No. 7 Syracuse men’s lacrosse delivered a statement win on Saturday, defeating No. 5 Notre Dame 14-9 in front of 11,268 fans, the largest home crowd of the season at the JMA Wireless Dome. The Orange (9-2, 2-0 ACC) used a dominant 6-0 second quarter and a nine-goal scoring run to notch their first victory over the Irish since 2018.
Joey Spallina led the charge with four goals and an assist, while Owen Hiltz added two goals and two assists. Seven different players scored for Syracuse, including Sam English and Michael Leo with two goals apiece. John Mullen was a force at the faceoff X, winning 16-of-23 and collecting 11 ground balls.
After trailing 3-0 early, Syracuse seized momentum late in the first quarter and never looked back. The Orange held Notre Dame (5-3, 1-1 ACC) scoreless for nearly 40 minutes, the longest drought by a Syracuse opponent this season.
The win marked Syracuse’s first over a defending national champion since 2017. With the victory, Syracuse improved to 7-1 at home.
Next, the Orange head to Long Island to face top-ranked Cornell on April 12 at 4 p.m. in a highly anticipated non-conference showdown.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].