Syracuse men’s lacrosse does it again. After a season full of ups and downs, the sixth-seeded Orange kept their season alive with a massive overtime win over Harvard—just weeks after losing to the same team by one goal.
Both matchups between Orange against the Crimson were tightly contested, but this time, Syracuse came out victorious and advanced in the NCAA Tournament.
All last week, the biggest question last week leading up to the game was whether or not SU’s defense and goaltender Jimmy McCool could handle one of the nation’s top offenses. In their previous meeting, McCool suffered his second-lowest save percentage, behind only the loss to Cornell.
This time, McCool struggled against the Crimson once again with a season-low .294 save percentage. Fortunately for Syracuse, it didn’t matter because of SU’s incredible fourth-quarter comeback. The Orange scored six straight goals in the final frame to take their first lead of the day with 3:32 remaining. Harvard’s Owen Gaffney tied the game up at 12 with six seconds left to send the game to overtime.
Owen Hiltz scored the game-winner for the Orange in the extra period and sent SU fans home happy.
Once again, Syracuse started slow, trailing 8-2 in the first half. But the squad showed up late and proved its resiliency down the stretch.
Offensively, it was a team effort. Luke Rhoa finished with a team-high four goals on the day, while Hiltz and Joey Spallina had three points each.
Syracuse’s next opportunity to do something special is Saturday at 2:30 P.M. ET. The ‘Cuse takes on the 3rd-seeded Princeton Tigers in the NCAA quarterfinals in Hempstead.
