Men’s Lacrosse Makes Program History, Upsets No. 1 Syracuse

Harvard squeezed out a victory over the Syracuse Orange, the nation’s top-ranked team, on Saturday afternoon, 13-12. The win was the program’s first-ever victory over a first-ranked team.

Last year, the Crimson (3-0) won at Syracuse (3-1), 15-14 in the Dome during the regular season. The game was Harvard’s first victory in a series against the Orange that dates back to 1922. Gary Gait’s Syracuse got revenge, however, ending the Crimson’s season in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after Harvard blew a six-goal lead to fall 13-12 in overtime.

The Crimson entered today’s game with a 2-0 record after earning comfortable victories over both Providence and Colgate.

Syracuse opened its season with a 13-6 victory over No. 17 Boston University, crushed Saint Joseph’s 20-2, and defeated No. 1 Maryland 11-9, taking the top-ranked spot from the Terrapins.

Joey Spallina, the Orange’s senior attackman, is currently the favorite to win the Tewaaraton Award. Two of Harvard’s captains, senior midfielder Logan Ip and junior attacker Jack Speidell, are also named on the award’s watchlist.

Harvard held Spallina to just two goals and one assist, despite the Orange’s captain taking a season high fourteen shots.

“We forced him to take tough shots,” said sophomore goalkeeper Graham Stevens, who saved 54 percent of the shots he faced. “A lot of his shots were not high percentage. He still got his; he’s always gonna get his, because he’s a great player. But we really forced him to make tough opportunities.”

Eight different Harvard players scored today, and eleven recorded points, and none took more than eight shots.

“We knew an individual player wasn’t gonna take this win for us,” said Speidell. “We knew we had to share the ball, move the rock, and pass, pass, dodge. And we did that really well today and executed it, which we were super pumped about at the end.”

Harvard entered the game looking for vengeance after the Orange ended its season a year ago.

“We played them twice last year, we won one, and we felt like we should have won the other one,” said Head Coach Gerry Byrne. “I think our guys came with a healthy respect for them and their tradition and being the number one team in the country, but at the same time, we knew we could play with them.”

The Crimson had its foot on the gas pedal to start the game, dominating possession early to take the lead with a goal from senior midfielder Andrew Perry.

Syracuse tied the game on a crease crank from junior midfielder Tyler McCarthy, with Spallina notching the assist. Senior midfielder Luke Rhoa then took advantage of a Harvard penalty, scoring to put the Orange in front.

Spallina scored, and Rhoa ripped a shot sidearm from far out late in the first to extend Syracuse’s lead to 4-1 to end the first quarter. After its strong initial start, Harvard struggled to maintain possession in the quarter, tallying seven turnovers in the first. The Crimson also had two penalties and failed to make anything of its lone man-up possession in the frame.

After a questionable call ruled no-goal on a ball that appeared to bounce in and out of the goal, senior attackman John Aurandt IV struck to cut Harvard’s deficit to two, tallying his first of three during the contest.

Five minutes into the second, the Crimson made a huge defensive stand to force a shot clock violation. After junior LSM Joost de Koning steamed ahead in the clear, Aurandt struck again. Ip, a two-year captain, kept the momentum going for Harvard, scoring to knot the game up at four.

After a successful minute-long penalty kill, the Crimson drew a penalty of its own, which Perry capitalized on, scoring his second of the game to give Harvard the 5-4 lead.

A great poke check from senior defenseman Charlie Muller on a shot by Spallina helped the Crimson get another successful penalty kill, followed by a strong clear to give Harvard an offensive possession in the last minute of the half.

“We play a help defense. We don’t rely on one guy,” said Byrne. “It takes all six guys, plus the goalie. We felt everybody on our defense could cover Spallina, and that when someone needed help, we were empowered and had license to go slide.”

A shot by Aurandt bounced off an Orange defender, but Speidell leaped into the air to snag the rebound, dumping it into the net before he hit the ground. After a five-goal run, Harvard held a two-score lead to end the first half.

