Will year five of the Gary Gait era as Syracuse’s head men’s lacrosse coach continue the upward trend?
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Will year five of the Gary Gait era as Syracuse’s head men’s lacrosse coach continue the upward trend? The Orange, once a staple of championship weekend with 22 straight appearances from 1983-2005, returned to the semifinals last year for the first time since 2013.
Gait was a central part of that 22-year streak when he established himself as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He came home, first as the head women’s lacrosse coach at Syracuse, in 2007 before taking over the men’s role.
In his first four seasons as the head men’s coach, the Orange have gone from 4-10 in 2022 to 8-7 in 2023 to 12-6 and an NCAA berth in 2024 to last year’s 13-6 record, with an ACC championship and a run to the national semifinals.
Syracuse certainly seems to have the horses to make a push for its first national championship since 2009 and enters the season ranked second nationally behind Maryland. The big question is, can a veteran cast win it all?
“These guys want it bad,” Gait said during a preseason press conference. “They came here with the mindset they want to win a national championship. They put a little bit of that pressure on themselves, but I think they haven’t looked at it as pressure really, but more as an opportunity.”
Here are four questions for the Orange as they enter 2026.
Can the Orange stay healthy?
Most successful teams stay relatively injury-free, and that was the case for Syracuse last season. Eight players started all 19 games and another started 18. That’s a remarkably consistent lineup, and the bulk of those starters return.
The Orange already have one setback this year, as promising junior Trey Deere is expected to be out for the season after injuries suffered in a recent car accident. Deere played both attack and midfield last season and finished with 19 goals. He made three starts last year, helping to fill in for one significant injury Syracuse did work through in 2025.
Finn Thomson, a dynamic scorer and excellent shooter, missed six games in the middle of the season with an upper-body injury. Over his first three seasons, he’s scored 101 points and last year shot a career-best 44.2 percent.
These guys want it bad.
Will Joey Spallina become Syracuse’s all-time leading scorer?
Becoming the all-time leading scorer at any school is special, but at Syracuse? The Orange history includes absolute legends — from Jim Brown to the Gait brothers to the Powell brothers — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Spallina, the USA Lacrosse Preseason Player of the Year, enters his senior year needing 62 points to break Michael Powell’s school record of 307. Spallina has scored at least 68 points in each of his first three seasons, highlighted by a career-best 90 last year.
But more than a record or a legacy, a big season by Spallina means that Syracuse’s offense should click. Spallina has had over 50 assists each of the last two seasons, and he makes everyone around him better.
Midfielders Michael Leo (32G) and Luke Rhoa (27G) combined for 59 goals last season, both earning All-America recognition, and Thomson is back on the attack with Spallina.
Owen Hiltz and Sam English are two major offensive players to replace, but few teams have the quartet to match the talent and experience of Leo, Rhoa, Spallina and Thomson.
Sophomore Payton Anderson made four starts as a rookie and had 14 goals. With Deere’s injury, he’ll take on an even bigger role this year, and he’s shown the ability to do it. He had two of Syracuse’s eight goals in a one-goal win over Duke for the ACC championship and a pair of goals in a one-goal win over Princeton in the NCAA quarterfinals.
With such a veteran cast, newcomers won’t necessarily have to be relied on, but five-star midfield Bogue Hahn is one of six Inside Lacrosse Top 100 recruits for the Orange.
Will the specialists take another step forward?
Faceoffs and goaltending are almost always key, and Syracuse could have two of the best in the country at their respective positions.
Junior John Mullen was a second-team All-American last year, with the workhorse winning 63 percent of his 449 draws. He doesn’t need much help on the wings, leading the country with 9.58 ground balls per game. He set school records for ground balls (182) and faceoff wins (283) in a season.
He won 57.8 percent as a freshman, so continued improvement could take Syracuse to an even higher level.
Jimmy McCool’s first year as a starter was a great one. He was named the ACC Goaltender of the Year and was at his best in the league tournament, making 20 saves in a win over Notre Dame and then holding Duke to eight in the championship game. For the season, he had a 53.5 save percentage, making 216 saves. At 6-3 and 244 pounds, he fills up the cage and also has the benefit of some veteran defenders playing in front of him.
Billy Dwan III is a two-time All-American with 45 starts under his belt. He’s had 18 caused turnovers each of the last two seasons and has a knack for making the big play. He’ll play alongside another guy that can create havoc in Riley Figueiras. Figueiras has started 37 games over the last two seasons, combining for 55 caused turnovers.
Will the schedule prepare the Orange or break them?
Syracuse’s schedule includes 10 teams in the USA Lacrosse Top 20, including six games against top 10 opponents, before the ACC tournament even begins.
The Orange have taken grief for the number of home games in the comfort of the JMA Wireless Dome in recent years — seven of their first nine last year and their first seven games of 2024 — but that won’t be the case this season.
Syracuse has a six-game road trip beginning Feb. 21 at No. 12 Harvard that ends with a mid-March flight to Colorado to play Air Force and Denver. They’ll also play a weekend series at No. 3 Princeton and Penn and make the trip to Homewood to play No. 17 Johns Hopkins during that stretch.
April trips to No. 5 North Carolina and No. 7 Notre Dame also loom.
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