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Syracuse has cruised through the games it was supposed to win thus far. Blowout wins over Vermont, Colgate, Manhattan and Utah have allowed the Orange to flex their muscle. SU’s lone blemish is a 13-12 overtime loss against then-No. 4 Maryland which ended in controversy. And although Syracuse has taken care of business against weaker teams, its resume lacks a signature win.

Wednesday gave SU a chance to deliver a top-tier win for head coach Gary Gait, in a matchup with No. 5 Army. The Orange hadn’t defeated a ranked opponent at the Dome since defeating Duke 14-10 on March 26, 2022 and hadn’t beat the Black Knights since 2020. But defeating Army would be a tall task. The Black Knights were a split second away from making the NCAA Final Four in 2023 while returning most of its roster.

Syracuse and Army went back and forth throughout the first half. The Orange fell behind 5-3 but scored five of the next six to take an 8-6 lead into halftime.

The tight nature continued in the second half with neither team separating themselves in regulation. But for the second time in as many weeks, Syracuse fell in overtime.

Here are some observations from No. 7 Syracuse’s (4-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) 14-13 overtime loss against No. 5 Army (4-0, 0-0 Patriot League):

English arrives

Entering Wednesday, Sam English’s biggest game with Syracuse was its opener against Vermont when he finished with two goals. Since then the midfield has been quiet with three goals since. English came to Syracuse as a transfer from Princeton with plenty of experience. In four years he registered 70 points in 30 appearances. Wednesday was his best performance so far with the Orange. The midfield scored Syracuse’s first two goals Wednesday.

English controlled the ball on the left wing, before dipping inside his defender as no slide came. He scored to put the Orange up 1-0. Minutes later with SU trailing 2-1, English performed a similar move as he cut towards the middle of the field to beat his initial defender before firing home his second goal of the day.

Looking for a hat trick, English fired a low shot which ricocheted into the air after Matt Chess saved it, but Finn Thomson caught the rebound and finished to put SU up 3-2.

SU held a one-goal lead in the second quarter when English was once again isolated with his defender on the near side. After a hesitation move, he slipped by his defender, before ringing the far post.

A couple of minutes after hitting the post, English got his hat trick. Again he attacked and fired a righty shot to put Syracuse up 8-6 with 2:30 remaining one the first half.

Faceoff scrum

Syracuse has done a good job of turning around its abysmal faceoff unit from last year with the addition of Tufts transfer Mason Kohn and freshman John Mullen. Kohn has feasted in Syracuse’s wins this season and even though he was under 50% against Maryland’s Luke Wierman, he did enough to keep SU in the game. The faceoff unit was presented with another challenge with Will Coletti at the X.

Coletti came in with a career 60% mark and Kohn had mixed success. Gait praised Coletti during the week and said he “can hurt you in a lot of ways”. Wednesday, Coletti often made thighs a scrum with Kohn. A lot of the time Kohn won the initial clamp, but Coletti stayed persistent along with his wings and checked the ball away.

Kohn and Mullen eventually settled down. Michael Leo scored to tie the game at five when Kohn won the initial clamp but nearly lost possession after an Army long pole tried to check the ball away. With the ball on the ground, Kohn then used his stick to slap the ball to English and SU controlled possession.

After Syracuse led by two goals for the first time, Kohn won the initial clamp and was held by Coletti and drew a flag.

Spallina’s Sloppiness

Similar to the face-off unit, Spallina has dominated matchups this season. Spallina is second in the country in points per game with 7.20, but against Maryland, Ajax Zappitello held Spallina to just three points.

In the first half against Army, Spallina struggled the most he has all season. The Black Knights held Spallina quiet and made him force passes into tight windows. On three separate occasions, Spallina backed down his defender with eyes toward the opposite wing. But when he looked for a skip pass it was intercepted.

Although Spallina’s turnovers were a problem, he couldn’t create offense for himself. Spallina went the first two quarters without recording a shot until he ripped a lefty shot with two and a half minutes left in the third quarter.

But Spallina’s lefty effort was thwarted by Chess. A couple minutes later Spallina corralled a loose ball but threw the ball to Christian Fournier’s stick.

Tight finish

The last time these two teams matched up in 2021, Syracuse led by one heading into the fourth quarter. But five unanswered goals from Army led to a 17-13 defeat.

Syracuse hasn’t had much experience playing in close games this year. The Maryland game was the only one that was competitive late on and the Orange fell in overtime. Against Army, Jackson Birtwistle put SU up early in the fourth but Gunnar Fellows and Jacob Morin responded to put Army in front for the first time in the second half.

Owen Hiltz broke an over 10-minute drought to tie the game at 13 with two and a half minutes left and the game proceeded to go into overtime.

Syracuse had the chance to win after causing a turnover at midfield. Christina Mulé picked the ball up but missed wide on the open net. Army then went up the field and scored the winner through Jackson Eicher.

Published on February 28, 2024 at 8:49 pm

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