Despite its advantage, the Crimson still had plenty of problems to address. Syracuse had forced six turnovers compared to Harvard’s two. Four yellow flags were certainly no help to Harvard’s campaign to take down the nation’s top team, though the Crimson was successful later in the half on penalty kills.

“I think you see it on the guys’ faces,” said Stevens on the team’s success in killing penalties. “We were just calm, cool, collected, and we just want to take pride in that we’re always going to be there, we’re always going to be at the same intensity level and get our stops.”

With the shot clock winding down early in the second half, Syracuse senior attacker Finn Thomson curled up from the crease to receive a pass from senior midfielder Michael Leo, whipping a shot behind-the-back for a momentum-shifting goal.

Syracuse Junior midfielder Wyatt Hottle tacked on with a crease crank, and Thomson got another one to flip the lead in the Orange’s favor only four minutes into the third.

Harvard did not trail for long, though, as senior midfielder Francisco Cortes ripped a shot into the net to knot the score at seven.

On the next possession, Aurandt successfully drew a double team before dishing it to senior attackman Teddy Malone. Malone, who leads Harvard in goals scored this season, found sophomore attackman Nathan Cobery to put the Crimson ahead.

A strong defensive stand by Harvard ended after Syracuse’s loose-ball push. Malone took the ball to the cage, firing another shot to add to the Crimson’s lead.

Late in the quarter, a perfectly executed offensive set led to a great look for Aurandt. After a great save by the Orange’s senior goaltender Jimmy McCool, Cobery grabbed the rebound and dumped it in from the crease, putting Harvard up 10-7.

After a highly physical and successful clear by Syracuse, Leo cut the Orange’s deficit to two to end the third.

Freshman SSDM Jayden Kittelberger opened the fourth quarter for Syracuse with a stick check to steal possession from the Crimson. After a quick timeout, ’Cuse capitalized with a goal from sophomore midfielder Matt McIntee.

With the shot clock winding down, Spallina took a desperate shot that bounced off Stevens. As five Crimson defenders surrounded the groundball, Spallina drew a push, giving Syracuse a fresh shot clock, which sophomore midfielder Payton Anderson capitalized on to tie the game at ten.

After yet another Harvard penalty, Rhoa notched a hat trick for the lead. Spallina then carried it around the crease for another Syracuse goal, its fifth unanswered, giving the Orange a 12-10 advantage with seven minutes remaining.

“We’ve been there before,” said Speidell. “We were there last year. We’ve had a couple slow starts this year. But we’re gritty. We love to fight back, and that’s what we do.”

Harvard responded with another one from Aurandt. On the next faceoff, senior LSM Sean Jordan carried the pearl to the offensive end. Since no defender slid to cover him, the tri-captain ripped it for a pole goal to tie the game once again.

With under a minute to go, Aurandt got the ball, switching hands as he dodged toward the net. Slipping to the left side, the senior found Cobery for a great look across the crease. The crowd went ballistic as Cobery slammed it home, securing his first collegiate hat-trick and putting Harvard ahead, 13-12.

Stevens stuffed Spallina to record yet another pivotal save with 40 seconds on the clock. Harvard managed to force the ball downfield before Coach Byrne called a timeout with twenty seconds left to avoid a turnover.

Though Syracuse managed to get the ball back, it was too late. The Crimson swarmed Stevens to celebrate its first-ever victory over a No. 1 team and what will certainly be a signature win on the season.

“Seven minutes left, as I told everyone in the huddle, there’s still two dozen winning plays to be made,” Byrne said. “We made them all at the end.”

Junior FOGO Owen Umansky played a huge role in the upset. After Harvard won only four of the 29 faceoffs against the Orange in the NCAA Tournament last season, the Crimson won 14 of 29 today.

After going undefeated in its three-game homestand to start the season, Harvard will be on the road for its next three. The trip begins Saturday, Feb. 28, against Marquette (1-2) at 12:00 p.m. The game will be played at a neutral site, Chaminade High School in Mineola, N.Y., where Coach Byrne played high school lacrosse, earning All-Long Island Catholic League honors.

— Staff Writer Maxwell P. Friedman can be reached at [email protected].