100 Years of Syracuse Lacrosse: The Laurie Cox Era

In each of Syracuse's eight home contests this season, the Orange will be honoring one segment of the 100-years of men's lacrosse at Syracuse. Saturay, we take a look at the Laurie Cox Era, Syracuse's first head coach, who took the Orange through its first-15 seasons.

   It all began on April 29, 1916.
     A group of student-athletes from both Syracuse and SUNY ESF had combined to form the first Syracuse lacrosse team, coached by Laurie Cox – who'd go on to become the first of Syracuse's Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductees in 1957. On April 29, 1916 the first game in program history was played.
     Fittingly, it was against Hobart, Syracuse's longtime rival. The Orange scored just once and lost 9-1, but with the inception of the program, Cox had laid the groundwork for a program that would go on to win 15 National Championships and become one of the most storied programs in all of collegiate sports.
     The 1916 Orange won one game in its first season, a 3-2 overtime victory against the Syracuse Lacrosse Club, lost five contests and tied twice.
     After not playing any games in 1917, the 1918 Orange returned to action, winning three games, including its first road game at Penn, 2-0.
     The 1919 Orange provided the program's first winning seasons at 5-4-1, with triumphant wins against Hobart and Harvard for the upstart 'Cuse squad, which set the table for the first of 15 National Championships the following year.
     In 1920, the team finished its season as the USILA co-champions. The Orange shared the title with co-champion Navy. It marked SU's first USILA championship. The Orange went on to win three more by 1925.
     During the championship season, Syracuse posted a 5-3-4 record. After the first six games of the season, the Orange was 4-1-1, holding victories against Yale, Harvard and the Onondaga Nation. In its victory against the Onondaga nation, Syracuse posted its season high in goals in a 6-1 win.
     In 1921 the Orange posted an 11-3-1 mark before returning in 1922 to run the table with a perfect 16-0 mark, the first undefeated season in program history.
     The Orange's success can be attributed to the 12 All-Americans, including Paul Lowry, Ben Dickson and Victor Ross, and George French who was second team. The Orange roster also contained two attackman Everett Corey and Irv Lydecker, receiving third team all-American honors. Harvey MacAloney, Hal Wertz, George Fisher, Clark Failing, Hal Schmidt and Bill Bertenshaw received honorable mention.
     In that season, SU hosted Cornell, Toronto, Hobart, Colgate and Oxford-Cambridge and visited NYU, Yale, Penn, Johns Hopkins, Penn State and Harvard. SU's most impressive win came on the road against Yale when the Orange dismantled the Bulldogs 10-1. Syracuse won eight games by at least four goals, blowing out teams such as Onondaga Nation, Yale, Harvard and Colgate.
     The team's success was rooted in its defense, as the Orange held their opponents to an average of 1.188 goals per game (shutting out five teams). Ten players earned All-America accolades as the team rolled to a 10-3-2 mark.
     Cox's successful trend of winning a National Championship every two years once again held true in the 1924 campaign. SU posted a 13-0-1 record, with its lone tie coming against Onondaga Nation, and won its third USILA National Championship in five seasons.
     The Orange were equipped with nine All-Americans, including defenseman Clark Failing, who earned all-America honors for the third straight season, Frederick Fitch, Clark Failing and Walter Townsend. In addition, Lynn Wood and Victor Jenkins earned second-team honors and Charles McCarthy wasw a third-team selection. Roy Simmons and Allan Longley were honorable mention All-Americans. Simmons then went on to take over the helm of the Orange program in 1931 and guide it for the next 40 years.
     In 1924, Syracuse outscored its opponents 92-25, including three shutout victories against Yale, Cornell and Harvard.
     Syracuse repeated as National Champions in 1925, the first-of-four times in the program's 100 years that the Orange successfully defended their national title. SU shared the championship title with Navy, as the two schools were deemed co-champions.
     The 1925 squad won its second straight USILA title with four returning and repeat All-Americans in Wood, Townsend, Jenkins and Longley, who were all recognized as All-Americans for the second straight season.
     The Orange won its first six games of the season, posting victories against NYU, Lehigh, Rutgers and Harvard. A highlight of the season was a 20-1 victory against the Syracuse Lacrosse Club.
     Syracuse closed the season with two victories in the same day, splitting into two squads as the reserves hosted Colgate, while the starters traveled to Crescent A.C. Both squads posted victories to give SU its 13th and 14th victories of the season.
     Cox coached the Orange for five more seasons after his fourth National Championship, guiding the Orange to twice as many wins as losses in the final half-decade as the program's leader. His teams had a 34-17-4 record during that span. During that time, Orange players earned 25 more All-America honors, leaving the program in strong shape for Simmons to continue the success and tradition of Syracuse lacrosse for the next 40 years.

Syracuse University Athletics

100 Years of Syracuse Lacrosse: The Laurie Cox Era

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