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Owen Hiltz has a method to his madness. When he was a kid, Hiltz’s uncle always used to tell him an old saying to get him to shoot the ball. Shoot to get hot and shoot to stay hot. A simple, yet effective plan that he often puts to the test — for better or worse — as one of the primary shooters on Syracuse’s roster.

While breaking down one of the best performances of his career, Hiltz explained once he gets in a rhythm everything comes naturally which made SU head coach Gary Gait grin ear to ear next to him. Gait revealed he used to play with Hiltz’s uncle so he understood where Hiltz was coming from.

“I know what he means,” Gait said.

“I stayed hot,” Hiltz joked.

Hiltz took his uncle’s saying to heart. The attack was scorching hot, scoring a season-high six goals on nine shots in No. 6 Syracuse’s 14-6 drubbing of No. 20 Delaware. After scoring just six goals in the first half — SU’s third-lowest first-half total this season — Hiltz scored four across the last 30 minutes to help the Orange put away the Blue Hens.

The attack had a hand in each of Syracuse’s four goals in the fourth quarter (three goals, one assist) as Hiltz tallied his most goals since a seven-goal performance against Robert Morris his freshman season.

With Syracuse’s plethora of attacking options, Hiltz often gets favorable matchups with much of the attention going towards Joey Spallina and others. As a lefty, he typically operates from the right wing and whenever the defense slides too much and fails to close him down, he’ll make them pay.

After seven goals across the first three games, Hiltz’s numbers dipped to just three in his next three outings. But after a hat trick against High Point, the redshirt junior has started to find his flow. Two goals and three assists in a win over then-No. 2 Johns Hopkins was the catalyst for his season-best performance Saturday.

With SU holding a comfortable 10-5 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, Spallina ran into trouble as he made his way infield. A ground ball ensued, but Hiltz was the first to it, dishing to an open Sam English who unleashed a step down to put the Orange up 11-5.

After registering his only assist of the season, Hiltz got hot scoring the ball. Three minutes later on a man-up, Spallina initiated the offense from the left wing. He kept the ball moving to Jake Stevens who had two defenders slide to him, which left Hiltz open on the opposite side. A simple pass led to a rip from Hiltz for his fourth goal of the game as SU extended its lead to six.

It didn’t take Hiltz long to add his fifth. Mason Kohn won the ensuing faceoff as Syracuse came rushing down the other end. Stevens passed off to Saam Olexo who made the easy read to Hiltz and ripped a low shot which rippled the back of the net.

“The best thing is that he’s moved his feet and got to those spots. And finished on the opportunities,” Gait said.

In the first half, Syracuse had a bit of a lethargic start. Hiltz answered Hank D’Ambrogi’s opener for Delaware with a finish on the crease five minutes in. Spallina patiently waited unguarded at X with a litany of screens and cuts in front of the net. Hiltz popped open and opened up SU’s scoring.

Despite Christian Mulé then putting the Orange in front for the first time not even two minutes later, the Blue Hens rattled off three straight goals and led 4-2. But Finn Thomson halved the deficit with 16 seconds left in the first quarter, followed by Hiltz’s first of the day to tie the game at four a minute and a half into the fourth.

While holding Delaware scoreless for over 30 minutes, the Orange separated from the Blue Hens. Michael Leo scored SU’s fourth straight to make it 8-5 before Hiltz got in on the action.

Luke Rhoa dodged down the alley but didn’t have an angle for a shot, hitting Spallina who curled around at X and lost his defender. With his head up, Spallina fed Hiltz on the run, who in one motion whipped a behind-the-back shot past Kevin Ellington in net to complete his hat trick.

Then came the fourth quarter where it seemed like Hiltz couldn’t miss. He misfired on just one of his looks as the Orange shut the door on any chance of a Delaware comeback.

Hiltz didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. None of his goals were unassisted. He let the offense come to him and picked his spots to attack which led to his best performance of the season and one of the top games of his career.

Like he said postgame, if he is hot, he wasn’t going to stop shooting. With five minutes left, Spallina drew in the defense from the top of the offense on another man-up chance. Once again Hiltz was in space on the wing and the slide was too late. Hiltz made Delaware pay one last time as Syracuse led 14-6 with just under five minutes remaining.

“They were rotating in a box and they just drew him to the right side and he stepped in when he needed to and got to the space,” Gait said.

Published on March 16, 2024 at 7:55 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22