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Syracuse returns to the field for its first game since last May, when it lost by seven to No. 7 Notre Dame on Senior Day to conclude a disappointing 4-10 campaign — the Orange’s first double-digit loss season in program history. SU lost several key players from that team, including leading goal scorer Tucker Dordevic. But second-year head coach Gary Gait brought in a highly-touted recruiting class, and Owen Hiltz is back at attack.

The Orange’s first opponent in 2023 is unranked Vermont, which breezed through the America East Conference last season before falling to Maryland in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Catamounts also lost several of their top goal scorers, but return six players who earned first-team all-conference honors last season.

Here’s what our beat writers think will happen when Syracuse hosts Vermont in both teams’ season-opener on Saturday afternoon:

Anish Vasudevan (0-0)
Conquering the Catamounts
Syracuse 18, Vermont 14

The Orange may have fallen off in year one of the Gary Gait experiment, but they can’t be worse than an America East powerhouse in Vermont, right? The Catamounts were strong throughout conference play last year, but they couldn’t even score five goals against the eventual national champions. SU scored 10 goals versus Maryland last year. Thomas McConvey, who led UVM with a program-record 60 goals in 2022, is at Virginia now too.

Syracuse is inexperienced offensively, so it might take some time before Syracuse finds the back of the net for the first time. The defense will also need to get used to their slides, and the Catamounts could find a way to break through Dave Pietramala’s unit like many teams did last year. This game could be close because of that, but SU should come out on top.

If the Orange start dominating on Saturday, expect Gait to plug in new players in all three phases of the game. Gait hasn’t named a main faceoff specialist yet this year, though Jack Fine will most likely start at the X since he saw little time last season. This is the perfect game to figure out who the go-to faceoff guy will be without Jakob Phaup for the first time in four years.

Connor Smith (0-0)
New year, new ‘Cuse
Syracuse 16, Vermont 14

Last year was one of the most disappointing seasons in the storied history of Syracuse lacrosse, ending at 4-10, 1-5 in ACC play and without an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time in 15 years (in a non-pandemic year). Gait has a strong recruiting class coming in, headlined by the nation’s top player, Joey Spallina, who is next in line to wear the No. 22. It’ll be a defining class for a coach who needs to start winning games — specifically NCAA Tournament ones — soon.

It remains to be seen if Spallina, Finn Thomson and the other newcomers can make an immediate impact, but the Orange will definitely need their production from the get-go given SU’s top four goal scorers from last year have departed. Hiltz does return after missing all of last year with an injury, and Syracuse will need his scoring early and often against Vermont, which dominated the America East last season before falling to top-seeded Maryland in the NCAA Tournament.

I think SU will display some signs of the future, with Hiltz, Spallina and Thomson leading the offense, but this veteran UVM squad will give the Orange a run for their money. Syracuse will squeak out a season-opening win, but it won’t be easy and it’ll further show the separation that remains between SU and the rest of the ACC.

Anthony Alandt (0-0)
Stumblin’ out of the blocks
Vermont 14, Syracuse 12

Two years ago, Syracuse narrowly took down Vermont. Since then, the Orange have gotten historically worse, and the Catamounts have developed one of the winningest teams in program history. Although Vermont graduated a great deal of seniors and might take a step back, it still has six players who were on the American East All-Conference First Team last year. They’re a fringe ranked team in the Inside Lacrosse preseason poll and are the odds-on favorite to win the conference again.

Syracuse is more experienced and arguably has more talent, coupled with the nation’s best defensive coordinator, but I don’t think the Orange will turn in a successful performance right out of the gate. In many ways, this is still the same team that went 4-10, and they need to prove that they can stop opposing offenses before any trust can be placed in this team to win.

I expect Syracuse to come out strong and maybe even have a lead at halftime, but will likely stall out on offense and have difficulty stopping the Catamounts attackers, some that helped Vermont score at least 13 goals 12 times last season. It’ll be a tough loss for a promising young team, but one that will teach it a ton about where it stands defensively and in net.

Published on February 1, 2023 at 9:27 pm