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Instead of putting a long-stick on the graduate senior who, at 6-foot-2, 210 lbs., is much larger than many of the Blue Devils defenders, head coach John Danowski went with short-stick midfielder Jake Caputo to defend midfielder Cole Kirst. The end result was the most points for the midfielder since last season when he notched five points with Lehigh in a win over Georgetown.

Kirst, along with Alex Simmons, was brought in to sure up a relatively young, though highly-touted group of incoming attack and midfielders. Throughout four games with the Mountain Hawks, Kirst established himself as a top-tier offensive weapon, piling on at least 80 shots in each of the last two seasons. He’s racked up a goal in each of his first five games with the Orange after not finding the net against Vermont. But on Sunday, despite the eventual loss to No. 6 Duke (5-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast), Kirst flung through a season-high four goals and added an assist for the Orange (3-3, 0-2 ACC).

“Once he gets going, he’s older and he’s strong and he can shoot it,” Danowski said. “We knew what he was going to do, but we couldn’t stop him.”

Putting a short-stick midfielder on Kirst, head coach Gary Gait said, was right in the midfielder’s wheelhouse. Coupled with the space he was afforded, Kirst was able to work in more space than he’s used to and make hard cuts toward the goal into possible shooting lanes. Kirst started the day for Syracuse just five minutes and eight seconds into the first half. To that point, the Orange had struggled to gain possession and settle into any sort of offense, instead having to play on their heels defensively amidst a flurry of shots on goal.

Kirst grabbed a pass on the outside shortly after the Orange successfully cleared the ball. With plenty of space between him and Caputo, he charged down the right side of the lane and threw his left shoulder into the Blue Devils’ defender to open up enough space for a shot on goal. Once he shoved off Caputo, Kirst buried a shot in the lower left corner of the goal, bouncing the ball in off of the post. Syracuse’s offense, headlined by Joey Spallina, is full of players that like to showcase their juke moves and finesse defenders with their sticks. Kirst simply bulldozed through defenders and generated shots on his own.

Three of Kirst’s four goals came unassisted and from the outer edge of the offensive formation. The sole goal that he needed an assist from came in the second quarter after Johnny Richiusa won one of his seven faceoffs. The next possession after missing a shot high and wide, Kirst collected a pass from Richiusa, fresh off a faceoff win, took one step and rifled in his second goal of the afternoon. He tended to score without much help, flying around the outside of the formation from his position to find space and grab an unassisted goal.

“The other guys on offense really allowed me to have space and dodge hard and create a lane for myself,” Kirst said.

In the second half, Danowski realized how much heat he’d accidentally placed on Kirst. The unorthodox move to place a short stick midfielder on Kirst had backfired, and he was able to run all over the Blue Devils defender, ruining a comeback attempt that ultimately overcame an early 5-1 deficit.

Kirst went quiet in the third quarter as Duke stormed out to a 6-0 run and retook the lead, one that would fall back to a tie forcing overtime when Finn Thomson notched a goal with 2:04 left in regulation. Kirst adjusted, however, and used his size against a long pole defender to assist Jackson Birtwistle on a goal and add his own score in the fourth quarter.

He was everywhere, frequently collecting passes on the wings of the offensive formation and darting inside to create space for shooters. Even when he was unable to penetrate inside — at the beginning of the fourth quarter, he couldn’t juke out Wilson Stephenson — he’d attempt to find enough shooting space. He did so once he outran Stephenson, darting a few steps to his right to fire a shot into the top right corner of the net.

To bring the Orange’s deficit to just one goal, Spallina tossed the ball up from X to Kirst, who was wheeling around the left side of the formation hoping to find another shot in space on the outside. He wasn’t going to be able to slide away from a long stick defender like he did early in the first half against a short stick midfielder, so Luke Rhoa set a screen on Kirst’s man. It opened up plenty of space for the SU midfielder to spin around and whip a shot behind Duke goalie William Helm.

Published on March 5, 2023 at 8:37 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt