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Syracuse is now in a midseason freefall. After beginning the second season under head coach Gary Gait 3-0, the Orange have lost four straight games — all to ranked opponents — in a skid that has shed light on the inexperience they have. Three of the four losses have come by three or fewer goals, and the last two losses have come in the final minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime. Gait has talked over the last week about the need to put a complete game together in order to overcome these late-game losses, but Saturday proved that “we’re not there yet.”

Now, Syracuse appears to get a break in their gauntlet of a schedule, facing Hofstra, its first unranked opponent since it beat Holy Cross 15-6. The Pride haven’t faced the Orange in 20 years, but are struggling through the start of the season to a 2-4 record. SU can stop a four-game losing streak and return to .500 before it squares off against two more unranked opponents — St. Bonaventure and Hobart — at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Here’s everything you need to know about Hofstra before it takes on Syracuse Tuesday night.

All time series

Syracuse leads 12-4.

Last time they played

In 2003, Syracuse traveled to Hempstead as the No. 7 team in the country and fell 8-6 to No. 15 Hofstra in a season it ultimately took to the NCAA Final Four. Senior attack Jim Femminella scored four goals to top the Orange, who entered as the highest scoring team in the country at that time, notching — at its lowest — 10 goals in a game. Goalie Matthew Southard had 11 saves in net for the Pride, staving off a 36-shot game for Syracuse, and didn’t allow a goal to the Orange in the third quarter. It stood as the first time in then-head coach John Desko’s storied career that he’d lost back-to-back games.

They were held without a goal for 26:07 in the first half, and the Pride bursted through with four unanswered goals to establish a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Liam Banks notched a goal for the Orange with 2:24 left in the first half to tie the game, but Mike Allain scored his first goal of the season off an assist from Mike Morrison off of the ensuing faceoff win to give the Pride a 5-4 lead heading tinto halftime. 

Ryan Miller converted on the sole goal in the third quarter off of a pass from Ryan Lucas, while the Orange took six shots in the opening two minutes. The Pride used a prolific ball-control offense and took advantage of man-up opportunities to ensure the Orange wouldn’t come back.

The Pride report

Hofstra lost its first three games of the season to Merrimack, Navy and Michigan by less than three goals. Then, it took care of Long Island and St. John’s before letting up a six-goal third quarter to No. 15 Villanova and falling to 2-4. The Pride are reeling without Bryan McIntosh, who departed for the Premiere Lacrosse League following his graduate season last year. They are now led by John Masden and standout freshman Rory Jones, who won Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week honors toward the end of last season.

The Pride have one of the best faceoff win rates in the country, but rank just 46th in saves per game and have allowed at least 10 goals in all but one game this season. They have also only converted on 28% of man-up opportunities and are an average team at preventing goals on man-down. Both Masden and Jones have at least 10 goals thus far, but Hofstra has struggled to consistently find a wealth of scorers each game despite having five players total double-digit points already this year.

How Syracuse beats Hofstra

The Orange are once again facing off against a team that will likely dominate it at the faceoff X. But what Tuesday night is going to come down to is whether or not they can gain enough separation through consistent offensive opportunities to build a lead and maintain it throughout the game. Hofstra shouldn’t strike the same fear into SU’s struggling defense the way that its last four opponents have, but if its young offense can’t finish shots and rack up goals, it might find itself in another late battle.

The Orange’s shot percentage took a significant dive against Johns Hopkins, finishing with a season-low nine goals despite 30 shots on goal, its second-highest in a game this season. Gait said that that was a sign Syracuse’s youth hasn’t matured to the college level yet, which was expected, but something he said they need to correct quickly. Senior goalie Mac Gates has a 49.6% save percentage this season, one of the lowest of any goalie Syracuse has faced.

If the Orange want to halt this four-game slide and begin a course-correct midseason before reentering the difficult slate of Atlantic Coast Conference opponents, it’s going to need to win more faceoffs, pick up ground balls — something it did better on Saturday — and control time of possession better than it has in the previous four outings. 

Stat to know: 63.3%

Johnny Richiusa’s starting spot at the faceoff X seems to be slowly slipping out of his hands, with Jack Fine getting more and more playing time, checking in earlier into games as the season has progressed. An abysmal 7-for-31 performance against Maryland kickstarted the issues for Richiusa, and Gait said that the Orange were going to try a new tactic on faceoffs to turn them into ground balls for the wings to pick up.

It worked for the first quarter to the tune of 4-of-6 wins for Richiusa, but his production slid off in the second quarter, and he was ultimately replaced in the second half. The Pride — though facing a worse strength of schedule — have the 14th-ranked faceoff team in the nation, led by senior Chase Patterson, who’s won 63.3% of faceoffs and leads the team in ground balls. In all but two games this season, the Pride have won more faceoffs than their opponents.

Player to watch: Chase Patterson, No. 20, faceoff specialist

Patterson leads the team with 54 ground balls and has the eighth-best faceoff winning percentage in the country amongst faceoff specialists with consistent playing time. He’ll provide an experienced counter to Richiusa and SU’s struggling faceoff unit, and he’s also assisted on two shots and fired three shots this season. Patterson can help the Pride control possession and mitigate scoring runs the Orange could use to down Hofstra.

Published on March 14, 2023 at 5:43 am

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt