiple Syracuse players back checked him, forcing the ball to sail out of bounds. Despite Vermont totaling five goals in the first half, three came on man-up opportunities.

In total, the Orange forced 17 turnovers and only let up two goals in the second half, including a shutout in the fourth quarter.

Mulé’s debut

Syracuse’s attack is still a young group, but it added some veteran presence in the off season in Mulé, a transfer from Lehigh. Last season with Lehigh, Mulé had 29 goals and 44 assists. Now with the Orange, Mulé wasted no time in making an instant impact.

Gait praised the attackmen in the middle of the week, saying he’s “more two handed” than some of SU’s normal attackers. And when Syracuse’s attack was struggling early on, Mulé helped pull it out of slump. Trailing 1-0 in the first quarter, Thomson controlled the ball before Mulé cut to the crease and finished in traffic to tie things at one. Later in the first, Mulé found Spallina, who let one rip from distance for SU’s third straight goal. The Orange were up 3-1 late in the first quarter.

As SU started to gain a rhythm in the second quarter, Mulé once again was there to give the Orange a boost. Owen Hiltz dished the ball to Mulé on the crease for a finish inside to put Syracuse up 6-2. Later in the quarter after two straight Vermont goals, Mulé answered with his third of the first half. Hiltz controlled the ball from X as Mulé cut in front of his defender. Hiltz found Mulé once again who utilized his left hand for a first half hat trick.

Spallina’s strong passing

Spallina had trouble in his debut with the Orange in the opening game of 2023, shooting 1-for-15 against the Catamounts. This time around, he showed what he can do with his distributions, spreading the ball to other Syracuse attackers and midfielders.

The sophomore’s goal in the first quarter put SU up 3-1, but then in the second quarter Spallina started finding his teammates. In a transition opportunity, Spallina came racing up the middle of the field, flanked by defender Billy Dwan, who unleashed a pole goal to put Syracuse up 7-2, its fourth straight goal. Spallina registered three assists five times last season. On Saturday, Spallina had three before halftime as Syracuse led 12-5.

In the second half, Spallina angled inside as English flashed to the middle. Spallina went behind the back to hit English, who squeezed a shot by George Egan in net as Syracuse led 15-6.

Faceoff dominance

The biggest question surrounding Syracuse this season was whether it’d be able to have consistent faceoff play. The Orange won just 42% of their faceoffs last season with a combination of Johnny Richiusa and Jack Fine. Syracuse’s attack is obviously strong, but they’re not much use if they can’t get the ball.

So, in the offseason Syracuse added Tufts transfer Mason Kohn, the Division III faceoff man of the year along with freshman Johnny Mullen. Entering Saturday, Kohn faced an easier test with Vermont losing Burke in the offseason — who won 65% of his faceoffs last season.

Kohn had never faced off in a Division One game before, but he looked right at home, winning 16-of-24 faceoffs. In the first half he drew three violations against Vermont’s faceoff men, resulting in a 30 second penalty. Whether it was Henry Dodge or Gavin Bergeron, Kohn had no problem, growing more comfortable as the game went on.

Kohn’s physicality gave Vermont fits coming up with the ball on numerous ground balls with a crowd of players around him. And with Syracuse leading by a hefty margin in the second halfm Mullen got some reps, going 5-for-7. As a whole, the Orange won 68% of their faceoffs, showing plenty of improvement on last season’s performances.

Published on February 3, 2024 at 6:36 pm

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