Syracuse, NY — Syracuse men’s lacrosse is playing for its first NCAA Tournament win since 2017 on Sunday night.
No. 4 seed Syracuse hosts Towson at 7:30 pm at the JMA Wireless Dome in the tournaments first round. It’s the first home tournament game for the Orange since 2018 and will air on ESPNU.
For most of this year’s SU team, the tournament is a new experience. Gary Gait spoke Friday about hoping his team’s tough loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals was enough to get rid of some of the jitters of postseason play.
Syracuse (11-5) has made big improvements, particularly on defense and at the face off X, in Gait’s third season at the helm leading to its return to the NCAA Tournament.
Towson (13-3) is coming off a conference tournament win. Its scoring defense leads the country, allowing just 8.44 goals per game, and squares off against the Orange’s own No. 6 scoring offense.
SU long stick midfielder Matt Wright, who missed last game, is still day-to-day with an injury and not expected to play.
The winner of Sunday night’s game will play No. 5 seed Denver, which beat Michigan 16-11.
Third period
11:02 Syracuse 12, Towson 9
Can’t even finish typing before another goal is scored. Johnny Mullen takes it to the net from the face off
Towson takes a timeout.
11:08 Syracuse 11, Towson 9
And there’s a third for the Orange. Someone flipped the switch for this team in the locker room at halftime.
English nets his first of the game, assisted by Hiltz. Now a 3-0 run for SU, biggest by either team this game.
11:52 Syracuse 10, Towson 9
Electric few seconds there. Billy Dwan takes a clear but doesn’t quite get it far enough, having the ball knocked loose and picked up by a Towson player. Towson takes it down to the goal, and Riley Figueiras, the only defender back with Mark, intercepts the shot.
SU makes the clear this time around and on the ensuing possession Michael Leo finds net.
1.45pm Syracuse 9, Towson 9
Orange with a quick start to the second half. Thomson nets his second goal of the game with an assist from Sam English.
Halftime: Syracuse 8, Towson 9
Things cooled off for both teams after a fiery first period scoring-wise until the 5:30 mark hit.
Towson scored its first of the period, retaking a lead after Joey Spallina had tied things up early in the period. Jake Stevens and Mason Kohn responded with a pair of goals to put Syracuse back ahead briefly before Towson tied things back up.
The Tigers re-took the lead with 13 seconds on the clock in the half after Syracuse had failed to score on a possession following a timeout.
Spallina, Stevens and Owen Hiltz are tied to lead the Orange in scoring with two goals a piece.
Will Mark steadied out a bit. He recorded his first two saves of the game right out of the break.
Liam Downs, in Towson’s goal, isn’t faring the same with just two saves against SU’s offense.
Second period
0:13 Syracuse 8, Towson 9
Tigers back on top after Syracuse failed to find the net despite taking a timeout to regroup and set up a play.
3:33 Syracuse 8, Towson 8
Towson nets one after a referee decision that gave it possession and had both Gait and defensive coordinator John Odierna visibly confused on the sideline. They did not call for a review of the play.
5:05 Syracuse 8, Towson 7
Mason Kohn with the fast break from the face off X. He bounces in his shot to score.
The Orange are back ahead of the Tigers for the first time since the 4:50 mark of the first period.
5:15 Syracuse 7, Towson 7
Stevens scores his second goal of the game, taking a groundball pick up off turnover all the way to the top right corner of the net.
5:30 Syracuse 6, Towson 7
Towson nets one off a quick, cross-goal flick pass where Mark couldn’t turn in time for the stop. Roussel on the assisting end of the pass, Bode Maurer on the scoring end. First goal of the period for the Tigers.
12:16 Syracuse 6, Towson 6
Spallina finds the net on a low shot for his second goal of the night.
Mark made two saves on Towson’s opening possession. That broke up a streak in which all of the Tigers’ shots on goal found net in the first quarter.
First period
0:10 Syracuse 5, Towson 6
That’s going to give the Tigers the lead exiting the first period. Mikey Weishaar was the goal scorer.
3:22 Syracuse 5, Towson 5
Towson killed off a one-minute penalty for an illegal body check despite Syracuse having possession of the ball when it was called. Stevens turned the ball over.
Once the Tigers were back in full force, they found the net almost immediately.
Mark is off his game again in goal for the Orange. Things aren’t quite as dire as they were against Duke, but Gary Gait could opt to pull him for Jimmy McCool as he did last game.
4:50 Syracuse 5, Towson 4
Spallina hits Jake Stevens over the net and he dumps one in while Downs is out of net.
6:01 Syracuse 4, Towson 4
If scoring continues like this, it’s going to be a long, nail-biting night for fans of either team.
Towson puts another past Mark into the net to tie things up. Gallagher is once again the scorer.
6:50 Syracuse 4, Towson 3
That’s a highlight-reel goal for Finn Thomson.
He gets the ball on a pass from Spallina, who spins over his opposite shoulder to get the ball. Thomson came around the net, fired it off and then did a turning leap over a defender.
7:16 Syracuse 3, Towson 3
Hiltz bounces one in hitting the far side corner. Christian Mulé had the assist from behind the net.
That goal came pretty fast off a won face off. The Orange’s face off unit is 4-of-6 so far tonight.
7:43 Syracuse 2, Towson 3
Another for the Tigers gives them their first goal of the game, and the Orange takes a timeout.
8:28 Syracuse 2, Towson 2
The Tigers sneak another one past Mark. Chop Gallagher slides it between Mark and the left post after receiving an assist on a diving, cross-goal pass from Roussel.
10:13 Syracuse 2, Towson 1
Joey Spallina responds for SU quickly. After catching a pass behind the net he brings the ball around and drops it in over Luke Downs’ head before he can even get his stick up for a block.
10:43 Syracuse 1, Towson 1
Syracuse’s man-down defense, aka the “Junkyard Dogs,” couldn’t hold off Towson as Sam English served a 30-second penalty for offsides.
Alex Roussel scores, assisted by Bode Maurer.
1.45pm Syracuse 1, Towson 0
Orange gets a steal just as it looks like Towson has won the opening face off, and after swinging it around a bit, Owen Hiltz fires a clear shot off a pass from Finn Thomson and finds the back of the net.
SU on the board first.
3pm Syracuse 0, Towson 0
Will Mark starts in goal for the Orange. The veteran keeper had a rough go in Syracuse’s ACC Tournament game against Duke, allowing 8 goals in the opening period and being pulled after 12 minutes. It was an outlier in what’s been an impressive season.
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