SU men’s lacrosse falls to Army in overtime
SU suffers OT loss to Army
It was another bitter overtime loss against a top-five opponent for Gary Gait’s squad.
Once again, it was close but no cigar for the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team.
For the second time this season, the Orange fell to a highly-ranked opponent in overtime, falling to No. 5 Army 14-13 in sudden-death play in a back-and-forth affair Wednesday night at the JMA Wireless Dome.
After trailing for most of the second and third quarters, the Black Knights went ahead 13-12 on a goal from Jacob Morin with 9:35 left in the game.
The Orange searched for a response as the clock dwindled down, finally finding the equalizer when Owen Hiltz scored with 2:28 left. Both teams had chances to win in regulation, but it was a save from SU goalie Will Mark with just seconds remaining that sent the game to overtime.
In the extra period, Syracuse won the opening faceoff, but couldn’t get any of its three shooting opportunities — including a long-range miss on an open net — on target. Army secured possession a little over two minutes into overtime, and seconds later, Jackson Eicher netted the winning goal for the Black Knights.
Syracuse (4-2) was paced by fifth-year attack Christian Mulé, who finished with three goals and an assist. Midfielders Sam English and Jackson Birtwistle also had hat tricks. Sophomore attack Joey Spallina had a relatively quiet night, finishing with just two assists.
The Orange and Black Knights finished even in almost every team statistic, with Army just edging SU in faceoffs (16-15) and ground balls (31-30) while committing two more turnovers (15-13).
It was a fantastic game of lacrosse with six lead changes and slim margins throughout. After going back and forth in the first half, SU opened up a 9-6 lead after a goal from Mulé early in the third. But after an extended goal drought, Army’s offense roared back with five goals to send the game to the final quarter tied at 11.
SU’s early season Dome-stand will come to an end on Saturday after the Orange host High Point. Face-off is set for 5 p.m.
is the Sports Lead Producer for The NewsHouse.
is a photographer for the Infodemic project.