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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina’s opening 3-0 run Saturday came at the expense of an ugly offensive start from No. 7 Syracuse without offensive coordinator Pat March on the sidelines.

But the Orange quickly got into a rhythm with three straight goals in less than two minutes. Then, they returned to their bread and butter, positioning Joey Spallina at X with 2:23 left in the first.

Spallina sprinted to the front of the cage on the left side, failing to get inside leverage on Peter Thomann. But Spallina saw Christian Mulé cutting away from his defender, rapidly tossing it to him. Mulé’s ensuing lefty rip found the back of the net for SU’s first lead of the game.

“Once we started getting into the flow of the game, we started to do characteristic things and score pretty easy goals,” Spallina said.

The goal was Spallina’s second assist, moving him into Syracuse’s all-time top 10 for most assists in a single season. He gained two more spots by the end of the afternoon, tying John Zulbert’s 47-assist mark. He dished on 50% of No. 7 Syracuse’s (10-4, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) goals in its 10-9 win over North Carolina (6-6, 0-2 ACC) to clinch a spot in the ACC Tournament.

“Five points is five goals and we need those, every single one of them,” SU head coach Gary Gait said.

The career day from Spallina, which was the highest percentage of goals he’s contributed in a single ACC game, came roughly two weeks after his worst performance of the year. In Syracuse’s 14-12 loss to No. 1 Notre Dame, Spallina was a non-factor, scoring one goal and notching zero assists.

Spallina rarely escaped from freshman defender Shawn Lyght, not capitalizing on any short-stick matchups, either. He had as many shots as turnovers (four) by the end of the third quarter.

Three days later, Spallina looked like a completely different player against Cornell. Granted, the Big Red entered the contest with the 69th-best defensive efficiency nationally, according to Lacrosse Reference, and currently have the 11th-worst scoring defense. But Spallina finished the double overtime loss with three goals and four assists, his highest point total since SU’s win over High Point on March 2.

The success for Spallina early came from X, when he assisted two goals during Syracuse’s 7-0 first-quarter run. On the first, Spallina caught the ball at X via a long heave from Jake Stevens on the right wing. Spallina immediately boomeranged it to the same location, where Owen Hiltz had an open step-down shot from 10 yards out.

For the second score, Spallina was more patient, waiting at X while SU’s attack circled in and out near the crease. Eventually, Finn Thomson spun away from his defender, slotting Spallina’s pass into the back of the net.

Yet, the strategy to attack from X didn’t work early in Chapel Hill. Throughout the Tar Heels opening 3-0 run, Spallina didn’t do anything on the attack.

Michael Leo missed on a tight angle on SU’s first possession. Luke Rhoa was off the mark on an isolation play. Mulé was called for a moving screen before failing to score from point-blank range.

Unsurprisingly, Spallina was the reason the Orange finally broke through. Caden Kol kickstarted a clear with five minutes left in the first quarter, juking past a North Carolina player before launching it to Billy Dwan at midfield. Dwan passed to Spallina, who flipped it back to him behind his back for the goal.

Spallina said he was surprised by the matchup he received against the Tar Heels since their top long pole Paul Barton was out. Against Andrew Geppert, Spallina barely got any space, so he returned to X to facilitate.

Midway through the second quarter, Spallina sprinted from X to the left side of the goal. Stevens cut from the opposite side, catching a pass from Spallina before a twister finish.

In the second half, Spallina resumed his usual role. Unlike the opening two quarters, Spallina said the Orange’s midfielders did a great job of drawing a defender and throwing the ball forward, leading to more opportunities for him to feed from X.

A minute into the third quarter, Spallina rolled after setting a pick for Mulé, catching it at X. UNC’s Maxwell Cooney charged at Spallina, leaving Stevens open on the left wing. Spallina lofted it to Stevens, who stepped into a lefty underhand attempt to double North Carolina’s four-goal total.

Five minutes later, Spallina made his most routine play from X. Just like he had against Cornell and Johns Hopkins, he stood still directly at the crease behind the cage for almost 10 — much to the dismay of the opposing defense and fans. Thomson finally emerged open after faking a pick near the crease, shooting over Collin Krieg.

Spallina’s fifth assist goal gave Syracuse a 10-4 advantage, but it didn’t score for the rest of the afternoon. The Orange couldn’t stay true to their “calm is contagious” mantra, failing clears and throwing away possessions early.

Spallina knows that can’t happen versus Virginia next weekend. To win against the Cavaliers for the first time in the Gait era, SU has to stick to its game plan with Spallina as its quarterback.

“When we play the way we’re supposed to, we score easy goals,” Spallina said.

Published on April 14, 2024 at 8:45 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu