#5 Syracuse Falls at #1 Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Despite two hat tricks from two sources, No. 5 Syracuse University men's lacrosse dropped a 16-11 decision at No. 1 Notre Dame Saturday afternoon as the two teams wrapped up the regular season.

Notre Dame outscored Syracuse 5-2 in the third quarter to break open a back-and-forth first half and pull away for good. Syracuse's Payton Anderson led the Orange (11-4, 2-2 ACC) with four goals, and Joey Spallina added three goals and an assist. Jimmy McCool made 18 saves in goal.

Luke Miller paced Notre Dame (10-1, 3-1 ACC) with three goals and Will Maheras finished with one goal and four assists to orchestrate the Irish attack. Syracuse (11-4, 2-2 ACC) fell to Notre Dame despite a competitive opening 30 minutes, entering the break trailing just a goal, 8-7.

How it Happened

The teams traded goals through a competitive opening quarter. Luke Miller got the Irish on the board first, but Spallina answered quickly with a goal off a Matt McIntee assist. Brock Behrman restored Notre Dame's lead before Chuck Kuczynski, assisted by Dante Bowen, drew the Orange even at 2-2. Notre Dame pushed ahead again on Josh Yago's unassisted tally before Payton Anderson, set up by Wyatt Hottle, knotted things at 3-3. Max Busenkell gave the Irish a 4-3 lead heading to the second. McCool made three saves in the opening frame to keep 'Cuse in it.
Syracuse took control of the second quarter, converting on two power-play opportunities and outscoring Notre Dame 5-3 to enter the half up 8-7. Spallina buried a man-up goal off a Finn Thomson feed to make it 4-4, and Anderson gave the Orange their first lead with his second of the afternoon at 5-4. Thomson then found the net off a Michael Leo assist to push the advantage to 6-4. After Notre Dame tied it at 7-7 on back-to-back goals from Will Angrick and Yago, Anderson scored his third off a Spallina assist with under three minutes left in the half to give Syracuse the lead at the break.
Notre Dame took over in the third quarter, scoring five of seven goals to turn a one-goal deficit into a 12-10 lead. Will Maheras, Dylan Faison, Teddy Lally, Max Busenkell, and Matt Jeffery all scored in the frame, giving the Irish the momentum they would not relinquish. Anderson notched his fourth and Thomson converted on a man-up opportunity off another Leo assist to keep the Orange within two, but the Irish had seized control.
Notre Dame extended the lead to five in the fourth on goals from Behrman, Angrick, Miller, and Busenkell. Wyatt Hottle scored early in the frame to pull 'Cuse within three at 11-12, but the Irish's depth and efficiency on the offensive end proved too much, with Notre Dame capping the win at 16-11.

Up Next for Syracuse

Syracuse finished at 2-2 in the ACC this season and will play as the three-seed in next week's ACC Tournament.
The Orange will take on second-seeded North Carolina on Friday, May 1 with an 8 p.m. start on ACC Network.

Syracuse University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Payton Anderson

Dante Bowen

Wyatt Hottle

Chuck Kuczynski

Michael Leo

Jimmy McCool

Matt McIntee

Joey Spallina

Finn Thomson

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