No. 4/4 Syracuse Battles Past No. 12/15 Towson

Sunday, May 12

Syracuse, N.Y.

7:30 p.m.

Syracuse University

Towson

5/12/2024 10:31:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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Strong Second Half Puts No. 4 Syracuse Ahead of No. 12 Towson In NCAA Tournament First Round

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange had a blistering start to the second half as a run of nine-straight goals to start the third quarter allowed the No. 4 Syracuse Men's Lacrosse team to take down No. 12 Towson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night at the JMA Wireless Dome.

All nine goals during the rally were scored by different Syracuse (12-5) performers. Towson (13-4) led 9-8 to end the first half before the Orange propelled their way to a 17-9 advantage. 'Cuse kept the lead for the remainder of the contest.

Joey Spallina paved the way for the Syracuse attack, totaling a game-high eight points on four goals and four assists. Owen Hiltz posed a threat to the defense with four goals and two assists for six points. Finn Thomson produced two goals and two assists while Jake Stevens recorded a hat trick. The other Orange players with multi-point performances were Michael Leo (2g), Christian Mulé (1g, 1a), Sam English (1g, 1a) and John Mullen (1g, 1a).

The Towson offense was paced by Alex Roussel with seven points on four goals and three assists. Bode Mauer and Josh Webber each chipped in four points with a hat trick and one assist. Mikey Weisshaar netted three goals, Chop Gallagher contributed two goals and one assist, and Nick DeMaio dished out two assists to round out the Tiger performers who contributed points.

How It Happened

The Orange got on the board first as Hiltz buried a feed from Thomson 1:15 into the game. Towson evened the score as Roussel finished a man-up opportunity at the 10:43-mark in the first quarter.
Spallina netted his first of the evening on a solo goal 30 seconds after the Tigers got their first goal of the game.
Towson grabbed a 3-2 lead with 7:43 to go in the first quarter after goals from Gallager and Webber. Syracuse took back the lead after Hiltz and Thomson netted back-to-back goals, putting the Orange ahead 4-3 with 6:50 remaining in the first quarter.
After Gallagher scored his second goal of the game for the Tigers, 'Cuse responded as Stevens finished a dish from Spallina.
The high-scoring first quarter ended with two goals from Towson's Weisshaar, and the Tigers owned a 6-5 lead heading into the second period.
A solo goal from Spallina started the scoring in the second quarter. After a 6:46-span without any scores, Maurer put the Tigers in front, 7-6, with 5:30 left in the first half.
Stevens and Kohn got the last two goals of the half for the Orange. Towson snagged the advantage before halftime with goals from Roussel and Webber and went into the intermission with a 9-8 edge.
Syracuse produced its largest goal streak of the season to start the second half and propelled 'Cuse to a 17-9 lead. From the 13:45-mark until 3:15 to go in the third quarter, nine different Orange performers scored. Thomson, Leo, English, John Mullen, Stevens, Mulé, Hiltz, Spallina and Luke Rhoa were the nine who scored during the stretch.
The third quarter ended with a Towson goal as Mauer netted his second goal of the affair. The Tigers opened the scoring in the final 15 minutes as Webber earned a hat trick.
After Spallina slotted in his fourth goal of the outing, Mauer scored his third of the game for the Tigers. Hiltz followed with a successful man-up conversion, then Leo tallied the 20^th goal of the competition for the Orange.
Towson netted three goals to end the contest, two from Roussel and one from Weisshaar.

Behind The Numbers

Tonight's triumph was Syracuse's first in the NCAA Tournament since 2017, when the Orange defeated Yale 11-10 in the first round.
Spallina now has the most points by a sophomore at SU (88) in a single season, surpassing current head coach Gary Gait who previously held the record (87). Spallina advanced into fifth on the single-season point list at Syracuse.
With four assists, Spallina moved into a fifth-place tie on the single-season list for assists at Syracuse with Ryan Powell (51), who reached the total in 2000.
Riley Figueras created three caused turnovers to lead the squad, which was one shy of the record for caused turnovers in an NCAA tournament game for an Orange player.
With his performance tonight, Hiltz extended his consecutive-game point streak to 44 games.
The Orange's 20 goals equaled their season-best total, accomplished in the season opener against Vermon when 'Cuse won 20-7.
Towson became the 29^th different opponent Syracuse has beat in the NCAA tournament.
Syracuse improved to 30-4 in NCAA Tournament games in the Dome.

Up Next
The Orange advance to the Quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament and will face No. 6 Denver in Towson Md. on Sunday, May 19. Faceoff is slated for noon and the game will be streamed live on EPSNU. Tickets for the NCAA men's lacrosse tournament can be found at https://am.ticketmaster.com/towson/ncaamlax24.